SiteCrafting, Inc.

It is an unfortunate fact of internet life that not all browsers are made equal. Pages viewed in Firefox may look completely different in Internet Explorer or Safari. Most developers consider this a very frustrating part of the development process, and often wish there was an easier way to test things out. Enter Adobe's BrowserLab. Given a publicly accessible URL, BrowserLab will generate full-size images that depict how a given page will appear in various browsers.

The free service Browsershots and the paid service Litmus also attempt to address this need, but Adobe's offering is the first to bring together both a well-designed interface and a price tag of $0.

One of the most useful features of BrowserLab are the viewing options available. Aside from the standard 1-up view (viewing the page with a single browser) a 2-up view is also available. This will render a page in two browsers of your choice side-by-side and will even lock scrolling to make it easier to compare the two.

The "Onion Skin" view is the third option, which is a unique view that will lay one browser's view over another. This view comes with a slider that allows you to transition from one browser to the other. If you want everything consistent down to the last pixel, this is going to be your favorite.

While the selection of available browsers is not comprehensive, it does cover the most common use scenarios which is acceptable for most cases. Opera and Google Chrome are the most obvious omissions from the list. While not a deal-breaker for me, it is something to be aware of if compatibility with browsers is important for your project. Another shortcoming is that, being images, you cannot interact with the page being tested. This means that testing for JavaScript and CSS events is not possible.

Adobe's offering is very compelling, and currently holds the crown, at least in my opinion, for the most effective cost-free option for testing multiple browsers. It's sleek interface, viewing options, and reasonable selection of browsers make it a snap to ensure your site looks consistent across the board.