Graphics in Web pages

[Nick]

Hello,

I wanted to know if anybody has any good suggestions of any books
or other resources that could teach me how to make good Web graphics
and how to use them in HTML to make Web pages look good.

When I say graphics, I mean GIFs and not any flash or anything like
that.

I am a PHP programmer and I know how to use HTML and CSS well, but
I am horrible at making buttons, background images, logos etc. and
I really don't know how to implement images into HTML to help make
the Web page look good. Not only do I need to learn how to make the
images but also how to put them into the HTML -- how it all works
together well.

Does anybody know of which software to use and good books that have
good examples and so on?

Please help, using graphics in my Web pages to make them look good
is my missing ingredient.

Thanks,
Nick

[Jey Gifford]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

Nick,

My suggestions would be:

1) Buy Photoshop (with ImageReady) and learn how to use those. (They
can export your images to the correct html tables and whatnot)
2) Visit LOTS of web sites and read TONS of magazine ads. Bookmark &
clip the ones that you think look good.
3) Ask yourself and analyze WHY something looks good.
4) Try to pay special attention to spacing and alignment of text &
graphics
5) Avoid "GOING NUTS" with font usage. That's a sure way to set off
the amateur alarm.
6) REMEMBER: Simplicity and readability speak VOLUMES
7) Enjoy the ride. Five Years from now, you'll look back at your
proudest work and scream "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!? !?!" :)

jEY

[Henry]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

Jey Gifford wrote:[color=blue]
> Nick,
>
> My suggestions would be:
>
> 1) Buy Photoshop (with ImageReady) and learn how to use those. (They
> can export your images to the correct html tables and whatnot)
> 2) Visit LOTS of web sites and read TONS of magazine ads. Bookmark &
> clip the ones that you think look good.
> 3) Ask yourself and analyze WHY something looks good.
> 4) Try to pay special attention to spacing and alignment of text &
> graphics
> 5) Avoid "GOING NUTS" with font usage. That's a sure way to set off
> the amateur alarm.
> 6) REMEMBER: Simplicity and readability speak VOLUMES
> 7) Enjoy the ride. Five Years from now, you'll look back at your
> proudest work and scream "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!? !?!" :)
>
> jEY[/color]


Amen!

Roy... you must be bad in Photoshop!

These samples are very, very average.

Just few actions and you could do magic in Photoshop.

And in some sites you could d/load them for free.

[Tony Clarke]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

Some tips...

1 Photoshop/ImageReady: Use these to make decent images/buttons/menus.
ImageReady can slice an image up into links and do some stuff that can
really save you time.
2. Dreamweaver MX: A quick an easy way to format everything. MS Word will
put ALOT of extra stuff into a html page for formatting.
3. Stylesheets: By far the best way of getting some consistancy onto your
site.



"Henry" <smcoptyltd@hot mail.com> wrote in message
news:4192a32e$1 @quokka.wn.com. au...[color=blue]
> Jey Gifford wrote:[color=green]
> > Nick,
> >
> > My suggestions would be:
> >
> > 1) Buy Photoshop (with ImageReady) and learn how to use those. (They
> > can export your images to the correct html tables and whatnot)
> > 2) Visit LOTS of web sites and read TONS of magazine ads. Bookmark &
> > clip the ones that you think look good.
> > 3) Ask yourself and analyze WHY something looks good.
> > 4) Try to pay special attention to spacing and alignment of text &
> > graphics
> > 5) Avoid "GOING NUTS" with font usage. That's a sure way to set off
> > the amateur alarm.
> > 6) REMEMBER: Simplicity and readability speak VOLUMES
> > 7) Enjoy the ride. Five Years from now, you'll look back at your
> > proudest work and scream "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!? !?!" :)
> >
> > jEY[/color]
>
>
> Amen!
>
> Roy... you must be bad in Photoshop!
>
> These samples are very, very average.
>
> Just few actions and you could do magic in Photoshop.
>
> And in some sites you could d/load them for free.
>
>
>
>[/color]

