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Pencil – an open-source GUI prototyping tool for all platforms
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]
- zitterbewegung 9y agoWow looks better than balsamiq I will try this out at work.
- pjmlp 9y agobalsamiq is a fast compiled Flash application, this will be an Electron one, and is XULRunner one currently.
- buithehoa 9y agoWhat's your point?
- pjmlp 9y agoNative versus web app.
- webmaven 9y agoCalling a compiled Flash app "native" is a bit of a stretch.
- pjmlp 9y agoFlash haters might not be aware, but Flash compiles to native code just like C does. Support was added to workaround Steve Jobs hate for it on iOS.
- webmaven 9y agoYou can compile JS (or pretty much any other language, really) to native code with sufficient effort. I'm not sure that alone is sufficient.
- jasonkostempski 9y agohttp://www.fiftythree.com/pencil http://www.fiftythree.com/pencil https://www.apple.com/apple-pencil/ https://www.apple.com/apple-pencil/ Kind of already an established name in the Apple world.
- inyorgroove 9y agoI recall using this for some prototype work around fall 2011. Apple's claim to the word was moot before this application existed.
- Buttons840 9y agoCan confirm, I also used this at least 4 years ago.
- buovjaga 9y agoYep, the commit history in the old repo goes back to 2008: https://code.google.com/archive/p/evoluspencil/source/default/commits?page=4 https://code.google.com/archive/p/evoluspencil/source/defaul...
- chris_wot 9y agoWe really should considering using this in Libreoffice mockups :-)
- chris_wot 9y agoThis has been around a lot longer than Apple's products.
- cmrx64 9y agohttps://www.apple.com/apple-pencil/ https://www.apple.com/apple-pencil/ https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pencil Kind of already an established name in the English-speaking world. Serious talk though, this kind of comment is worthless.
- 9y ago
- dflock 9y agoBeen using this for a while in it's various incarnations - this one is definitely the best so far. Very useful tool for UI prototyping.
- cmrx64 9y agoI've been an occasional user of Pencil for 5 years (almost to the month). Really glad to see it moving away from XUL.
- zmix 9y ago> Really glad to see it moving away from XUL. Why?
- PleaseHelpMe 9y agoYou may want to take a look at this http://www.zdnet.com/article/mozilla-changes-firefox-apis-developers-unhappy/ http://www.zdnet.com/article/mozilla-changes-firefox-apis-de...
- zmix 9y agoYes, I know. I am one of those "unhappy developers". I had hoped to find some reasoning behind OP's joy of getting rid of XUL. In my opinion XUL is what made Pencil so attractive (native widgets, that can be stuffed with behaviour), Using XUL and an add-on Pencil could have become a full fledged GUI designer, using XSLT to export to various formats.
- cmrx64 9y agoBecause XUL will soon be unmaintained. It's too useful a tool to wither away and die.
- jploh 9y agoBut they're moving to Electron which I wish packed lighter.
- v3ss0n 9y agousing it and thinking about contributing it for long. The team did really ambitious work of dumping XUL and rewriting it in Javascript + HTML. I was one of the first user of new version since they hosted in gitlab , i was astonished that they did the conversion from XUL within just around a month and already working since then.
- sametmax 9y agoVery instable on Linux unfortunatly.
- buithehoa 9y agoHead over to their GitHub page and post your issue. They're pretty responsive.
- sametmax 9y agoI prefer to pay for a stable solution than spend my time on improving an unstable one. Funny, when I was younger it was the contrary.
- v3ss0n 9y agoWhat do you mean by unstable ? The electron version is very smooth on linux. The XUL version was quite slow. Electron version uses less resources .
- v3ss0n 9y agoWhat do you mean by unstable ? The electron version is very smooth on linux. The XUL version was quite slow. Electron version uses less resources .
- v3ss0n 9y agoWhat do you mean by unstable ? The electron version is very smooth on linux. The XUL version was quite slow. Electron version uses less resources .
- luca_ing 9y agoCan't confirm.
- buithehoa 9y agoAs far as I know, most of Pencil developers are on Linux so Pencil is literally developed and tested on Linux most of the time. Today, Pencil reached the #1 spot on both of GitHub trending lists (repositories http://i.imgur.com/4SRsna1.png http://i.imgur.com/4SRsna1.png and developers http://i.imgur.com/JrqTy3k.png http://i.imgur.com/JrqTy3k.png). I can understand that you had some issues with Pencil on Linux but claiming that Pencil is very unstable on Linux is a bit uninformed given its validated quality.
- floatboth 9y agoDid they really need Electron for this? Why not just make it also available as a normal web app with a URL?
