WYSIWYG the Web

Adobe Systems is introducing a new application codenamed Muse. Built on its AIR platform, Muse lets users create and publish Web sites in the company's InDesign or Illustrator software. Adobe promises it will simplify the process for designers. Adobe says part of the reason to build such a tool stemmed from a study it did that found most Web design products require users to learn code, something that could be problematic for the more than half of designers surveyed who still did mainly print work.

The software lets users design a Web site using a familiar Adobe creative tool set, plugging in backgrounds, headers, footers, menus and Web widgets in WYSIWYG menus. Page assets like photos and image elements can then be worked on in the company's other design software including Photoshop. Designers can see how their work looks by loading it up in a built-in browser, or sending it to open in a browser that's installed on their computer.

Muse is being offered up as a standalone app, and has not been designed to interact with Dreamweaver, the company's other Web design software product. It cannot, for instance, open up Dreamweaver files, or offer a way to make edits to Muse code within Dreamweaver.