[Roy Schestowitz]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

Henry wrote:
[color=blue]
> Jey Gifford wrote:[color=green]
>> Nick,
>>
>> My suggestions would be:
>>
>> 1) Buy Photoshop (with ImageReady) and learn how to use those. (They
>> can export your images to the correct html tables and whatnot)
>> 2) Visit LOTS of web sites and read TONS of magazine ads. Bookmark &
>> clip the ones that you think look good.
>> 3) Ask yourself and analyze WHY something looks good.
>> 4) Try to pay special attention to spacing and alignment of text &
>> graphics
>> 5) Avoid "GOING NUTS" with font usage. That's a sure way to set off
>> the amateur alarm.
>> 6) REMEMBER: Simplicity and readability speak VOLUMES
>> 7) Enjoy the ride. Five Years from now, you'll look back at your
>> proudest work and scream "WHAT WAS I THINKING?!?!?!? !?!" :)
>>
>> jEY[/color]
>
>
> Amen!
>
> Roy... you must be bad in Photoshop!
>
> These samples are very, very average.
>
> Just few actions and you could do magic in Photoshop.
>
> And in some sites you could d/load them for free.[/color]

These are _not_ logos I designed. Think of them as a basic templates (have
you read the text at the top of this thumbnails page?).

--
Roy Schestowitz

http://schestowitz.com

[Brandon Blackmoor]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

Nick wrote:[color=blue]
>
> I wanted to know if anybody has any good suggestions of
> any books or other resources that could teach me how to
> make good Web graphics... When I say graphics, I mean GIFs
> and not any flash or anything like that.[/color]

The first thing you should know is that "good Web graphics" are either
JPEG or PNG. Competent web designers all switched from GIF to PNG
several years ago.

There are a number of hint and tips web sites for programs like
Photoshop, Paint Shop Pro, and Gimp. You might also like to check out
sites like A List Apart, Top Ten Mistakes Of Web Design, Digital Web
Magazine, and CSS Zen Garden (and each of these will lead you on to
other, equally interesting sites):

A List Apart

http://www.alistapart.com/

Top Ten Mistakes Of Web Design

http://www.useit.com/alertbox/990530.html

Digital Web Magazine

http://www.digital-web.com/

CSS Zen Garden

http://www.csszengarden.com/

However, I just noticed that you set the follow-up to a binaries
newsgroup, and that your responses to people who have already replied to
you are pretty obnoxious. It looks to me like you didn't really want
your question answered. Even so, I'll send this reply to the newsgroup
on which I originally read your request, and maybe someone will find it
useful.

bblackmoor
2004-11-11

[Theo]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

Brandon Blackmoor <bblackmoor@bla ckgate.net> wrote in
news:2vi090F2lg 8afU1@uni-berlin.de:
[color=blue][color=green]
>> I wanted to know if anybody has any good suggestions of
> > any books or other resources that could teach me how to
> > make good Web graphics... When I say graphics, I mean GIFs
> > and not any flash or anything like that.[/color]
>
> The first thing you should know is that "good Web graphics" are either
> JPEG or PNG. Competent web designers all switched from GIF to PNG
> several years ago.[/color]

also, PNG is royalty free, while GIF isnt anymore because the patent
holder decided to get greedy.

also also, there is nothing at all wrong with flash. its easy to use and
allows for things that standard graphics and animated GIFs just cannot do
well, if at all.

'good' web graphics depend entirely what you want to do. one thing will
be excellent for one site but horrible for another. there is no 'one size
fits all'. Once you know what to do, the best resources are all the
examples available to you on the web, your own natural sense of design,
and other peoples comments. Use the last one as much as possible.

cheers :o)

[Andy Hassall]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:33:36 -0000, Theo <invalid@noemai l.com> wrote:
[color=blue]
>also, PNG is royalty free, while GIF isnt anymore because the patent
>holder decided to get greedy.[/color]

The last of the GIF patents expired worldwide earlier this year - which is why
GIF write support is now back in the recent versions of the GD library.

--
Andy Hassall / <andy@andyh.co. uk> / <http://www.andyh.co.uk >
<http://www.andyhsoftwa re.co.uk/space> Space: disk usage analysis tool

[Theo]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

Andy Hassall <andy@andyh.co. uk> wrote in
news:eju7p0ts04 v5rkkiumb2kpuu8 i4ks6qbg3@4ax.c om:
[color=blue]
> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:33:36 -0000, Theo <invalid@noemai l.com> wrote:
>[color=green]
>>also, PNG is royalty free, while GIF isnt anymore because the patent
>>holder decided to get greedy.[/color]
>
> The last of the GIF patents expired worldwide earlier this year -
> which is why
> GIF write support is now back in the recent versions of the GD
> library.
>[/color]

didnt know that.

wonder why they decided to try and make a bitof money when there were
only a couple years left, considering that there must have been someone
that spoke up and said graphic software would simply not carry it
anymore... which then meant that people would move away from GIFs. Talk
about shooting yourself in the foot :P

