5 Lesser Known Tools That Every Designer Should Use

Being a website or a graphic designer usually requires talent and relevant educational background. But to create compelling graphics you also need to know how to use different design tools. Sketch, Adobe Illustrator, Photoshop, Kuler are one of the top tools that probably every designer uses. But there are lesser known tools that are equally good and can be of great help in designers’ day-to-day work.

1. Patternizer

Patternizer is a web-based tool that generates CSS3 stripes by using an online interface. With this tool designers can customize gap between stripes or checks,their angle, width, opacity and color, and they can even search through the existing library of available patterns.

2. Spritebox

This design tool generates CSS sprite classes and IDs. Designers can upload a sprite image, render it, define individual elements within that sprite or even slice existing image. SpriteBox also has an option to combine generated sprite images. The designer can export their work to high pixel density devices and create interactions that involve multiple smart devices thus testing a variety of use-case scenarios through prototypes.

3. FitTextJS

FitText is a plugin that creates text with flexible font sizes. Designers need this tool when creating text within graphics. Using extraordinary fonts may give a better look to an image but it can give troubles to a designer because extraordinary fonts may not fit every device. With FitText designers can make scalable headlines that are properly viewed on every device.

4. PDF to JPG

Not many designers know about this trick. PDF to JPG conversion is necessary when an old graphics are saved in PDF which is complicated to edit, especially when it comes to professional images. With PDF Converter Elite PDF images can be turned back to their original state, JPG. Also, the same program converts from PDF to PNG and other image file formats. The tool easily extracts images from scanned PDF documents which is useful to designers who want to revive their printed materials.

5. ProtoPie

With ProtoPie designers can create micro interaction prototypes without coding, unlike other similar tools for creating prototypes. This tool simplifies design workflow and efficiency by allowing designers to physically test multi-finger gestures, device-to-device communication, and sensor usage. Its sensor features include the control of sound, compass and 3d touch sensors.

These were only five tools that deserve to be mentioned, but there are much more. We encourage all designers to test these tools but also other lesser known tools and share their experience with us. One designer cannot simply try each tool that shows up and designers should help each other by sharing their experience with different tools.