Graphics Considerations

 

My site takes too load - Why? Don't be a "band-width hog." An anachronism for someone who does not take the time to reduce images on their web sites to optimize load time and graphic quality. To quote one of our homesteaders, "do you get my drift?" This reference is a good place to start.

Graphic Types (Most Common)

GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) - The gif file format was developed in 1987 by CompuServe. It is now used widely on the web. It was created because a graphic format was needed that could be used by everyone. It is often used for clip art type pictures or images that have few distinct colors. It supports 8 bits. Gif images use indexed color therefore they support the use of 256 colors. Gifs use a loss less compression algorithm. This means that you can save over the gif format as many times as you want an it won't change the way the image looks. Information is not lost about the image when you save the file. Gifs can also be saved with transparency which means that you can take an image and pull out a color so that it fits well on the background of your web page. Gifs can also be used to create animations.

JPEG (Joint Photographic Experts Group) - This file format was created by the Joint Photographic Experts Group. It was created out of the need to compress gray scale or full color images. Jpeg images are saved in a compressed format. It allows for differing degrees of compression. It is able to handle more than 256 colors. In fact is supports millions of colors. Photos saved in this format will appear close to their original state, without losing their crispness. This file format also presents gradients very well, but it does not support transparency. The jpeg format is one of the two most widely used format for images on the web. JPEG is a lousy file format. Each time you save a jpeg it take some of the information and throws it away. Therefore the more you save over a JPEG the worse your picture will look. Always use the original when you are making changes and saving the file so that this doesn't happen.

Permission - It's important to remember that most online content is protected by copyright. To use an image from the Web, you must either first get permission from the original owner.

Use sparingly - Graphics should be used sparingly to enhance the content of your creation, not be the focus. A web site creation without content will normally not hold a readers attention.

Size of your graphics as previously mentioned determines the page load time, so if you consider that it takes about 1000 bytes (1K) of data to fill a screen with plain text but this little icon takes nearly 9K, you will start to understand the predicament.

Indiscriminate use of graphics, no matter how cool, will only antagonize the reader to the point that they will switch off the automatic graphics download in their browser - and all the designer's efforts will be wasted.

I was asked to make a recommendation for users who have limited monetary resources for making clean compressed screen shots, in August 2006. Although I have other resources, the request allowed me to again learn something of value.

My friends after using the freeware Hover Snap I initially had limited results using a full screen capture.

Since the full screen was always fuzzy I worked with different Hover Snap settings and how to make better and clearer full screen shots.

After these experiments I set the capture at jpeg with a resolution of 400x300 px after minimizing the browser panes for a full screen capture and this resulted in a little less than 400 px width. You can set the maximum width to anything less than the full screen.

I then submitted the saved Hover Snap jpeg to another freeware source, JPEG Wizard Online Image Optimizer! and have attached the result to let you see what it looks like.

Using my resources, doing the same as above and then comparing the results, unless a viewer has a 3D Graphics Card with a mother board, there will be no discernable difference in the viewing quality.

Your friend, Denny

P. S. Use Opera 9.01 as your browser, go to view: set to full screen and no browser panes are present, then Hover Snap capture.

Use escape to return to the normal browser window.

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