- comandillos 9y agoMaybe because they'v been releasing desktop apps for all the previous versions, and doing an Electron app could make users more comfortable with it. Also, Pencil doensn't need high performance requirements, si Electron could be perfectly valid for it (and im not a big fan of it)
- gjjrfcbugxbhf 9y agoThis allows working offline and saving work locally using the native filesystem. A significant improvement over a webapp. My preference goes Full native app > electron >> webapp.
- pjmlp 9y agoI rather have native app > webapp. Really don't get the point of Electron, as I never got the point of XULRunner before. If it is to be a webapp, take advantage of HTML5 features for offline apps, if it is to be native then take advantage of the OS UI/UX features. Something in the middle just feels schizophrenic from UI/UX point of view.
- vogre 9y agoFrom the UX point of view working with local files without logging in somewhere is very precious. From the dev point of view Electron provides the fastest way to make cross-platform app in high-level language.
- pjmlp 9y agoOnly if the she/he doesn't know any other tech besides web. Electron apps are the clear example of putting developer comfort before the user UI/UX.
- LeoNatan25 9y agoLook at screenshot - looks like a terribly fake Mac app. Suspect the obvious. See package.json with Electron in it. Suspicion confirmed. Nope.
- PleaseHelpMe 9y agoThe screenshot is obviously done on a Linux distro. I can see it right there without any suspicion. You must think that the only OS on the world is Mac.
- scanr 9y agoPencil was my go to free wireframing app for some time. Great to see that they are updating it.
- lj3 9y agoMay I ask why you don't use it anymore?
- scanr 9y agoI still like it quite a lot but I find sharing content and collaborating is easier in some of the other apps. Note: I haven't tried the new version yet, so they may be working on this.
- v3ss0n 9y agoNew Version have improved a lot in many areas. I find it a lot easier and distraction free compare to other tools. It get things done easily ( Bootstrap / Material mockup UIs are KILLER!)
- glasz 9y agoapps made with i-cant-learn-the-proper-language-so-i-just-use-one-thats-not-made-for-the-job always feel and perform very badly. at least for me. i mean they call out performance issues right in the first paragraph in the readme. terrible world of half-assed pseudo-native applications.
- nkozyra 9y ago"Can't learn" is rarely the issue. Supporting two or three separate native apps is. For some organizations this is manageable and the right move. For others, resources need to be allocated otherwise and they take the path of least resistance. Most non technical people don't know the difference, aren't checking ram usage, don't have philosophical opposition to writing desktop apps in a browser, etc. If my choice was between writing real native apps and slowing development versus just getting something done, I'd choose the latter, particularly for a project like this one. I understand the complaint, but in practice it's often a developer's quibble.
- z3t4 9y agoWhat language and GUI framework do you suggest ?
- jfaucett 9y agoPencil is awesome. It is my goto prototyping and wireframing tool. I honestly like it better than the other tools with price tags that I've used out there. Somehow it seems noone knows about this, but its doing for mockups/wireframing what Blender does for 3D artists - providing a high quality open source tool that is usable by industry professionals. I hope pencil and their devs get more recognition / funding.
- threepipeproblm 9y agoPencil has many higher-res stencils now, but I prefer the old ones that actually look like Pencil drawings. I have also given this to clients, to have them draw their own UI concepts (as a starting position / way of communicating) with good results.
- kraig911 9y agoSketch, Axure, Balsamiq.... and I still go back to Pencil + Illustrator after all these years.
- vram22 9y agoHow did you find Axure?
- mattkevan 9y agoI use Axure daily, but only after trying pretty much every other wireframing and prototyping tool first. It always looked too ugly and expensive, the Word of wireframing. Having finally got to grips with it, in my experience it blows away everything else. Nothing else compares in terms of features or workflow. But it's still ugly and expensive.
- vram22 9y agoInteresting, thanks for the reply.
- vram22 9y agoI had used Balsamiq to design the forms/screens for a SaaS project for a client (collaboratively with them), and it was not bad. IIRC, response was a little laggy, which might have been because it was built using Adobe AIR (not sure). (I got a free copy of it from Peldi under their scheme for people who develop free / open source software projects.) Has anyone tried Axure (paid product), and if so, how did you find it? Another client that I did a project for, had claimed it was good, when I told him I use Balsamiq.
- brailsafe 9y agoLove pencil and started looking to contribute late last year. Unfortunately I couldn't get it to build properly on MacOS. As a result I couldn't get anything to run, and with practically no documentation at the time I eventually moved on. Hopefully the situation has improved over the year. I'll give it another go soon and see what can be done.
- mbonzo 9y agoHey everyone! Vim Girl here. I've just created a demo of Pencil! If you are interested in seeing how pencil works I built a simple page: https://youtu.be/KTcYMvENb0k https://youtu.be/KTcYMvENb0k
- deleted 9y ago[deleted]