Serif
I seem to have a lot of Serif software, but I really only use two of their products. Not to say the others arent good, but I just don't use them. I use DrawPlus and PagePlus. DrawPlus is a great general drawing program, with many photo type features as well. PagePlus is a great Desktop Publisher that rivals that of any of the BIG expensive packages. Both of these products are reasonably priced and so easy to use. I have tried other "professional" packages and found them so diffuclt to learn. These are intuitive (that means easy to figure out 'cause they make sense) yet they have the features needed to get the job done.
Fog Creek
This site is created and maintained in CityDesk, which is a simple to use PC Desktop based Content Management System. What that means is you can design the website and pages once, and then quickly add new content without having to define each page over and over and over. And if you need to make a change to the website, you usually only have to do it once. This software, which allows you to use your own HTML editor and other utilities, stores the documents added to the website, builds the site based on HTML or other type of code you have defined, and uploads the completed site to your server. Makes my life sooooooooo much easier.
Fog Creek also makes CoPilot, which is a service that allows one computer user to access another's PC to assist with technical support. Very easy to use and can be a lifesaver. Or a PC saver, depending on how you want to look at it.
Ulead
It may be easier to ask what software of Ulead I don't use, I use so many of their products. Lets see...I use the following:
- - Software that takes your digital phots and creates slideshows that can be seen on computer or a home DVD player.
- - Photo editing software, one of the best around. Plus you can add text, all sorts of special effects. You can do just about anything you want with your photo. I use it all the time.
- - Create DVD video disks from your own home movies, complete with menues and titles, everything you would want!
- - Manage all your digital photos, and create slideshows, web pages, smart size your photos for email, etc. all with this handy piece of software.
- - Create animated GIF files with this super easy program.
- - Optimize your images for placement on the web. Creates the smallest possible file for faster downloads. Plus it handles image slicing, mouseovers and other tasks as well.
- - Edit all your video files. Add music to scenes. Splice scenes together. Unless you make movies for a living, this is probably more than you would ever need in a program.
I probably also owned a few other of their programs over the years. But after awhile, some things just don't get used any more. Still, all of their stuff is great. If they have it, and you need it, I recommend it.
CoffeeCup
CoffeeCup software makes many little programs that help with the creation of websites. They do have a HTML editor, and a web page designer that requires little if no html knowledge, but the best programs they have are the utilities that drop right into a webpage that add lots of functionality. I don't use all of their stuff, but the contact page is created from their Web Form Builder. My news page is created using their RSS News Flash. Slide shows are created using the Flash Photo Gallery. Also, the logo at the top of the page was created using Flash Firestarter. Finally, the site map I use is generated by the Google Sitemapper program. They have a lot of other programs, so check out what they have. If you create webpages, chances are there is something they have you can use.
