Book Image

Balsamiq Wireframes Quickstart Guide

By : Scott Faranello
Book Image

Balsamiq Wireframes Quickstart Guide

By: Scott Faranello

Overview of this book

<p>Balsamiq Mockups is an easy to use, engaging tool for anyone looking to strategize and brainstorm ideas around product design and information architecture. With Balsamiq, you can strategize, create, prototype and present your ideas clearly and effectively to audiences large and small.<br /><br />"Balsamiq Wireframes Quickstart Guide" is a fast paced and easy to follow instructional book that gets you up and running quickly while challenging you to be the best you can be using the tool. With this book in hand, it will take only minutes to present an idea on screen.<br /><br />Wireframing is one of the key steps of effective user interface design and architecture. Finding the right tools to get your thoughts onto the page quickly and clearly is vital to your success. This book will have you on your way in no time. "Balsamiq Mockups Quickstart Guide" will walk you through the entire application in a fast, simple and engaging way. You will be presented with wireframe samples, exercises and real-world examples that will engage, challenge and enable you to become an expert wireframer and Balsamiq user. Whether you are looking to communicate ideas to your team, a client, a product manager, an IT developer, or if you are wireframing for the fun of it, this book is for you. By the time you are finished, you will have mastered the tools to do whatever your mind can think up. The rest is up to you.</p>
Table of Contents (13 chapters)

XML in Balsamiq


Balsamiq is a very unique application and we have seen many aspects of that throughout this book. Now, I want to bring to your attention yet another unique feature that turns mild mannered wireframes into raw XML code in an instant.

For the record, I am not a developer and this is not a development book. Nevertheless, for those who are, I am sure you will find this functionality quite useful.

Exporting wireframes as XML

Exporting XML allows you to share raw XML code via e-mail, as imported code into applications that play nice with Balsamiq, like Napkee, http://www.napkee.com—more on that in the next chapter—or you can export it back into Balsamiq to create new pages or widgets.

To use the export feature, simply select File | Export Mockup XML. As with exporting to PNG, you can select an entire page or just portions of the page. In addition, once exported you may also see various dialogue boxes, based on what you are attempting to export.

For example, refer to the following screenshot...