Open Source Software (OSS) continues to be one of the most viable and leading levers for cost optimization. It removes the hassles of proprietary applications that impose exorbitant licensing fees, extraneous features, high support costs, and vendor incompatibility. Open source software meets enterprise-class IT needs such as security, stability, scalability and a robust, support model. Some of the key drivers for adoption of OSS solutions include:

Lower TCO and lower support costs
Increased Agility, faster time to market
Open standards and development process
Cutting edge technology

Open source applications and tools are a great alternative for web designers on a budget. Many open source tools have comparable features to the expensive applications, and are also free. This makes it possible for a web designer to have all the tools and applications needed to complete everyday tasks without even spending a cent. In this article you will find 13 of the best open source tools for web designers.

Text Editors

Aptana Studio 3

The professional, open source development tool for the open web.

It's ready. It's time. Develop and test your entire web application using a single environment. With support for the latest browser technology specs such as HTML5, CSS3, JavaScript, Ruby, Rails, PHP and Python. We've got you covered!

Core Features

Code Assist

Aids in authoring of HTML, CSS, JavaScript, PHP, and Ruby. Supports the latest HTML5 specifications. Includes information about the level of support for each element in the major web browsers.

Deployment Wizard

Support for one-shot as well as keep-synchronized setups. Multiple protocols including FTP, SFTP, FTPS and Capistrano. Ability to automatically publish your Ruby & Rails applications to Heroku or to Engine Yard Cloud..

Integrated Debugger

Set breakpoints, inspect variables, and control execution. The integrated Ruby & Rails and JavaScript debuggers help you squash those bugs.

Git Integration

Easily put your projects under git source code control. Collaborate with team members thru merge, pull and push actions to remote repositories such those hosted on Github or other locations. Includes capabilities to locally stash changes to facilitate merges. Facilitates git-based deployments.

Built-in Terminal

Quickly access a command line terminal for execution of operating system commands and language utilities such as gem, rake, etc.

Download Aptana Studio 3.2.1

Microsoft Windows, x86 (x64 Compatible)

KompoZer

KompoZer is a complete web authoring system that combines web file management and easy-to-use WYSIWYG web page editing.
KompoZer is designed to be extremely easy to use, making it ideal for non-technical computer users who want to create an attractive, professional-looking web site without needing to know HTML or web coding.

Features

Details about key features and capabilities

FTP site manager
A new color picker
Tabs!
CSS editor
A dash of style(s)
Customizable toolbars
Forms
Cleaner markup
XFN
Visible marks
Table/Cell resizing rulers
Automated Spellchecker

Notepad++

Notepad++ is a source code editor and Notepad replacement that supports several languages. It runs on Windows and is governed by a GPL License.

Notepad++ v6.1.6

new features and fixed bugs:

Fix (Walk around) Notepad++ hanging on CJK input with ANSI document while enabling word completion.
Enhance folding performance on large documents.
Check update without elevating to Administrator right.
Add update auto-detection for the environment vista/windows 7/Windows 8.
Fix bug: Doc switcher icon state not refreshed after '"save all" action.
Make Document map togglable via menu.
Enhance Find/Replace dialog result messages.
Fix a issue that "max number of recent files" cannot be set to 0.
Add font size 5, 6 and 7 in Style Configurator

Download Notepad++ 6.1.6

Firebug

Firebug is a plugin for Firefox that allows you to edit, debug, and monitor CSS, HTML, and JavaScript live in any web page.

jEdit

jEdit is a mature programmer's text editor with hundreds (counting the time developing plugins) of person-years of development behind it.

jEdit Features

General

Combines the best functionality of Unix, Windows and MacOS text editors.
Runs on any operating system with a Java 1.6 or higher virtual machine - this includes MacOS X, Linux, Unix, VMS and Windows.
Efficient keyboard shortcuts for everything, with predefined keymaps for Emacs, Intellij IDEA, and Mac OSX (5.0)
Comprehensive online help
Unlimited undo/redo
Copy and paste with an unlimited number of clipboards (known as "registers")
Register contents are saved across editing sessions
"Kill ring" automatically remembers previously deleted text
Rich set of keyboard commands for manipulating entire words, lines and paragraphs at a time
"Markers" for remembering positions in files to return to later
Marker locations are saved across editing sessions
Any number of editor windows may be open, each window may be split into several areas, each area can view a different file and keep track of an independent set of buffers. Alternatively, different locations in one file can be viewed in more than one area
Multiple open windows and split windows are remembered between editing sessions
Rectangular selection
Multiple selection (sometimes known as "discontinuous" or "additive" selection) for manipulating several chunks of text at once
Word wrap

Graphics Applications

GIMP

GIMP is a versatile graphics manipulation package. It’s considered by many to be an excellent alternative to Photoshop.

Feature Overview

Customizable Interface

Each task requires a different environment and GIMP allows you to customize the view and behavior the way you like it. Starting from the widget theme, allowing you to change colors, widget spacings and icon sizes to custom tool sets in the toolbox. The interface is modulized into so called docks, allowing you to stack them into tabs or keep them open in their own window. Pressing the tab key will toggle them hidden.
GIMP features a great fullscreen mode allowing you to not only preview your artwork but also do editing work while using the most of your screen estate.

