Additional Tools to Expand Your Capabilities

Careful consideration should be given to your ongoing web development needs before you decide to invest in any of the items below (these items should be considered individually based on your needs, and not as a package). These items all have specific uses. Many people will be able to conduct all or most of their web development using the tools in the Recommended Tools set above.

Hardware:
  • A desktop scanner
  • Access to a second computer (either a Mac or PC, opposite of your primary workstation) to conduct cross-platform and cross-browser testing
Software:
  • An SFTP program, if you want to upload/download files independently of the Dreamweaver CS5 client (see recommended clients)
  • Access to an AOL browser for usability testing
  • A copy of Opera / Camino or other browsers
  • Adobe Illustrator (vector image editing software)
  • Flash (for certain types of dynamic content / multimedia development; you may want to purchase the CS5 Studio Suite rather than purchasing the individual products independently.
  • Adobe After Effects (multimedia content) and Premiere (digital film editing), or Director (multimedia content)
  • BBEdit (Mac) or other enhanced code-writing programs that provide additional tools for coders
  • Adobe Acrobat full version (in addition to the free Acrobat Reader; this is included in the Adobe CS5 suite)