Screen Space -
Your Scarcest Asset
Part 2 of 3
by Brandon Jubar
Using Graphics
Pros and Cons
Let me start by saying that graphics can be a wonderful thing. They can help
give your site its own identity and make it look very professional. They can add to the
continuity and consistency of the pages within your site. And they can facilitate
navigation through your site.
On the other hand, improper use of graphics can be a terrible thing. They can
look cluttered, haphazard and very unprofessional. They can break up the consistency of
your site if different graphics are used in different areas. And they can confuse visitors
navigating through your site and cause visitors to leave if the loading of graphic
degrades page load time too much.
If your Parish already has a graphical image that they use (i.e. logos, emblems,
stylized acronyms), then you should do your best to incorporate that image into your
Parish Web site. If your Parish does not have a graphical image (other than a full-color
photo of the church), then it will be worthwhile to create one, either on your own or with
the help of a graphic designer.
Using Existing Graphics
If your Parish has an existing graphic image or scheme, then you will need to
make sure that the images are optimized for the Web. The following questions will help you
identify where to begin and what you need to do:
- How many graphics are used by your Parish? Who keeps track of them?
- Do different functional areas within the Parish have certain graphics which they
use frequently?
- Are the graphics owned by the Parish or does a third party hold the copyright?
- Are the graphics in electronic format?
It is important to locate all of the graphics used by your Parish, including
those used by certain groups within the Parish. Once these have been gathered, it will be
up to the Parish Webmaster to consolidate them and point out anywhere the Parish
"image" is not consistent.
It is important, at this point, to identify the owner of any graphics. There is
no sense in putting forth the effort to format and optimize graphics if your Parish has no
right to use them on the Web site. If the origin of certain graphics is unknown, it is
best to refrain from using them until or unless you consult an Intellectual Property
Attorney.
Graphic File Formats
There are two graphic file formats currently supported by most browsers: .jpeg
and .gif
jpeg (pronounced 'jay-peg') stands for Joint Photographic Experts Group, which
isn't really important. What is important is the fact that, although the graphics are
compressed, jpeg files tend to be larger because the images contain millions of colors.
The jpeg format will give you good quality photos, depending upon the amount of
compression (the more the file is compressed, the more likely a loss of quality).
gif (pronounced 'jiff') stands for Graphic Interchange Format, and is a file
compression format developed by CompuServe to help facilitate the exchange of graphic
files over a computer network. A gif file will be much smaller than a jpeg file because a
gif has only 256 colors available. This is the format of choice for all simple graphics,
and your Parish graphics should be converted into this format if they are not already gif
files. (If you do not have all of your graphics in electronic format, your first step will
be to scan them.)
Optimizing Graphics
When you have gathered all of your Parish graphics and converted them to gif
files, it is time to take things one step further. Although converting an image to a gif
file compresses the image, there are tools which allow you to optimize the file size even
further (i.e. make it smaller). You can check out the tools we use at the Parish Webmaster
by going to our Graphic Optimizer
(http://www.ParishWebmaster.com/tools/graphics/optimizer.htm)
OR hop on over to ZDNet for plenty of freeware, shareware and demo programs
(note: you will need to search for graphics +optimizer )
ZDNet Downloads http://www.zdnet.com/downloads/
By using jpeg for your photos and gif for your other graphics, you may be able
to greatly improve the load times of your Parish Web pages. To further decrease page size
(and thus decrease load time) try an image optimization program like those linked above.
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