# Weapons of mass creation

*2020-03-15*

> The tools I actually use to make things — hardware, software and the stuff in the bag. Nothing sponsored, nothing gifted, no affiliate links, ever.

https://adamstoner.com/weapons/

Everyone has their trade. Everyone needs their tools.

I'm one of those arty-farty media types that calls themselves a creative.

These are my tools – and as with everything on this website, I don’t get paid, accept things for free, or use referral links to earn a commission on anything on this domain. Everything here is an honest recommendation, mentioned because I love their product(s) and think you would get some value from them also.

**Creative tools**

**[Adobe Creative Cloud](https://www.adobe.com/uk/creativecloud.html)**  
Ask any creative what software is imperative to their work and Adobe Creative Cloud will be top of their list, period. There’s not much worth quibbling about here – everyone uses these tools and for good reason: they’re brilliant. I predominantly use Photoshop, InDesign and Illustrator.

**[Avid Pro Tools](https://www.avid.com/pro-tools)**  
Pro Tools is an advanced, industry standard audio editing software. If you're proficient in Pro Tools you're probably proficient in anything. Pro Tools is what I trained with throughout my Radio Production degree and what I continue to use almost six years later. I edit my podcast and [lots of audio for a range of people](https://www.podchaser.com/creators/adam-ayrton-stoner-107a9FVrjZ) using it!

**[Codepen](https://codepen.io)**  
Codepen is a playground for building and testing front-end code. It supports HTML, CSS, and Javascript and has supported the development of pretty much all of the web projects I've made. It's a great way to get something down, play with it, and see changes in realtime.

**[Standard Notes](https://standardnotes.org/)**  
Standard Notes is a multi-platform, end-to-end encrypted, zero-knowledge, cloud-hosted note taking app. If you’re confused by what half of those things mean, read my 2019 post titled ‘Encryption, security, privacy' at /security. Standard Notes is my digital notebook — a bit like Evernote, Bear, or OneNote — but nobody other than me can read it. As well as day-to-day thoughts, it’s also where I keep track of budgets and invoicing for freelance clients, and where I keep my personal journal. It's also where I wrote this blog post before sharing it via the next item on this list...

**[Ghost](https://ghost.org)**
Ghost is the open-source Content Management System (CMS) developed and maintained by the not-for-profit, can’t-be-sold Ghost Foundation. It’s what this website is entirely powered by. They host it for just $36 a month. It's a powerful alternative to Wordpress without the bloatware, plugins, or godforsaken PHP.

**[Podcast.co](https://podcast.co)**  
I’ve used many podcast providers in my time but Podcast.co beat the rest. They don't offer some of the more powerful features that enterprise giants like Omny Studio have – things like dynamic ad insertion – but Podcast.co does do everything a personal podcaster needs, with fantastic support staff and a gorgeous interface to boot.

**File management tools**

**[Dropshare](https://dropshare.app/)**  
Dropshare is an unsung hero. I use Dropshare to share files among friends and freelance clients. It's the final link (quite literally) in getting my paid-for creations to the people who need to see them. It’s a great replacement for WeTransfer (hosted on platforms you control) with support for custom URLs, personal landing pages, and simple security features.

**[CloudMounter](https://cloudmounter.net/)**   
CloudMounter is a great app for using cloud based services as if they were external hard drives. I use it for Dropbox, Backblaze B2, and Google Drive. It's great for managing client assets and for saving back-ups of your work to the cloud.

**[Backblaze](https://backblaze.com)**  
On the subject of back-ups, you better have some. Backblaze is a one-click solution for entire computer backups. It indiscriminately uploads everything from your machine to the cloud with support for one-year version history and more. It's a good belt-and-braces approach to keeping your files safe. I use [Backblaze B2](https://www.backblaze.com/b2/cloud-storage.html), their low-cost cloud archive option, to keep and store files I'm finished with.

**Time and project management tools**

[**Mail**](https://support.apple.com/en-us/HT204093)  
Yeah, Apple's default email client. I just want something to send and read messages and Mail is that thing. Stop overthinking email.

**[Actions](https://moleskinestudio.com/actions) and [Timepage](https://itunes.apple.com/us/app/timepage/id989178902?mt=8&at=1010ldAj&ct=mdshome)**  
I've used nearly every to-do list app there is and Actions, built by Moleskine Studio, is the best. Timepage is their calendar app. I use both to track my time and manage both personal and work projects. Vitally, they work seamlessly with each other and I can access Actions on my desktop.

**What are your tools?**

The processes behind the work people do sometimes fascinates me more than the work itself. Tell me what tools you use – or tools that you think I might like – by emailing [me@adamstoner.com](mailto:me@adamstoner.com) or by tweeting me – I'm [@admstnr](https://twitter.com/admstnr).