17+ Useful Mac Applications For Designers And Developers

Apple does bring the best out of lots of things but since I’m a guy who doesn’t want to bore people up with long descriptions etc, I’ll skip that. Bottom line, have gathered a great list of softwares for Mac (design) users, most of these are free, some offer trial periods and vice versa. I hope you’ll enjoy and find something that can be helpful to you in any manners.

1- Just Looking (Photo Viewer) – Free

JustLooking is an free image viewing program for Mac OS X which is designed to be used instead of the “Preview” application on your computer for browsing most image file formats. It focuses on files and directories instead of lists of files. All you have to do is, load a file and you can easily navigate through all other files in the same directory. It displays images at their native resolution instead of interpreting DPI information stored in the image meta-data. While images are printed at the maximum resolution possible, on screen they are displayed pixel-by-pixel. Being designed more for viewing of Images, it properly shows animated GIF files. The entire program can easily be manipulated and powered by simple keystrokes for a quick and pleasant viewing experience. There is support for printing, image resizing, saving to a few key image formats, and displaying of all image info.

2- Expression Engine (Web Publishing) – 30 Day Trial Period.

ExpressionEngine is a flexible, feature-rich content management system that empowers thousands of individuals, organizations, and companies around the world to easily manage their website. If you’re tired of the limitations of your current CMS then take ExpressionEngine for a spin. Comes in with lots and lots of features which you can check out here.

3- Simple CSS (CSS Authoring Tool) – Free

Simple CSS allows you to easily create Cascading Style Sheets from scratch, and/or modify existing ones, using a familiar point-and-click interface. With Simple CSS, you can manage multiple CSS projects and import your existing style sheets. Simple CSS supports CSS2.

4- Blender (3D modeling/Animation/Rendering) – Free

Blender is the free open source 3D content creation suite, available for all major operating systems under the GNU General Public License. It’s offers extensive features like Rigging, Modeling, Rendering, Animation, UV Unwrapping, Shading, Imaging and Compositing, Playing with physics and particles, Real Time 3D/Game creation tools and much more. View Full feature list here.

5- Aquamacs (Editor) – Free

Aquamacs is a great editor for Text, HTML, LaTeX, C++, Java, Python, Perl, Ruby, PHP and more. It does has an complex interface for the beginners but offers much functionality and features. Check out it’s long list of features here.

6- Freeway Express (Website Designing) – Free Trial

Simply the fastest and easiest way to assemble content and create stunning, standards-compliant websites. Freeway is THE total solution for professionals and home users. Powerful and intuitive, Freeway is full of features like advanced graphic handling, graphic text on-the-fly, the ability to employ dynamic content and database integration and so much more. And you never need to write code.

7- Coda (Web Development) – Free Trial

Coda is a recommended application for all web developers using Mac. It’s a one window application that lets you edit text, lets you transfer files by using FTP, gives you the ability of terminal-accessing, CSS styling, website building/publishing and much more. If you’re looking for a full review on this wonderful application, I would suggest that you visit these links.

• Coda Review By MacApper
• Coda Review By Shawnblanc

8- Adobe Creative Suit (Web Development & Much More) – Free Trial

Alright, so I’m stating the obvious here but had to before I get flamed :) – FireWorks specially is (not a hidden) a fantastic tool for all the designers out there, giving you the ability to do whatever you want to and if you’re creative, you’re in heaven.

9- Color Schemer (Color Picking, Schemer) – Free Trial

ColorSchemer Studio OSX brings the power of ColorSchemer Studio to your Mac! Built from the ground up with Cocoa, now Macintosh professionals can build beautiful color schemes quickly and easily!

10- GIMP (Image Manipulation Program) – Free

GIMP is an acronym for GNU Image Manipulation Program. It is a freely distributed program for such tasks as photo retouching, image composition and image authoring. It has many capabilities. It can be used as a simple paint program, an expert quality photo retouching program, an online batch processing system, a mass production image renderer, an image format converter, etc.  GIMP is expandable and extensible. It is designed to be augmented with plug-ins and extensions to do just about anything. The advanced scripting interface allows everything from the simplest task to the most complex image manipulation procedures to be easily scripted.

11- Rapid Weaver (Web Design Software) – Free Trial

Rapid Weaver is another preferred application, ideal for anyone whose looking to create a beautiful website. With features like one click publishing, text-and-code abilities, powerful plugins, automatic navigation etc, it’s a must try.

12- SeaShore (Open Source Image Editor) – Free

13- CSS Edit (Text Editor) – Free Trial

Design beautiful, innovative and fast-loading web sites… with a beautiful, innovative and fast app. CSSEdit’s intuitive approach to style sheets and powerful previewing features will make you deliver awesome standards-based sites in no time! With CSSEdit, you see changes to your style sheet applied in real-time. Without saving. Without uploading. Without hassle. For any Web App or HTML file.

14- Aptana (Web Development) – Free

Aptana Studio is a complete web development environment that combines powerful authoring tools with a collection of online hosting and collaboration. With features including Unified Editing for Web Apps, Ajax and JavaScript Libraries, PHP, Ruby on Rails, Python, and Java plugins etc, It does place itself in great apps that Designers love.

15- Cyber Duck (FTP + Xamp Support) – Free

An open source FTP, SFTP, WebDAV, Mosso Cloud Files and Amazon S3 browser for the Mac. It features an easy to use interface with quickly accessible bookmarks. The outline view of the browser allows to browse large folder structures efficiently and you can quickly preview files with Quick Look. To edit files, a seamless integration with several external editors makes it easy to change content quickly. Both Amazon CloudFront and Cloud Files from Rackspace can be easily configured to distribute your content in the cloud.

16- Transmit (FTP) - Free Trial

Transmit is an excellent FTP application for Mac users. It offers many many features including iDisk / WebDAV, FTP, SFTP, or TLS/SSL support, Editor, Droplets, Synchronization and much more.

17- PixelMator (Image Editor) – Free Trial

Pixelmator is a layer-based image editor. You can quickly create layers from your photos, other pictures, from selections or even your iSight. Yes, Pixelmator can add a layer to your composition directly from your Mac’s little camera. Not only can you link and arrange added layers, but Pixelmator allows you to blend layers, change their opacity, create clipping masks or even add layer masks to hide some portions of layer.

• Bonus: More Applications

18- TextMate (Text Editor)
19- Nvu (WYSIWYG Editor)
20- Xee (Imaging)
21- Smultron (Text Editor)
22- Paparazzi (ScreenShot Application)
23- TextWrangler (Text editor, and Unix and server administrator’s tool)
24- LittleSnapper (Capturing snaps of entire webpages, as well as areas of your screen)
25- Picturesque (For add a finishing touch to your pictures, polishing them off before sharing with others.)

If I did miss any and you think I shouldn’t have, do list it in your comments. Also, If you like this post do subscribe to our updates Here.