Re: My turn to ask silly questions

IceWolf:

If I may expand on what Michael said:

> In your image tag, you need an alignment attribute; e.g.
> <.img src="./images/yourgraphic.gif" height="##" width="##" border="##"
> align="left">

Additional "align" values are "right", "center", "top", "middle", "bottom"
and in addition, there is abstop and bottom. (abs for absolute), a "texttop"
and maybe some others I've forgotten. You can get pretty fancy using this
method.

JPEG's support the "full" color spectrum, (the so-called 16 million colors).
For this reason they are super for photos and paintings with hundreds of
colors and shadings. A good graphics program can compress the file
enormously without apparent degradation. (Often reducing file size from 150K
or so, down to 6-8K) Remember--the big thing that limits picture quality on
web sites is the viewer's monitor screen--not file types.

GIF's are usually better for other uses as GIF's only support "about" 216
colors for all practical purposes. They are good for:

1. For solid colors and cartoon type drawings.
2. For an image that requires one color to be transparent.
3. For animated images.

BMP's have such limited support, (not sure Netscape has EVER supported them
as there is a misconception that BMP is a Microsoft thing), that they are
usually not considered. Even when supported, they often have larger file
sizes.

Michael is correct about resizing an image using HTML. It is very easy to
distort the image. Unless you are an old graphic artist and "aspect ratio"
just comes naturally, it is best to use the "resize" feature in a graphics
program and then resave the image to a new name. (If you need that name and
wish to keep both images, then rename the large image first.)

Aspect Ratio: The ratio of height and width of an image. Thus an 8x10 image
reduced to 50% will become 4x5 if the aspect ratio is maintained. The file
size will become approx. one-forth of the original size.

And this is perhaps the most important reason to resize in a graphics
program. To reduce the file size. If you use HTML to resize the image, the
file size in kilobytes will remain the same.

An easy way to get further info along these lines is to join the forums of
any of the better graphics programs-- Canvas (Deneba), PhotoShop (Adobe) or
PaintShop Pro. I expect you'll get more information than you'll ever get
time to read.

I hope that the above is helpful. I assumed that if you asked the questions,
you might need the explanations. If so, I'm sorry to be so brief. It is just
that us old codgers don't mind making a fool of ourselves--we just don't
want to become boring. [silly grin]

Best wishes
Ted Temer
Temercraft Designs Redding, CA
temer(at)c-zone.net
www.temercraft.com/
www.newsredding.com/



>
> Hello Ice Wolf!
>
> >I use Arachnophilia as my HTML editor. Without getting into a discussion
of
> >editor capabilities, can someone please tell me how to left-justify an
image
> >on my web-site, and then put text on the right side?
>
> In your image tag, you need an alignment attribute; e.g.
> <.img src="./images/yourgraphic.gif" height="##" width="##" border="##"
> align="left">
> Your text should appear just to the right of the image and flow down.
>
> >Or do I need to put it in an invisible table?
>
> You could use a table, but there is less code to write using the above
> technique. On the other hand, it depends upon how precisely you want to
> place the elements on your page.
>
> >Another question: why are jpgs better than bmps or gifs?
>
> JPG's are not necessarily "better" than GIF's...the deciding factor is
> usually content of the image. One rule of thumb is, text=GIF, photo=JPG.
> Again, you must use your own best judgement here. Normally, given the same
> graphic, JPG will require more disk space than GIF.
>
> >Yet another question: is it better to resize an image with a graphics
> >program, or change the size with the HTML code?
>
> This gave me a chuckle...a long time ago (in a galaxy far, far away,) I
> tried to use HTML to resize images. You can quickly see that it is better
> to resize the image in your graphics software. Coding the "resize" in your
> HTML will usually distort the image, depending on how radically you have
> "resized" it.
>
> >--IceWolf
>
> Good luck, and Happy HTMLing.
>
> Mike
>
> Michael Jon Muehlendorf
> Freedom Systems Group
> email: mailto:coyote(at)scenic-bluffs.com
> www: http://www.scenic-bluffs.com/fsg/
>

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