Fix My Website: Practical Graphics

Written by Stefene Russell


Continued from page 1

*10,000 Calorie Graphics: Just Say No. Impatient Americans will not wait half an hour for a big fat graphic to download. The rest ofrepparttar world pays for internet access byrepparttar 134751 hour, and can't afford to wait that long.

*The First Magic Number is 100… Most web experts advise keeping pages under 100k for efficient loading. The best program I've come across for shrinking images without compromising their quality is Ulead Smartsaver. You can dowload a copy of SmartSaver 3.0 on ZDNet. http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/stories/info/0,,000MF0,.html And for more info, visitrepparttar 134752 Bandwidth Conservation Society: http://www.infohiway.com/faster/index.html

*The Second Magic number is 216. For best results, stick withrepparttar 134753 216 known web-safe colors. Find out more atrepparttar 134754 Smart Color Picker: http://reallybig.com/resource.php3?catid=21&id=1583

*Thumbnails. If you want so show off photographs of your product, be smart-use thumbnail images in your catalogue that link to a larger version ofrepparttar 134755 photo, sorepparttar 134756 user can choose to clog up his or her phone line, rather than feel ambushed by a huge picture of tap shoes or home-grown herbs. More on that: http://www.collectorsforum.com humbnail.html

*Crimson and Clover, over and over Got a logo or a top bar? Good. Use that puppy on every page for your graphic. If it'srepparttar 134757 same graphic on every page, you'll speed things up for your users; their computer only has to download that image once, thus speeding things along for everyone.

And now, I'll print this list and take it home with me; it's time to get down off my soapbox and follow my own advice!

Stefene Russell is a freelance writer living in Salt Lake City, Utah. She has worked as a print journalist and as Senior Content Producer for citysearch.com. For a free website analysis, email her at stefene@drnunley.com or for a detailed analysis, visit http://www.fixmywebsite.com/analysis.htm


IS YOUR WEB SITE UNFRIENDLY? Part 2 of 9

Written by Laraine Anne Barker


Continued from page 1

Don't forget to specifyrepparttar height and width of images, either. There are two good reasons for this: 1 The image will download a lot quicker becauserepparttar 134750 browser doesn't have to spend more time searching forrepparttar 134751 image size; 2 Whenrepparttar 134752 image finally appears it won't causerepparttar 134753 text that your visitor is reading to suddenly jump downrepparttar 134754 page, which is extremely annoying.

If you are using scanned photographs, or maybe scans of some of your own artwork, make surerepparttar 134755 scans are good ones. Most scans need work doing on them before they are suitable for use. They should be clear and sharp, not looking as though taken withrepparttar 134756 camera slightly out of focus, or as though seen through a white haze. This last fault is very common on web sites. Usually all that needs doing is adjustment ofrepparttar 134757 levels. Even an automatic adjustment can make a big difference.

Consult your scanner or scanning program's instruction book to find out how to make your photos look as much likerepparttar 134758 original as possible, or how to correct a scan of a faulty photograph. The better your scanner, of course,repparttar 134759 less work you'll have to do on your scans.

Laraine Anne Barker writes fantasy for young people. Visit her web site at http://lbarker.orcon.net.nz for FREE stories and novel excerpts. Sign up for the NOVELLA OF THE MONTH CLUB, absolutely FREE!


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