10 Best Wireframing Tools For Designers
If you have designed a website ever then you know the painful task of gathering feedback on page layout and navigation. Because any web design requires proper planning and communication for completing the project successfully. This is what is just offered by any reliable wireframing process, a fast and easy method to plan the layout and time-saving tool to easily communicate your ideas to the clients. With the help of wireframing tools you can illustrate the structure of the website layout and give an idea of how the end project will be. Further it becomes easier to do any alterations suggested. So, it is always a great idea to start a designing project with prominent wireframe tools. While there are many free wireframing tools for designer, yet it is worth shedding few dollars to get exciting features of the paid version. But locating some prominent wireframing tools can be a daunting task, with that in mind Honeytechblog brings you top 10 wireframing tools for designer that are available to make your work easier and faster!
10 Best Wireframing Tools For Designers
1. Omnigraffle
For web designer and developer working on a Mac, Omnigraffle is an award-winning yet simple to use tool that produces graphics, diagrams, flow charts, organization chart, page layouts and fast mockups of your website quickly using drag-and-drop WYSIWYG interface. The latest edition Omnigraffle 5 not only create amazing wireframes and mockups, but also offers a new layout engine, which means your design process will be more varied and faster than ever before.
Interesting features of Omnigraffle Wireframing Tool
- New Layout Engine
- Bézier Lines
- Bézier Shapes
- Mini Inspectors
- Style Tray
- Stencil Search
- Outline View
- Multiple Page Documents
- Diagram Styles
- Improved Import/Export: PDF, PICT, OmniOutliner
- Graphing Tools
- Smart Guides
- Auto Layout
2. Axure
Axure RP enables application designers to create wireframes, flow diagrams, prototypes, and specifications for applications and web sites. It provides the features you need to get started quickly whether working alone or collaborating with your team. You will extremely find it easy to create layout with drag and drop feature. Further even the basic links and advanced interactions are explained on the tool without programming. You will find an interactive HTML prototype created with the documentation in MS Word format.
Interesting features of Axure Wireframing Tool
- Design efficiently.
- Experience your design early to test ideas.
- Engage stakeholders to gather valuable feedback.
- Automate specifications avoiding tedious documentation.
- Enable design collaboration.
3. Balsamiq
Balsamiq Mockups is an Adobe AIR application for generating wireframes features hand-drawn, sketch-like interface elements library. The wireframes made with it look very much like a draft that is you can make simple mock-ups that also looks simple. Using Balsamiq Mockups experience like you are drawing, but it’s digital, so you are free to tweak and rearrange controls easily, and impressively the end result is cool. With 75 pre-built controls to select from, you could design anything from a super-simple dialog box to a full-fledged application, from a simple website to a complicated web apps.
Interesting features of Balsamiq Wireframing Tool
- Fast, intuitive user interface
- Seventy-Five Ready-to-Use Controls
- Shortcuts Everywhere
- Property Inspectors: Always Nearby, Never in Your Way
- Linking Mockups Together
- Unlimited Undo and Redo
- Open, Portable Data
- Fully Integrated in the way you work
4. Pencil
The Pencil Project is a free addon for Firefox. They have a unique mission to build a free and open source tool for making diagrams and GUI prototyping that everyone can use. There are interesting features like built-in stencils that make web design easier and more professional. You can further personalize your tool bar with the capacity to install user-defined stencils and speed up the design process. You will soon find more cool features coming to the Pencil Projects.
Interesting features of Pencil Wireframing Tool
- Built-in stencils for diagraming and prototyping
- Multi-page document with background page
- Inter-page linkings!
- On-screen text editing with rich-text supports
- Exporting to HTML, PNG, Openoffice.org document, Word document and PDF.
- Undo/redo supports
- Installing user-defined stencils and templates
- Standard drawing operations: aligning, z-ordering, scaling, rotating…
- Cross-platforms
- Adding external objects
- Personal Collection
- Clipart Browser
5. HotGloo
Hot Gloo is the online wireframe application presently in free beta that focuses on creating mockups as true to the final product as possible. You are further allowed to drag and drop elements, scale, link, name and rename them. Editing, commenting and sharing the developing process with client is very simple. Where other tools concentrates on simulating the creation of a mockup by hand and the ‘rough’ flexibility that comes with it, HotGloo aims to create a framework as clear and precise as possible.
Interesting features of HotGloo Wireframing Tool
- Smooth the planning process
- Get a clearer picture of site information
- Provide a precise framework for designers & coders
- Build up a more intense project relationship with clients
- Improve the communication process
6. iRise Pro
iRise enterprise visualization gives companies a powerful way to fully experience business software before development. With iRise Pro stakeholders can see and interact with proposed applications early in the process to ensure the right systems get built. iRise is an essential strategy to accelerate delivery of business critical software with lower cost and risk. It also helps to create a high fidelity version of the simulation.
