Modern web development involves a large number of small technical decisions. Colors need to work together, dimensions need to be converted between CSS units, layouts need to be tested, shadows and gradients need to be defined, and structured data needs to be prepared in a format that search engines can process.
Phoca provides a collection of browser based tools for these tasks. The tools are available directly from the Phoca Tools page and cover areas ranging from color and typography to CSS layout, image dimensions, accessibility and structured data.
The collection also includes a dedicated HEIC Converter for converting HEIC images to more commonly supported image formats.
This article describes the individual tools and explains where they can fit into a typical web design and development workflow.
Color
The Color tool is intended for working with a selected color and generating related color values.
The tool uses HSL based color relationships to create schemes derived from a selected hue. This can be useful when a design starts with one primary color and additional colors are required for interface elements.
The generated relationships include:
- Complementary colors
- Shades
- Related color combinations
- UI color swatches
HSL is particularly useful when working with interfaces because hue, saturation and lightness can be considered independently. Changing lightness, for example, can produce a lighter or darker version of an existing color without changing its basic hue.
The tool can therefore be used during the early stages of a design system, when the main color has been selected but supporting colors have not yet been defined.
Palette
The Palette tool focuses on a more detailed analysis of a single color.
Instead of generating only a basic color relationship, it provides a broader palette containing tints, shades and color pairings. The tool also includes contrast checks and live UI mockups.
This makes it useful when a color needs to be evaluated in an interface context rather than only as an isolated color value.
For example, a designer can start with a brand color and examine lighter and darker variants for backgrounds, borders, buttons and other interface elements. Contrast checking can then help determine whether selected foreground and background combinations meet accessibility requirements.
The live interface examples provide an additional way to evaluate whether the resulting palette works as part of an interface rather than only as a list of hexadecimal values.
Gradient
The Gradient tool is designed for creating CSS gradients.
It supports several gradient types:
- Linear gradients
- Radial gradients
- Conic gradients
- Mesh gradients
The tool also provides color harmony presets and a grain texture option. The resulting definitions can be exported for use in CSS, Tailwind CSS or SVG.
Gradient creation can otherwise involve repeated adjustment of angles, color stops, positions and opacity values. A visual interface allows these parameters to be changed while observing the resulting gradient.
The CSS output can then be used as a starting point for implementation. For projects using utility based CSS, Tailwind output provides another way to transfer the result into an existing workflow.
SVG export is useful when the gradient needs to be part of a vector based graphic rather than a CSS background.
Shadow
The Shadow tool provides a visual interface for creating layered box shadows and text shadows.
Shadow parameters can be adjusted by dragging the offset, while presets provide starting configurations.
The resulting shadow can be exported to CSS, Tailwind CSS or SVG.
CSS shadows are controlled by several parameters, including horizontal and vertical offset, blur, spread and color. When multiple shadows are combined, writing and adjusting the declarations manually can become less convenient.
A visual editor is useful in this situation because each layer can be adjusted while the resulting appearance is visible immediately.
The tool can also be used when creating a consistent shadow scale for a design system. Several shadow levels can be defined and then translated into reusable CSS declarations or Tailwind configuration.
Pattern
The Pattern tool generates tileable background patterns.
Available pattern types include:
- Dots
- Stripes
- Grid
- Checks
- Crosshatch
- Triangles
The generated patterns can be exported to CSS, Tailwind CSS or SVG.
Tileable patterns are useful for backgrounds where a small repeating definition is preferable to a large raster image. Depending on the pattern and implementation, this can reduce the need for additional image assets.
CSS based patterns can also be adjusted after export. This allows parameters such as size, spacing and colors to be integrated into the site's existing design system.
SVG export provides another option when the pattern is needed as a vector asset.
Grid
The Grid tool provides a visual interface for creating CSS Grid layouts.
Tracks can be resized visually, and named grid template areas can be created by painting the desired areas directly in the interface.
