[Reviews] Balsamiq Mockups For Desktop
Overview
Have you ever had a great idea for how to layout a website design, or inspiration for a new app, only to struggle to express to coworkers and friends how you think it should look? Perhaps you tried designing it in Photoshop but were frustrated with how long it took, or drew it on a napkin only to have the napkin thrown away. Either way, you needed a better way to show others your ideas in a quick, intuitive, and simple way. Balsamiq Mockups for Desktop is a great, simple app that promises to do just that. You can quickly create mockups of apps, websites, and more, then demonstrate or share them with others. The mockups look like they are hand sketched so everyone will understand it’s just a wireframe, not a final UI. Best of all, it runs on all major desktop platforms thanks to Adobe Air.
Installation
Balsamiq Mockups is quick and easy to setup. It’s powered by the free Adobe Air, so you’ll first need to make sure you have it installed on your computer. Then head over to Balsamiq’s website (link below) and click Install Mockups to get started.
Simply click Install and select your installation options to complete setup.
Within seconds you’ll be ready to start making quick and useful mockups on your desktop.
Balsamiq Mockups runs great on recent versions of Windows, Linux, and Mac OS X, so no matter what computer you’re using, you’ll be sure to be able to create mockups.
By default, you’ll be able to use Balsamiq Mockups for free for a 7 day demo. Once you’ve purchased a key, click the Register link on the bottom of the window.
Enter your licensee name and serial key as you received in your email receipt after purchasing it, and then click Activate.
Now you’re ready to keep making all the mockups you need.
Features
When you first startup Balsamiq Mockups, you’re presented with a blank graph to create your new mockups, along with a vast array of UI elements to add to your mockup. Simply drag and drop the UI section you want onto the graph page to start using it.
If your new element contains text, you’ll see a text box with the default text covering your UI element at first. Simply enter the text you want, separating buttons with commas and sections with hard returns; just use the default text as your example, and it should be easy to get it to look like you want. You’ll also notice a tool pallet open with editing, layering, and other tools ready to use with this element.
Depending on the element you added, you’ll see more tools that fit that element, including links, scrollbars, selected items, and more. These make it very easy to make your demo look as full-featured as you wish.
Drag and resize elements as you need, and Balsamiq Mockups will help you get it looking right as snap-lines automatically appear to help you line elements up as you need.
There are tons of included UI elements to quickly add to your mockup. Scroll through them from the All button, or select a UI item button to filter the items.
Alternately, search for an item you want from the Quick Add search box on the top.
If you ever find yourself lacking for UI tools that you want to add to your mockups, check out the MockupsToGo site (link below). Here you can download dozens of premade Balsamiq Mockup files for free containing a wide variety of useful elements. Just download and open the resources you want, then open them in Mockup and copy the elements to your designs.
Once you’re finished making your mockup, you can save it or export as PNG, PDF, or XML.
Alternately, you can demo your app idea with the full-screen presenter mode. Here’s our example mockup, which only took us around 5 minutes to put together.
Conclusion
Balsamiq Mockups for Desktop makes it amazingly quick and easy to get your ideas on the screen looking like a real, running app. The graphics included are high quality and let your mockups clearly show that they are not the final product. But, we’ve found it useful to create quick tutorials for using programs as well, so you may find other uses for Balsamiq Mockups. Best of all, it’s fully cross platform, which makes it easy to use no matter what computer you’re using. Balsamiq Mockups is easy to use, and empowers anyone to mockup their ideas quickly and easily.
Balsamiq Mockups for Desktop costs $79, and runs on recent versions of Windows, OS X, and Linux via Adobe Air. You can download a free 7 day trial from their site, or try a demo version directly in your browser. Balsamiq Mockups for Desktop is licensed per user, so you may install it on your desktop and laptop for no additional charge as long as you’re the primary user. You’ll also get free updates for the life of the app. Whether you’re on your MacBook, Linux netbook, or Windows 7 PC, you can always make quick mockups and get your ideas one step closer to completion.
Purchase and Download Balsamiq Mockups Desktop
Extra Links:
Download and install Adobe Air
Download extra UI Components from MockupsToGo
Balsamiq Mockups Documentation
Test-drive Balsamiq Mockups Online
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