"Tools" here refer to those software I use in creating my illustrations and graphic designs, including this Web site "hotClay". There are commercialware, shareware and also some freeware. Since I'm a PC user, some software below are "PC-only", ie they don't have a Mac version. If you think there're some great software out there you want to recommend to us, (esp. on the Mac platform, as I'm going to get myself a Mac soon) do please tell me!

• Adobe Photoshop

  I use it almost in every single piece of my design and illustration. Well, no one will doubt that it's by now the most popular tool among graphics designers and illustrators. Version 4.0, which has just been released earlier this year, adds in a lot of powerful functions like the action palette, the navigator palette, and more support for Web publication.
   

• CorelXara

  This is an easy-to-use yet powerful illustration software in the market. I highly recommend it to beginners. However, only the PC version is available. If you're a Mac user, try Macromedia Freehand.
   

• Adobe Illustrator

  A powerful and accurate software that many professionals choose to use. Its Version 7.0 just joined the battlefield on the PC platform which in my opinion is a bit late. However, because of its popularity on the Mac platform, it'll soon gain grounds on the PC platform as well. The learning curve is a bit steep, but if it's the powerful tool that you're looking for, get Illustrator.
   

• Painter

  This software, as its name implies, emulates the strokes of natural painting media, like water color, oil painting, charcoal and crayon. With Painter you can even create your own cartoon! It's the most versatile software if you want to "paint" on your computer screen.
   

• IrfanView32 (PC freeware)

  IrfanView32 is a fast FREEWARE image viever/converter for Win95/NT, supported file formats include: JPEG, GIF, BMP, DIB, RLE, PCX, PNG, TIFF, TGA, RAS/SUN, ICO, AVI, WMF, EMF, PBM, PGM, PPM, IFF/LBM and Photo-CD(Overview Photo-CD support). I find it even more usable than many commercialware graphic viewers on the market!
   

• PhotoImpact SmartSaver (PC shareware)

  PhotoImpact SmartSaver is the fastest and easiest way to optimize images (GIF & JPEG) for the web. With side-by-side "before and after" image previews and file size information, you see exactly how big the file will be and how your image will look before you save. Changing settings automatically updates the file size and image previews. And when you've got the right balance between file size and image quality, you save as a new image. A very handy tool.
   

• Microsoft GIF Animator (PC freeware)

  With GIF Animator you can use any .GIF file, or any image you can copy to the Clipboard as part of a GIF animation (an animated GIF). Its interface is very simple but serves its purpose well.
   

• Map This! (PC shareware)

  Map This is a program that can be used to create, edit, and convert Clickable Image Maps for the World Wide Web. Map This does this by allowing you to actually draw the areas to be defined on the graphic you wish to use, attach HTML "url" references to each area, and save the image map data off into either NCSA, CERN, or HTML 3.0 format for use on the World Wide Web. I'm using version 1.30, a freeware!
   

• Microsoft FrontPage

  A well-known web authoring software on the PC platform, from the software giant. Like its office suit, there're more power than you'll ever need (or bother to learn), what else can I say? Ah, yes, it's a WYSIWYG (What You See Is What You Get) editor, period.
   

• Adobe PageMill

  Another WYSIWYG web page editor, but PageMill is available for both Mac and PC. Current version is 2.0.
   

• HomeSite (PC freeware/shareware)

  Unlike FrontPage, homeSite is a text-based HTML editor, which is most suitable for people like me who love to write documents directly with HTML to gain the most control of the layout. It's possibly the best editor in the market! Version 3.0 has just been released. There's also a freeware version (1.5), which lacks advanced features like mutiple-document-opening but in my opinion is powerful enough for casual users. I'm not sure if the freeware version is still available for download.
   

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