by Ben Huot
ben@benjamin-newton.com
www.benjamin-newton.com
Where Am I?
Why I don't use Certain Software for Web Design
The web is based on open formats, so you can use different software and achieve the same result.
Why I don't use Professional Adobe Design Tools
I have nothing against Adobe products in general. I use Photoshop Elements for a lot of my web graphics and in my drawings.
The main reason why I don't use professional design software like Adobe Dreamweaver, In Design, Illustrator, Fireworks, Flash, and Acrobat is because these products start at $300-400 for basic features and the more advanced ones can easily cost $600-700. You can buy them in bundles for less money, but you only save if you are only doing web design or only doing print design.
Another related reason is that these professional products offer hardly any more functionality I can get with free or low cost tools. Another reason is that both the Adobe professional and free software have features that don't work right. The only thing worse than finding your free software doesn't work like you need it to, is to spend $600 on a product and still not be able to get it to work like you need it to. The reason why professionals buy these products is that they make enough in one project to pay for each program.
