No matter what program or tool one uses to create wireframes, a good set of stencils always helps. In the organizations I’ve worked at, I’ve used everything from PowerPoint, Illustrator, OminGraffle, and Visio. From my discussions with other UX Designers, OmniGraffle (for the Mac) and Visio (for the PC) seem to be the most popular.

If you don’t want to create your own stencils, a good place to start is the Yahoo! Design Pattern Library. They have a set of stencils for Photoshop, Illustrator, OmniGraffle, and Visio. In addition, OmniGraffle users should check out Graffletopia, which has stencils for just about anything. URLGREYHOT also has some for Visio and OmniGraffle that I’ve used before with much success.

A good set of stencils will save you time and help make your wireframes look beautiful and consistent.