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D
reamweaver’s power is clearly evident as you use its visual layout
tools to incorporate background and foreground images in your
Web page designs. This chapter opens with an overview of the key
Web-oriented graphics formats, and then covers techniques for incorporat-
ing both background and foreground images—and modifying them using
the methods available in Dreamweaver. You also learn about animation
graphics and how you can use them in your Web pages, plus techniques for
creating rollover buttons and navigation bars.
Web Graphic Formats
If you’ve worked in the computer graphics field, you know that virtually
every platform—as well as every paint and graphics program—has its
own proprietary file format for images. One of the critical factors driving
the Web’s rapid, expansive growth is the use of cross-platform graphics.
Regardless of the system you use to create your images, these versatile files
ensure that the graphics can be viewed by all platforms.
The trade-off for universal acceptance of image files is a restricted field: just
three primary file formats. Currently, only GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats are
fully supported by modern browsers; the PNG graphics format is the last to
join this rather exclusive club and should not be used if you need to sup-
port older browsers like Internet Explorer 6.
You need to understand the uses and limitations of these formats to apply
them succ ...