Macaw is a new application that’s perfect for front end web developers. It churns out semantic, valid HTML with very easy customisable CSS. The designs are responsive and easy to work out when the code is exported. Easily, one of the best new additions to any designers tool kit. With the influx of design tools this day and age, the modern web designer has more options than the combination of Photoshop and Dreamweaver to get their code out there.
Whether you work with mock up first and then go straight to code, or if you start your work in Photoshop and code last. Macaw is interesting because you skip that step between the draft code and the final output. You visually lay out what you want to happen, and then just polish it further. It’s sort of where Sketch and Dreamweaver meet in between.
The idea for Macaw sparked when Adam Christ and Tom Giannattasio noticed the bridge between designers and developers. They started a kickstarter, with a targeted goal of $75,000 to fund the software. On the first day, they had already surpassed the amount – showing the design community’s clear cut need for this tool. Initially launched for early backers in mid January, and with a stable release just coming out earlier this April. Macaw has been making waves all month as designers are enjoying the program.
FEATURES
Here are some of the features, I’ve been loving:
- Responsive Code – Macaw is mobile first! It does everything from 100% width sections to fluid code.
- Global Styles – You can apply designs/settings to more than one element, and it carries to everything with that style.
- Typography – has excellent support for web fonts!
- Interactive – You can also add scripts.
Not convinced? Check out this work flow.
Having had the weekend to play around with the trial itself, I’m really quite pleased with the potential of the program. I’ve recently made the shift from Mac to Windows, so I’ve been looking for an alternative to Coda. Most of what I’ve been hearing about Macaw has been really good so far, and I whole-heartedly agree.
If you want more of the latest Web Design tools, you can check out our list of 15 Web Apps for Web Designers. Have you used it yet? Or do you have any thoughts? Suggestions for alternatives? Let us know your thoughts by leaving a comment below. You can also hit us up on our Facebook, Twitter and Google+ profiles. Lastly, our RSS Feeds is open for subscription, so that you can stay creative.