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I'm looking for something similar to iPlotz or Mockup.

I've found the Pencil Project, but it requires xulrunner-1.9 (which seems to be incompatible with xulrunner-1.9.2) in order to run as a standalone application. It can be used as a firefox plugin... but it is a bit slower.

The error on my desktop (Ubuntu 10.04) is: Could not find compatible GRE between version 1.9.1 and 1.9.2.*

Does anyone know other software?

Edit: Open-source software is preferred, and it doesn't matter whether or not it's free.

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  • Could you explain what is wrong with Pencil?
    – dv3500ea
    Nov 5, 2010 at 16:48
  • 1
    @dv3500ea, I think he did: I've found Pencil Project, but it require xulrunner-1.9 (seem to be incompatible with xulrunner-1.9.2) to be run as a standalone application; However it can be used as a firefox plugin..but is a bit slower.
    – TheXed
    Nov 5, 2010 at 17:02
  • 1
    I have xulrunner-1.9.2 installed and Pencil runs fine
    – dv3500ea
    Nov 5, 2010 at 17:19
  • @dv3500ea, now im at home with ubuntu 10.10 and it works; this evening on my office desktop with ubuntu 10.04 didnt work, the error message was Could not find compatible GRE between version 1.9.1 and 1.9.2.*
    – Strae
    Nov 5, 2010 at 19:11
  • if you cd into where you have unpacked pencil and xulrunner application.ini, that fixes your initial problem Mar 9, 2012 at 0:47

6 Answers 6

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WireframeSketcher is a rapid wireframing tool for Eclipse-based IDEs like Aptana, Zend Studio and the like. It also comes as a standalone version for all major platforms including Ubuntu. Give it a try.

Sample WireframeSketcher mockup

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  • 3
    It's not free nor open source, but fully functional with some limitations. May 27, 2011 at 0:59
  • @Hendy: i dont mynd the "free" part, is the "not opensource" i dont like much..
    – Strae
    May 27, 2011 at 7:14
  • 1
    @DaNiel: just so you know, certain parts of WireframeSketcher are now open-source. Jul 21, 2011 at 8:46
  • I just intalled it and I am already loving it.
    – lpanebr
    Nov 17, 2011 at 18:37
  • Oooh this thing is bloody expensive.
    – KhoPhi
    Apr 17, 2016 at 23:14
6

After some research, I found Dia, and it's exactly what I was looking for: simple, open and stable.

Maybe I explained my needs badly. More than just software to design layouts, I also needed something that provided the ability to build flowcharts. I tried ArgoUML, too. It looks great, just a bit complicated.

2

Maybe it's not so sophisticated, but you could also try Gazpacho, an UI designer. It's in the repositories.

2

As of Pencil 1.2 it runs on xulrunner 1.9.2 (I'm on Ubuntu 11.04 64-bit).

First install xulrunner 1.9.2 :

sudo apt-get install xulrunner-1.9.2-gnome-support 

If you're still having problems or you're on 64-bit, run it like this:

xulrunner /opt/pencil/application.ini 
4
  • I have xulrunner 1.9.2 on 11.04 and Pencil 1.2 didn't work for me.
    – Jay
    Aug 31, 2011 at 20:23
  • @Jay what the error message looks like ? I've updated my answer, please try it Nov 17, 2011 at 10:28
  • [code]Error: Platform version '2.0' is not compatible with minVersion >= 1.9.1 maxVersion <= 1.9.2.*[/code]
    – Jay
    Nov 23, 2011 at 14:21
  • Pencil can now be installed from the Ubuntu Software app. Pencil's package name is pencil-snap-demo.
    – karel
    Jun 10, 2020 at 1:07
2

Try Balsamiq. It uses Adobe Air and runs properly on Ubuntu.

4
  • Balsamiq doesnt seem to be open source.
    – Strae
    Nov 5, 2010 at 19:12
  • Correct. Balsamiq isn't open source.
    – dv3500ea
    Nov 5, 2010 at 19:20
  • 1
    Shame someone marked this down - the answer came before the question was edited to express a preference for open source. Even then, marking down software for being closed source seems pretty narrow minded (obviously assuming that was why it was marked down...).
    – Scaine
    Jan 4, 2011 at 19:56
  • Specially because Balsamiq seems to be a great tool.
    – mimoralea
    Mar 19, 2014 at 17:56
2

I did a bit of digging and found this. According to it, after you install the latest version of Firefox and Pencil (Pencil's latest version does not come in deb by default, so get the rpm and install with alien -i <rpmname>), edit the application.ini from the Pencil folder in /usr/lib and change the max version mentioned to the version of Firefox you have (the main release version is sufficient, e.g., 16). Then edit usr/bin/evoluspencil, which is nothing but a script to invoke xulrunner. Change /usr/bin/xulrunner to /usr/bin/firefox. Now opening Pencil from the applications menu will work just fine, and Firefox needs not be open for it to run.

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  • 1
    Welcome to Ask Ubuntu. While this link may answer the question, it is better to include the essential parts of the answer here and provide the link for reference. Link-only answers can become invalid if the linked page changes.
    – Peachy
    Sep 25, 2012 at 23:59
  • Thank you for the suggestion, @msPeachy! I have modified the answer. Sep 26, 2012 at 9:43
  • Excellent! This was exactly what I needed!
    – Niklas
    Sep 30, 2012 at 20:28

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