Learning Web Design, 6th Edition

Part V. Web Images

V

Web Images

Chapter 26. Web Image Basics

26

Web Image Basics

In this chapter

Where to get images

Choosing the best image format

Screen resolution and reference pixels

Working with transparency

Favicons and site icons

Unless you plan to publish text-only sites, chances are you’ll need images. For many of you, that might mean getting your hands on an image-editing program for the first time and acquiring some basic production skills. If you are a seasoned designer, you may need to adapt your style and process to make image files that are appropriate for web delivery.

In Chapter 7, Adding Images, we covered the basics of embedding images in an HTML document, and in Chapter 13, Colors and Backgrounds, you learned how to use images as backgrounds with CSS. This chapter covers the fundamentals of the images themselves. We’ll start by reviewing resources for finding or creating images. We’ll then spend some time getting to know the file formats appropriate for web pages and how to pick the appropriate format for your type of image. You’ll learn how image and screen resolution affect how we design, and you’ll get some hands-on experience making transparent images. Finally, the chapter wraps up with a lesson on how to make Favicons (the icons that appear next to page titles on tabs in the browser) and icons for web apps.

Further Reading

There’s a whole lot more to say about images on the web than I can fit here, so I highly recommend that you also ...