The resulting layout can be exported to:
- CSS
- Tailwind CSS
- HTML
CSS Grid provides a layout model based on rows and columns. Properties such as grid-template-columns, grid-template-rows and grid-template-areas can become difficult to manage when a layout contains multiple tracks and named regions.
A visual representation makes the relationship between the tracks and named areas easier to inspect.
Named areas are particularly useful for layouts containing regions such as headers, navigation, main content, sidebars and footers. Once the structure has been established visually, the generated CSS can be used as the basis for the actual page implementation.
Flexbox
The Flexbox tool provides a visual environment for working with CSS Flexbox.
Items can be reordered by dragging them, and an edge can be dragged to change the flex-basis value.
The result can be exported to CSS, Tailwind CSS or HTML.
Flexbox is frequently used for one dimensional layouts, including navigation bars, button groups, card rows and component level alignment. Its behavior depends on several properties, including flex-direction, justify-content, align-items, gap, flex-grow, flex-shrink and flex-basis.
A visual builder can be useful when testing how these properties interact.
For example, changing the basis of one item can affect the available space for other items. Reordering items can also demonstrate how the visual order differs from the source order. This can be important when designing responsive components.
Units
The Units tool is a CSS unit converter.
It supports:
pxremempt%degradgradturnmss
The converter provides immediate results and includes a reference table for the selected value.
Different CSS units have different purposes. For example, px is commonly used for fixed dimensions, while rem and em are relative to font sizes. Angular units such as deg, rad, grad and turn are used by properties and functions involving rotation or other angular values. Time units such as ms and s are used for transitions and animations.
A conversion tool is useful when translating values between design specifications and CSS implementations.
For example, a design system may define spacing in pixels while the implementation uses rem. Similarly, animation specifications may be provided in seconds while a particular CSS declaration is easier to compare in milliseconds.
The reference table is useful when a developer needs to check several related values rather than convert only one number.
Fonts
The Fonts tool provides a font directory with live specimens and font pairing suggestions.
Typography decisions are easier to evaluate when fonts are viewed in actual text rather than only by their font names. Live specimens allow the characteristics of a typeface to be compared in a more practical context.
Font pairing is also an important part of interface design. A heading typeface and a body typeface need to work together in terms of proportions, weight and overall readability.
The tool can therefore be used during typography selection before font definitions are added to a site's CSS or design system.
When selecting fonts for a production website, the resulting choice should also be evaluated in relation to loading performance, available weights, language support, licensing and the actual rendering environment.
Contrast
The Contrast tool checks color contrast according to WCAG contrast ratios.
A selected color can be compared against white, black and the 16 standard CSS colors. The tool provides an immediate AA and AAA pass or fail result.
Contrast is an accessibility requirement rather than only a visual preference. Text and interface elements need sufficient contrast against their background so that they remain readable for users with different visual abilities and viewing conditions.
The tool can be used when checking combinations for:
- Body text
- Headings
- Buttons
- Links
- Form elements
- Interface labels
- Background and foreground combinations
A contrast check should be performed on the actual colors used in the interface. A color combination that appears acceptable in a design application may still require verification against the relevant WCAG criteria.
Aspect Ratio
The Aspect Ratio tool calculates dimensions based on an image or video aspect ratio.
Common ratios include:
- 16:9
- 4:3
- 21:9
- 1:1
The tool also includes common video, photo and screen resolutions for each ratio.
Aspect ratio calculations are useful when preparing responsive media, thumbnails, video containers and image components. Instead of calculating the second dimension manually, a known width or height can be combined with the selected ratio.
For example, a 16:9 container can be calculated from its width before the corresponding height is specified in a layout. This is also relevant when defining responsive image containers or checking whether an existing image fits the dimensions required by a design.
Aspect ratio should be distinguished from the actual pixel resolution. Two images can have the same 16:9 ratio while having completely different resolutions.
Schema
The Schema tool is intended for creating structured data based on schema.org.
It focuses on JSON-LD snippets used for search engine structured data and includes quality checks, a SERP preview and exportable snippets.
