The Web Designer’s Toolbox: A Collection of Cool and Free Graphic Design Stuff

Forget about actions as being those beginner tools you played with when you first started to learn Photoshop and you just had to have that dripping blood text on your home page.

These Photoshop actions will save you a serious chunk of time (and effort) in your day to day design work.

Amazingly Useful Photoshop Actions

PanosFX Reflections – Give any image a trendy reflection without the hassle!

PanosFX Out of Bounds – Make images appear to come to life with the Out of Bounds action. Uses layer masks, so detailed editing is easier.

Remove White Background – When you download stock photos, most come on a white background. Use this set of actions to remove it.

Bottles and Cans – Works best with Photoshop CS4 and above, these actions make it easy to create a soda can, a wine-style bottle and a pill bottle.

Soften Skin Effect – Make sure your clients look their best with this free action that smooths out lines, creases and other detracting facial features while adding a subtle glow and color.

Free Web Design Icons

Satisfy your icon addiction with these crisp, clean and beautifully designed icons – all free for person and commercial use.

Bright! – Over 100 crisp, clean and deliciously bright icons by IconEden

Web Icon Set – Dozens of professional icons for web designers, including mobile icons, payment and e-commerce icons, blogging and applications.

Web UI Treasure Chest – 100+ website elements, from cute stickers to sales buttons to calendar layers and drop down menus. A real-life treasure trove of design elements for your mockups.

Web 2.0 Vector Icons – An incredible collection of Web 2.0-styled icons for a variety of industries including churches, travel, finance and more.

WooThemes Ultimate Icon Set – 79 icons in PNG and GIF format. Registered WooThemes users can download the original Illustrator vector file.

Must-Have Photoshop Brushes

Every good web designer has an arsenal of brushes they can call upon to create incredible effects and add the perfect touch to any page. But no matter what industry you’re designing for, you’ll find that there are a few brushes you always use again and again.

Here are 131 of the most versatile all-purpose Photoshop brushes for every serious designer should have – and they’re free for commercial use, too!

Swirl Photoshop Brushes – 14 brushes to create swirly, curly effects.

Crazy Lines – 26 variations of dots, dashes and squares to create a unique abstract look to your designs. These make great content dividers too.

Halftone Brushes – Create a trendy halftone design with 18 these unique Photoshop brushes. Most are very large (500 pixels and above), making them ideal for desktop wallpaper or backgrounds.

All Signs Point To – 17 arrow brushes for Photoshop – great for drawing attention to your message or pointing out a call to action for your visitors. An image pack is also available if you don’t have Photoshop.

Star Brushes – Not as many as in other star brush packs (there are only 6) but the quality and variety of these realistic star brushes is awe-inspiring. Great for adding some sparkle to any project.

Tech Brushes – Matrix-style effects, hexagons and futuristic blueprints can be yours with this set of 23 sleek brushes.

Grungy and Dirty Brushes – Every designer needs a good set of dirt and grunge brushes, and this set of 27 brushes delivers. High resolution 1000 x 1000 pixel scuffs, scrapes and scratch textures for all your down and dirty deeds.

What Are Some of Your Favorite Tools?

Every designer has a collection of stuff they just can’t live without. What are some of your favorite actions, brushes, icons or other resources? List them below in the comments and share them with us!