You will now see your text with, what looks like, marching ants around it. If you'd like to move your text, click and hold your left mouse button to drag your text to your desired position.

With your text still selected (with marching ants), at top of screen, go to "Image" then "Effects" then "Drop Shadow." This will launch "Drop Shadow" window. Your image will be viewable with drop shadow in little window at right. You can try different settings until you achieve shadow effect you desire.

Another text effect that is popular will display your text in a graduated color effect. Your text can be displayed with a dark color at top and gradually get lighter or just opposite.

To achieve this effect, foreground (top box) color must first be set to white. Next, click on text tool and follow same procedure for displaying your text. You should now see your text displayed as "marching ants," only with no color. Now you'll need to select a dark color for your foreground color and a light color for your background color.

Once you've selected your colors, click on "Flood Fill" icon on left. To change effects of Flood Fill tool, locate little box on your screen that says, "Controls" then click on "Tool Controls." Under "Fill Style" select "Linear Gradient" and then click on "Options" at bottom. The "Blend Mode" should be set to normal. In order to select which color will be at top of your text, where it says, "Degrees" type in either 0 or 180 depending on your desired effect, then click OK. Now place your mouse over each letter and fill it by clicking on your mouse.

After you've filled your text, you can either create shadow effect or "right click" on your mouse to deselect your text.

If you'd like to decrease your graphics window size, click on "Selection tool" on left (dotted rectangle) and select portion of your graphic that you'd like to display within your new sized image. Click on "Edit" then "Copy" then "Edit" - "Paste as a new image."

After you've completed your graphic, go to "File" then "Save As" and select a folder. Type in a name for your graphic and save your new file in .GIF format. The program will prompt you and ask you if it's all right to reduce your file to 256 colors. Click on yes. Your new graphic is now saved.

Now that you've mastered these new techniques, try them with some of your other images. The drop shadow effect can be used with photographs or just about any image you'd like. Try graduated color effect with your banners or image backgrounds and give your graphics a professional look.

- Avoid using too many animated graphics

- Optimize your graphics

- Avoid using any unnecessary code

- Avoid making your pages too large

- Avoid using too much Java

- Avoid using too many JavaScripts

If a page takes too long to load, your potential customer will not wait. Ultimately costing you business.