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CSS

Posted by Tunde Adegoroye
Tunde Adegoroye
20,597 Points

Is edge reflow a prototyping tool

I've only just discovered edge reflow but it seems to make life a hell of a lot easier the concern is does anyone think this is better as a prototyping tool ? Or should the css actually be copied to build responsive websites

2 Answers

Zak Erving
Zak Erving
22,832 Points

Hi Tunde,

Adobe Edge Reflow is a superb prototyping tool, and I haven't really had any problems with copy/pasting the CSS into a working document to create responsive sites. My only concern with it is that at present, copy/pasting loads of CSS can have a severe bloating effect on your final polished site. It might be worth your while to use Reflow as that critical Step 1 of web design (esp. w/ client presentations), and then using the generated CSS to create smooth, simplified Sass so you don't overdo anything in your style sheets.

But Reflow is still in its infancy, so who knows what grandiose plans Adobe has for it. If you're like me and have more experience in print design than web, it might be worth your while to tinker with Reflow to get a more robust working knowledge of break points and inline/float properties.

Sarah Bradberry
Sarah Bradberry
7,115 Points
Sarah Bradberry
Sarah Bradberry
7,115 Points

I haven't used reflow but have used auto generated fluid code in dreamweaver before (in fact, I just stripped it all out of my site a week ago so I could make it properly responsive - still working on that).

I find that using auto code generating tools like this is great for speed but you really need to understand the code as well to make everything look exactly the way you want or if you're incorporating anything else into your site that you need to thee to match existing html (if you want to make a wordpress theme etc)

Whether you would use it as a design prototyping tool may be a matter of personal preference. I know I'd waste a lot of time playing with different looks and could probably come up with something much faster making a wireframe in something like photoshop.