As a web developer and blogger, I’m pretty much chained to my computer all day. Here’s a look into the software I use on a daily basis. For everything from editing photos to testing webpages, these are the programs I use and recommend.
Photo Editing: iPhoto and Pixelmator
iPhoto is one of the main reasons I like my MacBook. It is so easy to use and has a beautiful, sleek interface. Its scroll-over view of photos inside folders makes it so easy to track down the photo I’m looking for. It comes with a basic editing suite that lets you do the basics: crop, retouch spots, fix the angle, and change the colour levels of the photo with boost effects and sliders. I use this to lighten up photos that have dark shadows, or to crop images so they feature a specific area more.
iPhoto doesn’t have painting, text overlay, or image splicing capability, and for those I use Pixelmator. At just $15 on the app store, Pixelmator has most of the functionality of Photoshop, at a fraction of the cost. This software allows me to make compilations, collages and banners (and those are just the ones I do on a daily basis).
Word Processing and Presentations: Microsoft Office for Mac
Coding: Sublime Text
Browsing: Safari, Chrome, Firefox
Yes, I use all three for various reasons. I use Safari on my MacBook because it’s quick and easy without all the Google account stuff getting in the way, and I have a nice home stage with my frequently visited sites. Chrome is my go-to for my HP work laptop because it feels more professional and I need to concentrate when I use the internet. No browsing at work! Finally, Firefox is there for when I need to test a page in a reliable browser (Safari often screws up my javascript for a while before it suddenly settles and works). I also have Opera and IE (*shudder*) strictly for testing.
So techies, what’s your essential everyday software?
~Sage
TRENDY TECHIE 
5 responses to “Software Essentials”
I think you should also include PicMonkey. It is a staple for many of the bloggers I know (though, I use Photoshop and Lightroom). It is a great free (or exceptionally cheap) place to add your words, create buttons for sites, etc.
These days, I am hardly ever on Office. For a blogger, I much prefer cloud word processing so I find myself writing on Google Docs or Evernote if I’m not in my blogging interface.
Cool, I’ll check it out! And I don’t use the cloud, so that’s why it’s not on my list. I write a lot of stories/articles that aren’t for my blog so that’s why I use office. :)
I am not in love with Google Docs, I like using it to move finished documents between my laptop and my tablet but I don`t like using it to work on a document. Sometimes I like to work off-line and I can edit a Google Doc without being connected. I can however edit a document in drop box offline and it will figure itself out when I connect again.
Also I make use of picmonkey and really like it. It is great for non-photographers like me.
Love this, I’m definitely going to check out Pixelmator right now – I need something better than iPhoto!
Great, let me know what you think of it! :)