Website software

[jhatter]

Hi,

I don't currently have the means to buy Photoshop & Dreamweaver. Please can anyone suggest an inexpensive/freeware web editor program for PC. Also a an inexpensive/freeware photo-editor for PC, to scale & crop images.

Thanks.

[keyboard]

I assume you're using Windows -

HTML EDITOR -
To start off with, I suggest using notepad (comes with windows). It's very simple and easy to use.

Then once you've learnt a bit, try using notepad++ (http://notepad-plus-plus.org/) as it is free and provides many extra features (text highlighting, indenting etc.).


PHOTO EDITOR-
As for a simple photo editing software, paint comes with (all?) the windows operating system. It's very simple, but can be frustrating (lack of features). It can crop images and all that jazz...

I've also heard that gimp (http://www.gimp.org/) is quite good (and its free :D), but I've never used it.


NOTE -
Dreamweaver is a What You See Is What You Get (WYSIWYG (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/WYSIWYG)) editor although it can still be used to code websites as well (I'd call it an IDE (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Integrated_development_environment)). It is highly frowned apon by most web developers as it can lead to bad coding habits and poor code. Dreamweaver, good or bad? (http://www.webdesigndev.com/dreamweaver/10-good-and-10-bad-things-about-adobes-dreamweaver)

Also -

The two programs I mentioned under HTML EDITORS are both text editors and require a knowledge of html and/or other webprogramming languages to create websites.


Hope all this helps.
Keyboard1333

[traq]

If you want something more like photoshop, try out GIMP (there are Windows versions; also there are installers so you don't have to build from source).

[jhatter]

Thanks for both your replies Gimp & NotePad are perfect solutions!

[djr33]

Instead of notepad, get an editor with at least:
1. Syntax highlighting (it'll make different kinds of code different colors-- easier to read).
2. Convenient line numbering (notepad isn't great about this).
3. Built in FTP so you can edit your website directly.

I can't think of one that does all of that for PC off the top of my head (I'm on a Mac, and happily using TextWrangler, which is great, but Mac only) but you can definitely find one for free that has all of that.

Notepad will work. But Notepad++ (as keyboard recommended) has at least (1) and (2), but I don't think it has built in FTP. Still a decent place to start.

[keyboard]

I believe notepad++ actually has all three.
I've never used it, but it comes with a ftp plugin (under plugins on the menu)

[djr33]

Hm, maybe a newer version than when I tried it. That's a good option then.

[leroyuk1983]

Ultra Edit is also a great editing program