Chapter 5. Preparing Images for the Web

Comparing Image File Types

Optimizing Images for the Web

Naming Images for the Web

Creating a Tracing Image

The images on a web site have a dual role to play. On the one hand, they're one of the most effective forms of content that you can choose to include. We in the West are the people of the picture. It's part of our language and our culture, going all the way back to those philosophical Greeks. Even Plato knew that nothing gets your point across like a well-placed image. On the other hand, images adversely affect the performance of your site. They take time to download, even in this broadband age, and your visitors are nothing if not in a hurry. That's why they're on the Web. Your site has to be fast and nimble, or your visitors won't stick around.

So on the one hand, you should definitely include images on your site. On the other, you should think twice before you do.

This chapter helps you to resolve a schizophrenic dichotomy or two (as far as your site is concerned) and reap the benefits of our cultural inheritance.