Tools for Web Site Design on Windows

Some people make fun of me around here, and it’s not just because of my hair, my hygiene or the myriads of action figures I have on my desk. You see, I’m the only one in the shop with a PC back home. I know, I know; I constantly hang my head in shame. But have no fear, my fiancee and I also have an Ubuntu Linux box and a MacBook, but I do most of my freelance web work on a two year-old XP laptop. So when Jon wrote his article last month on the tools we use to maintain BIG Images’ web site, naturally it was all Mac software, and I thought I’d do a little representing and show the Windows world some love.

As with the previous month's article, I've tried to find solutions within the shareware and the free and open-source community.

Web Development Applications:

• Stylizer
  
• $69.95
• Live preview of sites, view changes to the page as you make them
• Amazingly attractive UI
• CSSVista
• Free
• Extract and edit the CSS from any page on the internet
• See your changes applied live in both IE and Firefox at the same time
• Doesn't save files from within the program, you have to copy and paste it into your editor
• Aptana Studio Community Edition
  
• Free
• Although initially meant to be a Javascript coding program, it has great support for HTML, CSS and PHP
• Syntax hilighting
• Relatively attractive interface
• Their code assist feature shows helpful hints about code as you type it
Read the full article...

Tags: tips, technology, ben lawless, web design, software, design

Tools we use to maintain BIG Images’ web site

A friend of mine inquired via email: “What program did you use to design BIG Images’ website?” As I typed out my reply I realized that BIG Images is not the “normal” large format print company. I mean to say we do not just buy the Adobe CS suite because its what everyone else has; we aren’t satisfied with a solution just because it works. We experiment constantly. The workflows we develop, for example to build and maintain our web site, are very unique in our industry.

Our entire web site is home grown and maintained by BIG Images. We are major supporters of the Macintosh shareware community, as well as the free & open-source software community. Often these solutions are:

1. an order-of-magnitude less expensive than their more established competitors
2. are more reliable
3. exhibit faster and more personable customer service

Here is some of the software we use on a weekly/monthly basis to create and maintain our web site:

Web Development Tools

• RapidWeaver
  
  • $49.00
  • BIG Images’ entire site has been built and maintained with RapidWeaver for the past 2½ years
  • One of the beautiful aspects of RapidWeaver is the VERY active community at their forums. Often I can ask a question and have an answer within the day.
  • RapidWeaver has alot of plugins ($5.00 - $20.00 each) that enhance its functionality, and I have used most of them throughout the site. You can find a list of the plugins here.
  • YourHead software is one of the premier plugin developers. Their products are awesome.
• TextMate
  
  • $63.00
  • Ideal for custom html/php/javascript coding.
  • Incredibly customizable, so it adjusts to your coding style.
• CSSEdit
  
  • $29.95
  • For writing and editing css there is no better tool.
  • Instant live-previews make experimentation a snap.
  • This is also a great tool for reverse-engineering other sites to see how they created their effects.

Read the full article...

Tags: tips, technology, jon beebe, web design, software, design

Over the course of the next few months I will be writing about color, offering some insight into what BIG Images likes to see in computer files, and why. This month I am discussing the difference between two color spaces: Adobe RGB and sRGB.


One of the most oft-debated topics I hear (and take part in) regarding color is which color space to use for images. Before I continue, let me just say that I do not intend to answer this question for all time, but I will offer you the opinion of a professional printer, and tell you why I believe as I do.

Keep in mind that BIG Images is all about getting the best possible print that technology can offer. To do this we need the best possible input into our workflow. Simply put — the more color you give us, the more we can print. This is why BIG Images prefers files in the Adobe RGB color space (there are a few exceptions, but those are beyond the scope of this article). Adobe RGB is simply larger than sRGB, allowing more color information to be stored in an image. To illustrate this I have included a visual comparison of Adobe RGB and sRGB. The white, outer shape, is Adobe RGB and the smaller shape inside it is sRGB. This demonstrates that Adobe RGB is physically larger and can capture more color information than sRGB… Read the full article...

Tags: color, workflow, technology, jon beebe

At BIG Images, we’re out to prove you don’t need to shell out hundreds of dollars for fully-featured design software. Producing something worthwhile also doesn’t need to be more difficult than helping a walrus move into a skyscraper. Design is life, and it should be experienced without barrier.

Announcing the delicious:designer 2.0 — powerful design tools for common people.

For the past two years we have been hard at work developing and simplifying complex technology, specifically applications suited for design and print. And this month, we're proud to announce our greatest achievement — the delicious:designer — an easy-to-use cross-platform vector design application. Unlike most design applications, the delicious:designer runs within your web browser, allowing access to your designs from anywhere in the world.
Furthermore, it's platform-independent. That's right; design on your Macintosh, Windows, and Linux computers with equal ease and comfort. It works wherever the internet does… Read the full article...

