12 Best Adobe AIR Applications for Web Designers
If you’re unfamiliar with Adobe AIR, it’s a cross-operating system platform that allows developers to use HTML, Ajax, and Flash to build desktop applications. In the past couple of years AIR has gained a lot of popularity, and there’s been a lot of great applications created, including some that are very useful to web designers. Here are 12 of these AIR apps for web designers that really stand out in terms of functionality and usefulness.
Adobe Shortcut App for Creative Suite
If you’re like me and have a hard time remembering shortcuts for all of the Adobe products you use, then this app will be a life saver.
Image Sizer
ImageSizer is an application built to resize, optimize and rename a batch of jpg images producing a zip file containing the images.
Pixus
Pixus allows you to measure screen objects in pixels using both mouse and keyboard control, and preview your design with skins and presets.
Boks
Boks provides a User Interface for Blueprint CSS’s framework.
Icon Generator
Icon Generator is a little application that lets you generate a CS3 or Web 2.0 style icon, only 3 step. Pick color, type characters, and save it. Just create 4 different sizes of the icon.
WebKut
WebKut is an AIR application that allows you to capture web pages with various options such as, the entire page, the current view, or only a selection.
Shrink O’Matic
Shrink O’Matic will batch resize images of various file types, with drag and drop functionality.
Snippely
Snippely is a basic text and code organizational tool. Instead of storing bits of code, quick notes, and memos in text files all over your hard drive, this application will let you save and organize “snippets” in one convenient location.
Contrast-A
Contrast-A allows users to interact with a 3-dimensional RGB color space, experiment with color combinations. Custom color palettes can be created, printed and saved as Pdf to the user’s desktop.
COLOURlovers Desktop Color Finder
The COLOURlovers Desktop Color Finder can search the entire COLOURlovers.com database of nearly 1 million named colors and more than 300,00 user created color palettes.
Fractal4D
Fractal4D isn’t your typical AIR app. This app allows you to create very cool looking fractals that can be exported to Illustrator or as a png. There are tons of options that control how the fractals look such as color, blending, easing and blurring.
Em based layouts – Vertical rhythm calculator
A very handy CSS em calculator.
Livebrush
Livebrush is a unique motion-based drawing tool. Toss graphics around the screen or elegantly swing the brush around your cursor. There are over 100 styles and decorations that can all be customized and shared. You can even develop your own motion behaviors. Then save your designs as vector or high-resolution png.
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24 comments
BebopDesigner
September 23, 2009Brilliant post! thanks for the resources.
Nokadota
September 24, 2009I definitely find these tools useful, thank you.
FreelancerCrowd
September 24, 2009Slowly but steady people are starting to believe in AIRs usability
Jessica Deal
September 24, 2009I love AIR applications. While not necessarily a design application, TweetDeck can certainly be used to connect with other designers and promote your work.
Andreas Pettersson
September 24, 2009Thanks a lot for this post, some of this tools are really useful
Ray Pettersson
September 24, 2009Fantastic selection of tools! Extremely useful!
vidyaputra
September 24, 2009thanks, this is really useful resource
chenke
September 24, 2009Thanks for your work.
Carl
September 24, 2009This is a great list – thanks!
One AIR application I recently came across, called Livebrush (http://livebrush.com), is very useful. You can do so much with it.
Web 2.0
September 24, 2009That s a great links, thanks for sharing…
imrose @ discount web design
September 24, 2009that’s really cool. thanks a lot for all these great information.
Meeka
September 24, 2009You guys should check out Livebrush – http://www.livebrush.com
It’s crazy useful for the stuff I do.
steve @ Webmojo Web Design Doncaster
September 24, 2009Very cool list especially like the app that produces fractals
David Pohlmeier
September 24, 2009Another great Adobe Air app for any designer is Klok – http://klok.mcgraphix.com/klok/index.htm
It’s a simple, easy to use way to keep track of your time.
h1brd
September 24, 2009uau will instantly try the shortcut app !!
ty.
Tim McLeod
September 24, 2009Great list!
Dude, thanks for sharing LiveBrush. That is a seriously useful app.
Soren Aarlev
September 24, 2009Thanks for sharing. Some great apps there.
cep telefonu
September 28, 2009Thanks for your work.
Fabrice Closier
September 28, 2009If you are working on Flash3D projects:
http://www.closier.nl/prefab
The missing link between designer and 3d flashers.
Roberto
October 19, 2009amazing tips fella…
tks for sharing them
Jacob Schulke
October 22, 2009Thank you. I really like Snippely.
Nick M
November 24, 2009I use Fractal4D, but how do I export it as a png?
Jonny
February 24, 2010Icon Generator
web assessment
August 18, 2010never seen this before. Seems good. thanks