[2metre]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

[color=blue][color=green]
>>The first thing you should know is that "good Web graphics" are either
>>JPEG or PNG. Competent web designers all switched from GIF to PNG
>>several years ago.[/color]
>
>
> also, PNG is royalty free, while GIF isnt anymore because the patent
> holder decided to get greedy.[/color]

Absolute rubbish. (IMHO!)
GIF is widely used because it is an excellent image format which in most
cases gives a smaller file size. All patents have now expired.
[color=blue]
>
> also also, there is nothing at all wrong with flash. its easy to use and
> allows for things that standard graphics and animated GIFs just cannot do
> well, if at all.[/color]

Flash requires a plugin within the browser. Many people don't like using
plugins. Unless use of flash is very subtly applied and created by
experts, in my opinion, it ruins a lot of sites.

[Theo]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

2metre <2metre@xxxhers ham.net> wrote in news:cn1uig$c7c $1
@hercules.btint ernet.com:
[color=blue]
> Flash requires a plugin within the browser. Many people don't like using
> plugins. Unless use of flash is very subtly applied and created by
> experts, in my opinion, it ruins a lot of sites.[/color]

flash plugins are pretty standard now, so nothing to download until there
is a new version, and even then its one of the easier things to do. For the
second part, you are quite correct. Anything that is overused and not
meshed into the whole presentation properly is bad... goes for everything,
not just flash. :o)

[Andy Jacobs]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

On 11/11/04 11:51 pm, in article eju7p0ts04v5rkk iumb2kpuu8i4ks6 qbg3@4ax.com,
"Andy Hassall" <andy@andyh.co. uk> wrote:
[color=blue]
> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:33:36 -0000, Theo <invalid@noemai l.com> wrote:
>[color=green]
>> also, PNG is royalty free, while GIF isnt anymore because the patent
>> holder decided to get greedy.[/color]
>
> The last of the GIF patents expired worldwide earlier this year - which is why
> GIF write support is now back in the recent versions of the GD library.[/color]

My server says that I have read support for gifs on the GD section. I'm
running GD2 so is there a way to switch write support on?

[Andy Hassall]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

On Fri, 12 Nov 2004 23:23:38 +0000 (UTC), Andy Jacobs <oct@redcatmedi a.net>
wrote:
[color=blue]
>On 11/11/04 11:51 pm, in article eju7p0ts04v5rkk iumb2kpuu8i4ks6 qbg3@4ax.com,
>"Andy Hassall" <andy@andyh.co. uk> wrote:
>[color=green]
>> On Thu, 11 Nov 2004 23:33:36 -0000, Theo <invalid@noemai l.com> wrote:
>>[color=darkred]
>>> also, PNG is royalty free, while GIF isnt anymore because the patent
>>> holder decided to get greedy.[/color]
>>
>> The last of the GIF patents expired worldwide earlier this year - which is why
>> GIF write support is now back in the recent versions of the GD library.[/color]
>
>My server says that I have read support for gifs on the GD section. I'm
>running GD2 so is there a way to switch write support on?[/color]

Upgrade to PHP 4.3.9 would be the best way.

--
Andy Hassall / <andy@andyh.co. uk> / <http://www.andyh.co.uk >
<http://www.andyhsoftwa re.co.uk/space> Space: disk usage analysis tool

[Gordon Burditt]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

>also also, there is nothing at all wrong with flash. its easy to use and[color=blue]
>allows for things that standard graphics and animated GIFs just cannot do
>well, if at all.[/color]

How about the problem that a plugin that does flash is unavailable
(and I believe also unavailable at any price) for the browsers I
use? (hint: non-Microsoft OS). Even the on-flash portion of the
page is ruined by the repeated prompts to download a nonexistent
plugin.

Gordon L. Burditt

[Theo]

Re: Graphics in Web pages

gordonb.an9y1@b urditt.org (Gordon Burditt) wrote in
news:cn3qj1$lik @library1.airne ws.net:
[color=blue][color=green]
>>also also, there is nothing at all wrong with flash. its easy to use
>>and allows for things that standard graphics and animated GIFs just
>>cannot do well, if at all.[/color]
>
> How about the problem that a plugin that does flash is unavailable
> (and I believe also unavailable at any price) for the browsers I
> use? (hint: non-Microsoft OS). Even the on-flash portion of the
> page is ruined by the repeated prompts to download a nonexistent
> plugin.
>
> Gordon L. Burditt
>[/color]

http://www.macromedia.com/software/flash/productinfo/systemreqs/