Tags: delicious, technology, about us, bannerworks, ben lawless, software

In most sectors of the printing industry, Adobe's PDF file format is king. It deserves accolades, because for most applications, a PDF will reproduce art and text amazingly well while delivering a decent print-ready file in a relatively small file size. These features have made PDF a staple of the small format print industry. Although the PDF is great, BIG Images’ preferred file format for large format printing is the Tiff.

The benefits of the Tiff file format in the large format print industry are threefold:

1. Financial Savings
   • Tiff files saved with LZW compression use anywhere from 50% to 99% less disk space than competing file formats
   • The time required to open & save a Tiff is less than that of a PDF or other competing file formats
   • The time & resources needed to transfer the file to BIG Images is reduced
2. Time Savings
   • Faster processing time for both the customer and BIG Images equates to a faster turn around time
   • Smaller size is faster to open, close, and transfer via FTP or email
   • More predictable results mean fewer errors to chase, resulting in faster production time
3. Better service and product from BIG Images
   • Elimination of common errors means faster production & fewer pre-press expenses. BIG Images can produce a better, more consistent product, faster.

Read the full article...

Tags: tiff, pdf, technology, about us, jon beebe, workflow

“Is it solvent?”

As many of our customers are aware, BIG Images produces prints on huge inkjet printers. In fact, the posters, trade show graphics, banners, and other materials offered by Wide format and Large-format printing companies depend on the same Ink Jet technology found in the office.


The Ink Jet printer is a relatively new phenomenon, replacing dot matrix only 15 to 20 years ago [1] (although the first thermal Ink Jet printer was actually invented in 1977). Two varieties of Ink Jet exist: Thermal and Piezoelectric [2], but ultimately, the principle behind the two are the same; a drop of ink is propelled from the ink head and onto the media at precisely the right time to produce a recognizable image at increasingly impressive speeds.

While the mind tries to wrap around the possibility of such perfect timing, let's focus on what is important when purchasing a BIG image. Interestingly, it's not the manner in which the ink happens to arrive on the media, but the particular solution in which the ink is contained. Anyone who's ever tried to combine oil and water knows that the two just don't mix, because water is a polar molecule while oil is non-polar [3]. Aqueous inks are dissolved in water, a polar substance while solvent inks are dissolved in, well, solvent, a non-polar substance [4]. Paper is polar, plastic is non-polar and this is where it becomes important to the consumer.

Trying to apply a polar-based ink to a non-polar surface or vice versa achieves the same unhappy results Read the full article...

Tags: printing, technology, color

BIG Images is proud to announce the release of its new FTP upload tool. This new tool, located at www.big-images.com/ftp, allows for customers to upload their files right through BIG Images web site. You do not need to own FTP software, you do not even need to understand what FTP is! Just drag your files onto the target area and they are uploaded without any more effort on your part.

There are a few technological caveats and adendums. Your computer must meet the following requirements to use BIG Images’ web upload tool:

• Operating System: Mac OS X, Linux, or Windows 95 or newer
• Software: Java Runtime Environment 1.4
• Browser:FireFox, Safari, Internet Explorer 7, or comparable browser with JavaScript enabled

Also, as the FTP tool loads, there is one security precaution and you will be prompted to trust the page or not. You must click trust for BIG Images’ FTP tool to have access to the files on your computer, otherwise it will not be allowed to access the files that you drop onto it.

Tags: technology, solutions, about us

Ben Lawless, our intrepid man of miracles (the one who takes all our good stuff and makes it look a whole-heck-of-alot better), has just completed the logo for Banner-Works. What do you think? Like it? Then trust us when we say you will enjoy the experience at Banner-Works even more. Check out all our designs (including a slew from Ben himself). Treat yourself by customizing and personalizing your very own vinyl banner and then have the banner you just designed printed right here at BIG Images.

Tags: ben lawless, bannerworks, technology, software, design

New Inks increase color gamut and image strength.

BIG Images recently completed the conversion to a new ink system for its outdoor solutions. These new inks bring a few direct benefits to our customers. These include:

• Increased color gamut—we can now produce better color encompassing about 15% more of the Pantone color range.
• Better weather resistance—waterproof and lightfast outdoors for up to 5 years.
• Increased strength—the new inks stick to the material better, meaning more scratch resistance and longer life

All of BIG Images outdoor solutions are using this new ink starting immediately.

Tags: color, technology, outdoor