About reducing the download time of your site

Microsoft Office FrontPage 2003

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About reducing the download time of your site

Adding graphic, audio, and video files to your Web site adds to the download time for site visitors when they access your site. It is important to take into consideration the size, type, and number of files that you want to add to your site.

ShowReducing the download time of graphics

ShowResize and resample the graphic

Resizing a graphic changes attribute values for the HTML tag that tells a Web browser how to display the graphic; the actual graphic file is not changed. If you only resize the graphic, it will be displayed in a smaller area on a site visitor's screen, but its file size and the download time are unchanged.

To decrease the file size of a graphic and its download time, you will need to resample the graphic after resizing it.

Resampling a graphic changes its pixel size to match its current display size. When you resample the graphic after resizing it, the file size is reduced to match the smaller size.

ShowLower the quality setting for JPEG files

As you lower the quality setting, file compression increases and file size decreases.

ShowLower the resolution of a high-resolution graphic

If you have a high-resolution graphic, make a copy of the graphic, open it in a graphics program, and then make modifications to lower the resolution. You can then reinsert the graphic in your Web page in its lower resolution format.

ShowDisplay a low-resolution version of a graphic while downloading

In a graphics program, create a low-resolution version of a graphic. To do this, open your file in a graphics editing program and reduce the color depth (number of colors) in the graphic. The fewer colors you specify for the low-resolution version of the graphic, the faster it will be displayed in a Web browser. Because the low-resolution graphic is intended as a placeholder for the high-resolution graphic, you should not change the height or width of the graphic.

Then, set Microsoft FrontPage to display this low-resolution version of your graphic while the original is being downloaded. This gives the site visitor something to look at while the page is loading.

ShowCreate a thumbnail

A thumbnail is a small version of the graphic that downloads quickly. By looking at a thumbnail, site visitors can determine whether they want to download the full-size version of the graphic. Use the AutoThumbnail feature, which automatically creates a thumbnail with a hyperlink to the original, larger sized graphic.

ShowDisplay ALT text

Alternative text (ALT text) is displayed in place of a graphic while it is downloading and lets site visitors know what they are waiting to see.

ShowReducing the download time of audio

Reuse sounds   You can reduce audio file size by looping or reusing sounds.