About Web graphics
Consult the following guidelines when you add pictures to your Web page.
- Keep the size your graphics files as small as possible to avoid lengthy downloads for your visitors. Try to stay under a total of 40 KB of graphics per page.
- To speed up the downloading time for graphics on your Web site, select Rely on VML for faster graphics downloading on the Web tab (Options command, Tools menu.) If you select this option, people who view your Web site in a browser that does not recognize graphics in Vector Markup Language (VML) format (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 4.0 or earlier) will not see any graphics.
- Place larger graphics on a separate Web page and link to it via a hyperlinked thumbnail image of the graphic.
- Use the same image more than once. It lends consistency and is downloaded a single time. Images that can be reused include navigation buttons or a company logo.
- If you want to use a graphic from another source (for example, if you want to copy a graphic from a Web site), you'll need permission from the copyright holder for the image.
- Depending on its purpose, save each image as one of the following Web graphic file formats:
| Format | Description |
|---|---|
| GIF | Graphic Interchange Format. Use for clip art, drawings, and black and white photographs. |
| JPG or JPEG | Joint Photographic Experts Group. Use for color photographs and scanned images. |
| Animated GIF | Animated Graphic Interchange Format. Use to add movement to a Web page, but use sparingly so that visitors are not distracted from the Web site's message. |
| PNG | Portable Network Graphics. Use to improve the quality of graphics on your Web site. The PNG graphic file format (.png) is used for a wide range of graphics, from small images (such as bullets and banners) to complex images (such as photographs). If you select this option, people who view your Web site in a browser that does not support PNG graphics (such as Microsoft Internet Explorer 5.0 or earlier) will see either improperly displayed or missing graphics. To allow PNG graphics, select Allow PNG as a graphics format to improve graphics quality on the Web tab (Options command, Tools menu). |