Structured data provides machine readable information about the content of a page. JSON-LD is one of the commonly used formats for implementing this information.
A schema definition can contain properties describing an entity such as an article, organization, product, event or other supported schema.org type. The exact properties depend on the selected schema type.
The tool is intended for users who need more control over structured data than a simple form based generator provides. The quality checks can help identify incomplete or incorrectly configured values before the JSON-LD is added to a website.
The SERP preview provides a visual representation of how selected structured information can relate to search result presentation. It should not be interpreted as a guarantee of a particular search result appearance, since search engines decide whether and how structured data is displayed.
For production websites, generated JSON-LD should still be reviewed against the current schema.org vocabulary and the structured data documentation of the relevant search engine.
HEIC Converter
The collection is complemented by the HEIC Converter.
HEIC is an image container commonly associated with images produced by Apple devices. It can provide efficient image storage, but compatibility is not identical across all operating systems, applications, browsers and content management workflows.
A conversion tool is useful when a HEIC image needs to be used in an environment that expects another image format.
The HEIC Converter addresses this specific part of the image workflow. It can be used when an image received from a mobile device or another source needs to be converted before it is uploaded to a website, processed by an image application or shared with software that does not support the original format.
For websites, the choice of output format should depend on the intended use. Conversion should take into account image quality, file size, browser support and whether the image is intended for editing or final publication.
How the Tools Fit Together
The individual tools cover different stages of the same general workflow.
A developer or designer working on a new interface might start with Color or Palette to define the basic color relationships. The Contrast tool can then be used to check whether the selected combinations meet accessibility requirements.
The Fonts tool can be used to evaluate typography, while Units helps translate dimensions between common CSS units.
For visual styling, Gradient, Shadow and Pattern address common background and component effects.
Layout work can then be tested using Grid and Flexbox. The Aspect Ratio calculator can be used alongside this work when media dimensions need to be calculated.
Finally, Schema addresses a different layer of the website. It works with structured information that describes the content of the page to machines and search engines.
The HEIC Converter is separate from the CSS and web development tools, but it can be useful during the content preparation stage when images arrive in HEIC format.
CSS and Development Workflows
Several of the tools are designed with direct code output in mind. Gradient, Shadow and Pattern can produce CSS, Tailwind CSS or SVG output, while Grid and Flexbox can produce CSS, Tailwind CSS or HTML.
This distinction is useful because the tools are not limited to visual experimentation. The generated result can be inspected and incorporated into an existing project.
Generated code should still be reviewed before being committed to a production codebase. Developers may need to adapt variable names, combine declarations, remove unused properties or integrate the result with existing CSS architecture.
The same principle applies to generated structured data. A Schema result should be checked against the actual content of the page and the requirements of the target schema vocabulary.
Browser Based Tools for Small Technical Tasks
Many web development tasks are relatively small in isolation. A developer may only need to calculate a rem value, verify a contrast ratio, determine the height of a 16:9 container or check the behavior of a particular Flexbox configuration.
These tasks do not necessarily require a complete design application or a large development environment.
The Phoca Tools collection brings these individual tasks into one location. Each tool addresses a specific problem and provides a visual or calculated result that can be transferred into a development workflow.
For image conversion, the separate HEIC Converter provides a focused solution for working with HEIC images.
Conclusion
The Phoca web tools cover a range of practical tasks encountered during website design and development. The collection includes color analysis, palette creation, gradients, shadows, patterns, CSS Grid, Flexbox, unit conversion, typography, contrast checking, aspect ratio calculations and structured data generation.
The tools differ in purpose, but they share a common approach: define parameters visually or numerically, inspect the result and, where applicable, export it into a format that can be used in a website project.
For developers, designers and SEO specialists, the tools can serve as small utilities throughout the development process rather than as a replacement for the development environment itself.
The complete collection can be accessed through Phoca Tools. The dedicated HEIC Converter is available separately.