A major problem with web page designs is the way in which images (usually pictures) are handled. We run across this on a daily basis - sitting on a high speed connection I hit a site and all of a sudden the pictures crawl slowly to the screen, even though it might be postage stamp size! If you run across this and take a look at the size of the image, normally you will find that the filesize is HUGE...much bigger than is warranted by the displayed images. This has occured because the image was not resized to the proper dimensions, but instead a WIDTH and HEIGHT command was used to force the image to DISPLAY the proper size. Even though the picture then fits on the page as it should, an unnecessarily large file still has to be loaded before it can be displayed. You can bet that if you are using a highspeed connection and the images are loading slowly, then for somebody on a dial-up the wait would be enough that they would likely abandon the page. So, how to fix this? When you prepare an image for a webpage, take the time to size it correctly and save it at the smaller size. If you have a digital camera and take a picture with it set in high resolution mode, that image is MUCH TOO LARGE to be used "as-is" on a webpage. It should be properly resized before using. An example. Here is an image taken from a web site that is being displayed actual size: http://www.4042.com/pchelpdesk/badgraphicsize.html Notice how big it is? Ok, now, look at the web page the picture was actually used on: http://www.blockade-runner.com/seaescape.shtml The display size they needed was much smaller than the actual size of the image. But instead of resizing the graphic before using it on the page, they instead used a WIDTH/HEIGHT command to force the larger image to display smaller. The code they used looks like this: Code: [img]elizabeth_at_pool_bar_good.JPG[/img] The width and height numbers tell the web browser viewing the page how big an area it should display in, regardless of the actual file size. WRONG, WRONG, WRONG! Bad! Bad! :wink: The picture should have been resized (using a graphics program) so that it was ACTUALLY 574x436. That would result in the image being properly displayed on the page AND considerably smaller file size - thus a faster loading page for everyone visiting the site. Here's a page with both images displayed. The top one using the WRONG method, and the bottom one done the correct way. Note that the resized image is 5 TIMES smaller than the original. http://www.4042.com/pchelpdesk/graphicsize.html (BTW, we do like the Blockade Runner and they have free wireless Internet access in the rooms and lobby.) 8)
I'm pretty sure that is a mandatory rule at the Blockade Runner! Actually part of the picture sizing issue I described can be blamed on some of the HTML WYSIWYG edtors, not the users themselves. FrontPage and others use the WIDTH/HEIGHT tag to handle graphics sizing without requiring any additional user intervention. It works, but doesn't produce the best results. On a side note, it is a good habit to use the WIDTH/HEIGHT tag after the image has been sized properly. So if you have an image that is 320 x 240 and that is the actual size of the graphic AND the size it should be displayed, you should also use the WIDTH/HEIGHT tag. Why? Because it helps to create a faster loading page. If you supply the dimensions, the browser doesn't have to "sample" the graphic first for it's size - it takes what you give it in WIDTH/HEIGHT, therefore cutting down on the time it takes to display the page. A minor point but in the need for Internet speed, every little bit helps!
