subject: Top 10 Firefox Addons Essential For Web Design [print this page] As you work on or try to refine your site's design, it can be not only tiring but confusing to switch between your browser and designing software. Moreover, for many of us inspiration comes from other websites - the design, colors and fonts on other websites give us ideas for our own.
So there's a reason behind the popularity of Firefox with designers across the board: it offers a wide array of add-on plugins that make the designer's (and the design lover's) life easier and more productive. The following are 10 of the best add-ons out there - click on the links to go directly to the download page:
Codetech: With this add-on you can edit your files without leaving your browser. Works like a lite and handy avatar of Dreamweaver, with all essential functionalities built in.
Web Developer: An all-in-one plugin that lets you write code, edit CSS, try new styles and troubleshoot problems easily.
FireShot: If you like bookmarking inspirational designs, you'll like Fireshot, a tool that enables you to grab screen captures and add notes and graphics directly on to it, and then save the capture on your computer, FireShot's own servers, and/or email it to yourself or others.
Colorzilla: Want to use a specific colour from a different website? Colorzilla makes it easy to find the exact value of any colour on a web site with the use of an eyedropper tool. You can also quickly find CSS rules for a given colour, analyze different colours and measure distances between different points on a page.
MeasureIt: This addon overlays a ruler on any page you want and enables you to quickly measure the width, alignment and height of various elements.
Browser Window Resizer: Curious on how your designed page would look on different screens? With the help of this nifty little add-on you can check as many screen sizes as you want without having to get on different computers!
CSS Validator/HTML Validator: Does what it says right in the title, but remember that the page you're trying to validate must have a CSS file associated with it for this tool to work.
IE Tab: Given that lots of web users still use Internet Explorer, this is a great tool to test how your site works in IE without having to switch browsers.
Font Finder: With this add-on you can find out what font is being used on any site. Simply add to Firefox, highlight the text whose font value you want to know, and right-click to select "Font Finder". Very handy for font-lovers and designers alike!
CSS Viewer: Easily view the CSS properties of any element on a page.
