Camtasia for Mac
TechSmith, makers of the venerable Camtasia Studio, have just released Camtasia for Mac, their new Mac software for creating, editing, and sharing screencasts. Camtasia for Mac is $149 USD but can be purchased for $99 until Dec 31, 2009. Moreover, if you own Camtasia Studio 6 or later on Windows, you can apply for a further discount.
System Requirements
- Mac computer with an Intel processor
- Mac OS X v10.5.6 or later
- Quartz Extreme support
- 1GB of RAM
- Approximately 4GB of available disk space
- QuickTime 7.5.5 or later
- CD drive required for installation
Get ScreenSteps for 50% Off
ScreenSteps, my favourite app for creating documentation and user manuals, is on for half price today only. If you have a Twitter account, follow @screensteps and they’ll DM you a coupon code. If you’re already following them, DM them for the code. ScreenSteps works on both OS X and Windows and supports exporting to HTML, blogs, PDF, Word, and ScreenSteps Live. It’s amazing software with an incredible support team. Give it a try if you haven’t already.
MacUpdate Promo Spring Bundle
It’s that time of year again — time for another Mac software bundle: the MacUpdate Promo Spring Bundle. For the next two weeks, you can grab 11 apps for $49.99 USD. The most notable apps are TechTool Pro 5 ($98), Parallels Desktop 4 ($79.99) and RipIt (18.99), an awesome program for backing up your DVDs to your Mac. The complete bundle includes:
- TechTool Pro $98.00
- Parallels Desktop $79.99
- Circus Ponies Notebook 3 $49.95
- NetBarrier X5 $49.95
- DVDRemaster Pro $49.99
- Paperless $44.95
- Multiplex $35.00
- MoneyWell $49.99
- RipIt $18.99
- Posterino $24.95
- BetterZip $19.95
Two New CSS Framework Tools
Boks is an Adobe Air application that provides a user interface for working with the Blueprint CSS framework. Boks handles the grid and baseline settings and then exports the CSS and HTML files.
For the 960.gs framework, which is what I’ve been trying out for the last little while, there’s a new jQuery plug-in called 960.gs grid overlay that does as the name implies — it overlays a semi-transparent 960 grid over your layout as you develop your site. According to the developer, there is also a bookmarklet in the works.
Run IE8/IE7/IE6, Firefox, Safari, Chrome, and Opera from the Web
If you’re looking for a way to run IE 6/7/8 concurrently on Windows, Xenocode’s Browser Sandbox will let you do just that. You can also run Firefox (3 and 2), Safari, Chrome, and Opera. From the site:
The Xenocode Browser Sandbox allows all popular Windows browsers to be run simultaneously, directly from the web. Web designers, system administrators, and other users can now evaluate Internet Explorer 8, 7, and 6, Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari, Opera, and Google Chrome directly from the web in a risk-free manner. Unlike traditional software applications, Xenocode WebAppsdo not require any software to be installed andallow multiple application versions to run side-by-side on any version of Windows.
The downloads are free; Xenocode’s WebApp technology is in beta.
Update: As noted by PM below, you now have to install the Spoon plug-in to get the browsers to run. You don’t have to register, though. Just download and install the plug-in and return to the Xenocode browser page to run the browser of your choice.
Layers Screenshot App 50% Off Today Only
Layers, the new screenshot app that captures your screen and saves each window and icon as its own layer in a PSD, is on sale for $10 USD on MacUpdate today.
Layers generated a lot of buzz on its release about a month ago, and it certainly looks interesting, but I can’t think of a good use for it myself. Still, $10 is hard to beat. Let me know if you purchase or already own the app — how do you use it and how does it fit in your workflow?
Tools of the Trade: Stardock Fences
I just discovered a sweet, free, Windows-only beta product from Stardock called Fences. Fences is a program that “helps you organize your desktop, and can hide your icons when they’re not in use.”
Basically, Fences creates separate areas on your desktop dedicated to specific types of icons (Programs, Folders, Recently Used, Games, etc.), letting you better organize the icon clutter from all your programs, files, and folders:
Three or four years ago I actually modified a desktop background to have groups like this, but it definitely wasn’t a great solution. Fences, on the other hand, seems to work really well and I can spot the file or program I need at a glance instead of getting lost in the typical mess of icons on my desktop.
Foxmarks Now Supports IE and Safari
Foxmarks, the bookmark and password synchronizer for Firefox, now also supports Internet Explorer 6 & 7 and Safari 3, letting you share bookmarks across multiple OSes and browsers. Last March, I wrote about using BookIt and Foxmarks to accomplish the same thing, but BookIt doesn’t support Firefox 3. Now, you can simply install Foxmarks. You can download Foxmarks from the Foxmarks website.
FontExplorer X Pro 50% Off / Fontcase Released
Mac font management tool FontExplorer X Pro is currently available for EUR 39 until the end of February. You can download a 30-day trial on the FontExplorer site.
In related news, Bohemian Coding’s Fontcase — another Mac font management tool — has recently been released and is selling for EUR 35. A demo can also be found on their website.
Tools of the Trade: Balsamic Mockups
Thanks to @masuga on Twitter yesterday, I discovered a product called Balsamic Mockups — an Adobe Air application for quickly and easily creating low fidelity user interface (UI) mockups and wireframes. Here’s a very quick sample of the top portion of my business website:
The interface and the drag-and-drop elements are all meant to have a handwritten/handdrawn esthetic, as if you were using pencil and paper to create the concept. This is so clients don’t confuse the wireframe with an actual design. Yet, despite the rudimentary look of the drawings, the mockups can be surprisingly detailed. For example, you can add scroll bars to windows, highlight table rows and tabs, add different icons, etc. Check out the sample mockups and the intro video to get an idea of what can be done.
Overall, Balsamic Mockups is very intuitive and easy to use. The elements are all drag-and-drop and most everything can be resized and repositioned as required. There is a version of the software for the desktop ($79 USD) as well as collaborative versions for Confluence, JIRA, and XWiki. Since the program is built on Adobe Air, it works on Mac, Windows, and Linux.