Green River Production

To make the most of your website, and to make it appealing to others, you need to make sure that it’s not just visually appealing, but that it also downloads quickly onto their screens. Websites with lots of large graphic files are usually the ones that take the longest, and the way to combat this problem is to use graphic optimization. This just means that when you’ve created your graphic, you should do whatever you can to make it a smaller file before you put it onto your website.

Firstly, use your design skills to make the best use of your graphics. Don’t go for a huge picture in the middle of your web page if a tactically positioned smaller graphic will do. If your site needs lots of graphics, then consider using thumbnail graphics on your main pages. These are small, low resolution graphics that show what’s available. If the user wants to see the graphic in more detail, then they can click onto the thumbnail for the bigger picture.

Always use GIF format files for your graphics and JPEG format files for your pictures. Any other formats are difficult or impossible to compress, and the lack of graphic optimisation will mean that your website will take a long time to download and users may leave the site before it’s completely on their screens.

For GIF formats, the most common form of graphic optimisation is to use GIF Palette Optimization. This allows a fixed number of colors in the file, which can dramatically reduce the file size. For example, reducing a GIF graphic from full color to 16 colours can reduce by six times the size of the file. You must be sure, however, that the graphic still looks good, or you will be losing graphic quality as well as file size. Use a software package that’s specifically designed for graphic optimization. It will allow you to optimize by palette and you can maintain the standard of your graphics and make those important file space savings.