Recently a new version of the Pencil Project has come out which brings forth a set of new features. For those who don’t know the Pencil is an open source and community driven, UI design tool which originated as a Firefox extension (best extension of 2008). This new version however has stepped out of the browser and people can install this as a stand alone application. Other new features include the ability to interlink pages, export to various file formats, as well the creation of a Personal Collection (a library of sorts).

Another pretty cool feature is the Clipart Browser. The Pencil allows you to search the open directory over at clipart.org and insert SVG graphics straight into your mockup. Love it. :) Other than that, one minor area which could use some improvement is the handling of a group of items or reusing them across screens. Quite often UI tools either come with some sort of grouping or master functionality which seems to be missing here.

Give it a spin right here.

Tags: opensource
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