Rather than tinker with Photoshop or Fireworks to make small buttons for use on your blog or web site, try this free on-line tool from BlogFlux


It creates a gif that you can download and put on your site. You have control over the text and background colors and text alignment.

For a quick button image, this gets the job done.

One of the frustrating parts of web graphics is color matching.  (It’s worse than me trying to match my blue and purple socks.)  Whether you’re trying to create additional drawings, make web pages or touch up a photo, selecting the right color and color code is important.  With the web’s hex-based color numbering scheme, just figuring out what the number for the color you are working with can be a test of persistence. 

Now, that problem is solved thanks to a small program called ColorPic!

The folks at iconico.com have created a color selection tool that makes web and photo color selection a breeze.  The tool shows the hex color number, a matching color palette, hue, saturation and RGB values, hue selection, has a location for “paint chips” and has a magnifying area that enlarges the screen area around the mouse cursor.  It comes preloaded with 8 different palettes and has the ability to store and recall custom palettes.

The utility resides on top of all other windows and continuously displays the color information  for the  pixel directly beneath the mouse pointer.  Hit ctrl+G with the pointer over the selected spot and ColorPic records the color information and creates a “paint chip” that displays the color in its paint chip palette.

I used to keep four different color palette “cheat sheets” handy for matching colors but ColorPic makes this process so much simpler.   Iconico.com has a number of other tools for measuring distance (caliper), measuring on-screen angles (protractor)  and  for using the mouse as a compass (complete with circle, freehand and contained-area measurements.)

Here’s a tool that I’ve been using for some time. It makes measuring screen objects easy!  It’s quick loading (I’ve got it on my launch bar) and works with Windows XP and Vista (I haven’t checked other Windows versions.) There’s a free and paid version. I’ve never needed anything but the free version.  You can move the ruler around the screen and its always on top of the objects you wish to measure.  It can be oriented horizontal or vertical and it’s opacity can be adjusted.  Overall I think it’s pretty nifty.  You can Google it or download it from cNet here.