Photo Enhancement

Numerous digital photo imperfections can be easily compensated for using GIMP. Fix perspective distortion caused by lens tilt simply choosing the corrective mode in the transform tools. Eliminate lens' barrel distortion and vignetting with a powerful filter but a simple interface.

The included channel mixer gives you the flexibility and power to get your B/W photography stand out the way you need.

Digital Retouching

GIMP is ideal for advanced photo retouching techniques. Get rid of unneeded details using the clone tool, or touch up minor details easily with the new healing tool. With the perspective clone tool, it's not difficult to clone objects with perspective in mind just as easily as with the orthogonal clone.

Hardware Support

GIMP includes a very unique support for various input devices out of the box. Pressure and tilt sensitive tablets, but also a wide range of USB or MIDI controllers. You can bind often-used actions to device events such as rotating a USB wheel or moving a MIDI controller's slider. Change the size, angle or opacity of a brush while you paint, bind your favorite scripts to buttons. Speed up your workflow!

File Formats

The file format support ranges from the common likes of JPEG (JFIF), GIF, PNG, TIFF to special use formats such as the multi-resolution and multi-color-depth Windows icon files. The architecture allows to extend GIMP's format capabilities with a plug-in. You can find some rare format support in the GIMP plugin registry.
Thanks to the transparent virtual file system, it is possible to load and save files to from remote locations using protocols such as FTP, HTTP or even SMB (MS Windows shares) and SFTP/SSH.
To save disk space, any format can be saved with an archive extension such as ZIP, GZ or BZ2 and GIMP will transparently compress the file without you needing to do any extra steps.

Supported Platforms

GNU/Linux (i386, PPC)
Microsoft Windows (XP, Vista)
Mac OS X
Sun OpenSolaris
FreeBSD

Downloads

Dia

Dia is a cross operating system diagram creation application.

Main Window

The main window of Dia.

Class Properties Window

Editing class properties in an UML diagram.

Properties Window for a Non-UML Object

For the moment, the property-handling code within Dia is different for UML objects than for non-UML objects. This picture shows the properties window of a non-UML object - "Train 2, angled upward" from the "Map, Isometric" sheet.

Object Sheet Editor

Dialog for editing object collections.

Download

Inkscape

An Open Source vector graphics editor, with capabilities similar to Illustrator, CorelDraw, or Xara X, using the W3C standard Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) file format.
Inkscape supports many advanced SVG features (markers, clones, alpha blending, etc.) and great care is taken in designing a streamlined interface. It is very easy to edit nodes, perform complex path operations, trace bitmaps and much more. We also aim to maintain a thriving user and developer community by using open, community-oriented development.

FTP

FileZilla

FileZilla is probably the most popular ftp application. You can download a client or server version.

FileZilla Features

Overview

FileZilla Client is a fast and reliable cross-platform FTP, FTPS and SFTP client with lots of useful features and an intuitive graphical user interface.

Features

Among others, the features of FileZilla include the following:

Easy to use
Supports FTP, FTP over SSL/TLS (FTPS) and SSH File Transfer Protocol (SFTP)
Cross-platform. Runs on Windows, Linux, *BSD, Mac OS X and more
IPv6 support
Available in many languages
Supports resume and transfer of large files >4GB
Tabbed user interface
Powerful Site Manager and transfer queue
Bookmarks
Drag & drop support
Configurable transfer speed limits
Filename filters
Directory comparison
Network configuration wizard
Remote file editing
Keep-alive
HTTP/1.1, SOCKS5 and FTP-Proxy support
Logging to file
Synchronized directory browsing
Remote file search

Cyberduck

Cyberduck is an FTP client built for the Mac.

Download

Version 4.2.1
Dec-12-2011
Cyberduck-4.2.1.zip
Universal Binary. Mac OS X 10.5 or later required. Works with 10.7 Lion.

Version 4.2.1

Dec-12-2011

Cyberduck-Installer-4.2.1.exe

Windows XP, Windows Vista or Windows 7 required.

WinSCP

WinSCP is an open source free SFTP client, SCP client, FTPS client and FTP client for Windows. Its main function is file transfer between a local and a remote computer. Beyond this, WinSCP offers scripting and basic file manager functionality.

Features

Graphical user interface
Translated into several languages
Integration with Windows (drag&drop, URL, shortcut icons)
All common operations with files
Support for SFTP and SCP protocols over SSH-1 and SSH-2 and plain old FTP protocol
Batch file scripting and command-line interface
Directory synchronization in several semi or fully automatic ways
Integrated text editor
Support for SSH password, keyboard-interactive, public key and Kerberos (GSS) authentication
Integrates with Pageant (PuTTY authentication agent) for full support of public key authentication with SSH
Explorer and Commander interfaces
Optionally stores session information
Optionally supports portable operation using a configuration file in place of registry entries, suitable for operation from removable media