Interesting features of iRise Pro Wireframing Tool
- Real-time, team-based collaboration
- Self-guided stakeholder
- Powerful comments management
- iConnect™ API
- iBloc™ API
- Facilitates multi-user usability tests
- Check-in/Check-out for disconnected authoring
- Secure access to critical intellectual property through LDAP
- Centralized administration
Microsoft Office Visio 2007 drawing and diagramming software makes it easy for IT and business professionals to visualize, explore, and communicate complex information. Go from complicated text and tables that are hard to understand to Visio diagrams that communicate information at a glance. Instead of static pictures, create data-connected Visio diagrams that display data, are easy to refresh, and dramatically increase your productivity.
Interesting features of Microsoft Visio 2007 Wireframing Tool
- Visualize, explore, and communicate your systems, resources, processes, and the data behind them.
- Be more productive by integrating diagrams with information across sources.
- Visualize and act on complex information by displaying data in diagrams.
- Create diagrams faster by letting Visio connect shapes for you.
- Communicate complex information with new templates and shapes.
- Effectively convey information with professional-looking diagrams.
- Communicate using diagrams and share them with a broad audience.
8. iPlotz
iPlotz allows you to rapidly create clickable, navigable mockups and wireframes for prototyping websites and software applications. You can also invite others to comment on the designs, and once ready, you can then manage the tasks for developers and designers to build the project. Check out the iPlotz review by Readwriteweb
Interesting Features of iPlotz Wireframing Tool
- Drag-and-drop functionality,
- Focuses on Web site wireframes.
- Allows users to import other media – like specific images
- text editing – change size, justification, and formatting of a whole text block.
- Simple sketch tool
- User Friendly
Mockup Screens does more than just letting you to create mockups of your pages. It allows you to sketch screen mockups of your application and manage them in scenarios. Users can experiment interactively with clients and quickly visualize scenarios of applications before the coding or design is started. It can prove really useful if you use this application during presentation or meet to explain how your site will perform.
Interesting features of MockupScreens Wireframing Tool
- Fast Screen Drawing
- Creating Storyboards And Scenarios
- Standard Set Of Screen Elements
- Additional Elements For Web Applications
- Additional “combined” elements
- Ease Of Use
- Slideshow Or HTML Presentation
- Exporting Screens As Images
- Screen Annotations With Icons And Comments
- Simulate User Interaction
10. Pidoco
Pidoco is a real time collaborative online platform to create interactive web and software prototypes, and to test, discuss and optimize them. As a completely web based wireframing tool, it let users to create fully clickable wireframes or prototypes, and its remote access means that a team of designers could further work on and share your project from various locations.
Interesting features of Pidoco Wireframing Tool
- Several people can work on wireframes at the same time.
- Clickable wireframes
- Easy remote usability testing
- Fast and easy Prototyping
- No Software Installation
The price may vary depending on the one tool to other, but yes there are trial versions available for each wireframe tool mentioned above, so make sure you try them out first. Also let us know your favourite wireframing mockup types tools and if we missed them out. You can get in touch with us via Twitter, Facebook and RSS!
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May 6th, 2010 at 4:22 pm
Does anyone know of a piece of software that will import an existing website, recognise buttons etc and allow (non-techie) users to manipulate the elements – move them around, add new buttons for example – for the purpose of redesigning an existing site?
- Thanks
June 4th, 2010 at 10:06 am
Thank you for sharing these tools for wireframing. For a web architect, these tools are essential to be able to arrive at a site architecture well-made for a site.
June 4th, 2010 at 2:59 pm
Further to my previous post, I thought I’d mention what we settled on: “Snagit” -
http://download.cnet.com/Snagit/3000-2192_4-10004813.html
“Snagit Screen Capture – All the screen capture and image editing functionality you’ll ever need, in one simply powerful program”
http://www.techsmith.com/screen-capture.asp
June 22nd, 2010 at 12:46 am
I just started using WireframeSketcher (http://wireframesketcher.com) and I couldn’t be happier. Its integration with Aptana is perfect.
June 23rd, 2010 at 8:52 pm
Another tool to make high interactive prototypes is Justinmind Prototyper http://www.justinmind.com , it worth to take a look.
July 9th, 2010 at 7:28 pm
Hi there, nice article, tks for sharing those great tools!
We’ve also created a list, with similar, but some different ones: http://www.the10most.com/entrepreneurs/10-great-wireframe-and-mockup-tools-to-plan-your-new-project.html
Cheers,
jw
November 11th, 2010 at 11:41 am
This is a great list of wireframing tools- I shared it with my graphics design class at the University of Southern Maine- it was much appreciated.
January 21st, 2011 at 4:21 pm
that was a cool information thanks for sharing …………
April 23rd, 2011 at 9:29 pm
Another tool which I would highly recommend is http://www.lucidchart.com. Along with wireframes, you can do rapid prototypes by adding linking and other clickable actions.
July 26th, 2011 at 8:44 am
WireframeSketcher is a rapid wireframing tool for desktop, web and mobile applications. It’s a standalone application and a plug-in for any Eclipse IDE: http://wireframesketcher.com