Teaching & Learning Technology Development Center

Images and the Web

Other Considerations


Images are a great way of adding spice and depth to Web pages. However, there are other concerns that we have to consider when using images. Some of these are:

  • Where do the images come from ... who OWNS them?
    • What about Copyright
    • What about Fair Use
  • Are they usable "as is"
  • What is the best way to scan for optimal viewing
  • What about backgrounds
  • What about text

unadjusteded digital photo of flowers levels adjusted digital photo of flowers

Digital cameras are a great way to acquire copyright free images to incorporate into your Web site. The image above on the left is what the "photo" looked like when I opened it however it was about three times the size as it is here. I used Photoshop to make the image a more manageable size and to adjust the levels.

 

poor quality sketch example good quality sketch example

The image above left was scanned as a bitmap, which in this case, is a black and/or white image.This is the result when I adjusted the size in Photoshop, left it as a bitmap, and saved it as a GIF. I changed the mode (Image/Mode) of the image on the right to a grayscale, resized it and saved it as a GIF also. Notice the difference and it all is because of the mode the image.

 

background image for the Web

Text Graphic as an image

Text graphics are a good way of establishing a look and feel for a page/site. The end user will always see this "text" exactly as it was created. It is recommended that you use text graphics sparingly, because they are images, they add to the total size of the page. Text graphics are especially effective as titling and headings.

Select the image above to see what a tiled image would look like as a Web page background. Remember if you use background images they add to the total of the page and the page content must be easy to read over the background image.

 

File Type | File Size | Thumbnails | Others | Photoshop
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Gene Leisz (leiszgj@uwec.edu)
Updated: August 28, 2003