Design RushWeb design resources and tutorials

As a designer, you have a lot of invaluable tools in your arsenal. However, the tools that you rely on the most probably come with a hefty price tag. Although the design world is filled with cutting edge tools that are anything but cheap, there actually are some great tools out there that don’t cost a dime. While these tools won’t replace the high-end ones that you already use, all five of these free online tools can make you a better designer. Whether it’s providing you with a helpful function or simplifying your work flow, I highly recommend taking the time to check out each of these free online tools:

Adobe Kuler: Although Adobe has a lot of expensive tools, this isn’t one of them. The free Kuler tool allows you to generate color themes online. Highlights of Kuler include the ability to browse thousands of free themes, creating themes from a single color, creating themes from a picture, using Kuler on your desktop (through Adobe AIR), integrating your themes in applications with the Kuler API and interacting with other designers in the Kuler community.

ResizR: As you may have guessed from the name, ResizR is a free online tool for resizing images. While this is obviously not a new tool, ResizR makes the process of resizing an image as simple as possible. All you have to do is choose your picture (from your local computer or a URL) and choose the width of the image (ResizR keeps the image proportional). The power of ResizR is also available in a Firefox plugin. I have found this tool to be invaluable when I’m using my Mac, which unfortunately makes the process of resizing images more difficult than it should be.

CSS Creator: If you need a quick way to create a valid CSS layout, this handy tool allows you to create a fluid or fixed width floated column layout, with up to 3 columns, a header and a footer. Simply go through the tool’s short list of options and select your preferences, and in no time you will have a new layout that you can use.

Iconfinder: If you need icons for a project, you can save yourself a lot of time with Iconfinder. Iconfinder is an easy to use search engine that is dedicated to icons. For example, if you type in the word “home,” Iconfinder will return nearly fifty different icons that you can easily browse through and download for your project.

Splashup: Although it’s still not a replacement for an advanced piece of photo editing software, Splashup is quite impressive for being a free, web based tool. Offering everything from brushes to filters to layers, most designers will be impressed with the wide range of features thatSplashup has to offer.