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Pencil - Sketching and Prototyping with Firefox

82 points by toni 15y ago

csomar 15y ago
What's the advantages of using FireFox as your platform? Why not use HTML5/CSS3 or a cross-os platform like Adobe Air?
- arkitaip 15y ago
  It's a free tool and makes rapid prototyping possible. Also, Firefox as a platform is free and widely available. The app itself is fairly good; not as powerful as, say, Balsamiq, but still better than many other options (e.g. Visio).
- toni 15y ago
  You can make cross-platform standalone applications with Firefox too: use XULRunner to package your HTML5/CSS3 application. As matter of fact, Firefox itself is built on top of XULRunner. The advantage of XULRunner over AIR is that your users don't need to have AIR runtimes installed.
  - infocaptor 15y ago
    Can I use XULRunner to package my php based app into desktop standalone http://www.mockuptiger.com http://www.mockuptiger.com It is rendering using html5 and lot of javascript but then would have to convert from php to pure html and then use XULRunner
thousande 15y ago
For Firefox 3.5??? Could not find any compatible versions for 9.0
- Qz 15y ago
  3.5+
slindsey 15y ago
Better link: http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Home.aspx http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Home.aspx This page has a version that says "Compatible with Firefox 4 to 11" I did use this a few years ago and it was pretty good. Think of it as a really stripped version of Balsamiq Mockups (http://www.balsamiq.com/ http://www.balsamiq.com/)
- toni 15y ago
  Sorry for posting an outdated link. There is also their svn repository at http://code.google.com/p/evoluspencil/ http://code.google.com/p/evoluspencil/
Sodaware 15y ago
There's also standalone version on the downloads page if you don't want to use it as a Firefox addon: http://www.evolus.vn/Pencil/Downloads.html http://www.evolus.vn/Pencil/Downloads.html
- deyan 15y ago
  Just a quick note that the standalone version has a number of bugs (e.g. plugins might not install, templates might not install, etc.). So if you get an error, try the Firefox based one which works very well.
- jack12 15y ago
  There's a newer version (1.3.4 vs. 1.0.6/1.1rc2) at http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Downloads/Application.aspx http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Downloads/Application.aspx I don't know if it fixes any of the problems deyan mentions (or which version he used), but 1.3 is about 2 years newer than the version on their older site. They really should delete the old copy of their website's URLs, and redirect to their new site.
giffc 15y ago
I admit to finding the name a bit off-putting. There is an amazing low-fidelity, highly iterative, and agile-friendly sketching tool and it is called a real pencil. On gasp paper. Not that I don't use digital tools too, but I am often surprised how rarely people go analog when it can be invaluable.
- archivator 15y ago
  True but often you need to present your design in a more professional environment and throwing together a sample UI in a matter of minutes can come quite handy.

82 points by toni 15y ago

csomar 15y ago

What's the advantages of using FireFox as your platform? Why not use HTML5/CSS3 or a cross-os platform like Adobe Air?

arkitaip 15y ago
It's a free tool and makes rapid prototyping possible. Also, Firefox as a platform is free and widely available. The app itself is fairly good; not as powerful as, say, Balsamiq, but still better than many other options (e.g. Visio).
toni 15y ago
You can make cross-platform standalone applications with Firefox too: use XULRunner to package your HTML5/CSS3 application. As matter of fact, Firefox itself is built on top of XULRunner. The advantage of XULRunner over AIR is that your users don't need to have AIR runtimes installed.
- infocaptor 15y ago
  Can I use XULRunner to package my php based app into desktop standalone http://www.mockuptiger.com http://www.mockuptiger.com It is rendering using html5 and lot of javascript but then would have to convert from php to pure html and then use XULRunner

thousande 15y ago

For Firefox 3.5??? Could not find any compatible versions for 9.0

Qz 15y ago
3.5+

slindsey 15y ago

Better link: http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Home.aspx http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Home.aspx This page has a version that says "Compatible with Firefox 4 to 11" I did use this a few years ago and it was pretty good. Think of it as a really stripped version of Balsamiq Mockups (http://www.balsamiq.com/ http://www.balsamiq.com/)

toni 15y ago
Sorry for posting an outdated link. There is also their svn repository at http://code.google.com/p/evoluspencil/ http://code.google.com/p/evoluspencil/

Sodaware 15y ago

There's also standalone version on the downloads page if you don't want to use it as a Firefox addon: http://www.evolus.vn/Pencil/Downloads.html http://www.evolus.vn/Pencil/Downloads.html

deyan 15y ago
Just a quick note that the standalone version has a number of bugs (e.g. plugins might not install, templates might not install, etc.). So if you get an error, try the Firefox based one which works very well.
jack12 15y ago
There's a newer version (1.3.4 vs. 1.0.6/1.1rc2) at http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Downloads/Application.aspx http://pencil.evolus.vn/en-US/Downloads/Application.aspx I don't know if it fixes any of the problems deyan mentions (or which version he used), but 1.3 is about 2 years newer than the version on their older site. They really should delete the old copy of their website's URLs, and redirect to their new site.

giffc 15y ago

I admit to finding the name a bit off-putting. There is an amazing low-fidelity, highly iterative, and agile-friendly sketching tool and it is called a real pencil. On gasp paper. Not that I don't use digital tools too, but I am often surprised how rarely people go analog when it can be invaluable.

archivator 15y ago
True but often you need to present your design in a more professional environment and throwing together a sample UI in a matter of minutes can come quite handy.