CHAPTER 5
Garnishing Your DishesTOC

There seems to be a great deal of jargon associated to the use of images and whenever this is the case, it is easy to become intimidated. To slice through this veil of acronyms I have listed many of the commonly used Web-words in the Glossary. I have placed below a short list version of those Web-words associated to images. Keep in mind that even words like " scuba" (i.e. self-contained underwater breathing apparatus) are derived from acronyms.

• jpeg -Joint Photographic Expert Group- graphics image file system.

• mpeg- Moving Pictures Expert Group

• gif -Graphics Interchange Format- graphics image file system.

• multi-mediapage - hypermedia uses a variety of sound, graphics, moving object or moving picture within the webpage.

• Hypermedia - refers specifically to the range of media distributed over the Web.

• tiff - Tag Image File Format- a file image used for storing pictures.

• XBM - X Bit Maps black and white graphics files.

• MIME - Multiple Internet Mail Extensions- A method for identifying to the browser requesting an webpage the hypermedia contents of the given page.

1. The size of each pixel on the screen.
2. The number of colors or shades of gray.

1. There are 256 ways to choose the shading of red.
   
2. There are 256 ways to choose the shading of green.
   
3. There are 256 ways to choose the shading of blue.
   

A flexible color graphics system stores the picture file as an absolute entity which can then be enlarged or shrunk without losing the information stored in the file. Postscript is an example of a flexible color graphics system. A flexible system like Postscript may often generate huge files.

The picture in a rigid color graphics system can not be resized without losing information about the original picture. The advantage of a rigid system is that the storage scheme can take advantage of the peculiarities of the picture to create a smaller file. Sometimes information is lost in this process. Picture storage schemes like gif and jpeg are examples of rigid color graphics. Most browsers support these two In-line Image schemes.

The browser should automatically tile the graphics image for you so you don't necessarily need a large image. We will discuss how to create your own images later in this chapter. If your homepage will be viewed by others, keep in mind that some browsers will have the In-line image display system disabled or turned off.

If a weblian has a slow modem this is not uncommon. The weblian can then choose to display images if they think that the graphics display is worth the time it takes for their system to download it. For this reason choose a background color which is compatible with the color of your text and define the BGCOLOR= under the BODY tag as in the previous chapter.

Note that if the BGCOLOR is not specified, then the browser will automatically use a light gray. The following command:

• < BODY BGCOLOR="#8888EE" BACKGROUND="pool.gif" TEXT="000000" >

• pool.gif

Click on image below to see a pool tiling:

Put simply the choices are: play it safe or gamble. If you are using a system of about 1000 pixel width you might notice that many commercial sites will only use about half the width of your browser. The reason is that many computer screens are set up for about a 600 pixel width. The design will work well for most browsers. If you are not using tables this should not be a major consideration, since the browser should automatically set the width for your webpage when it is viewed, however, if you use tables, there is no standard way for the browser to set the width.

Here are some tips for using a graphics background:

• The browser will tile your image to fit the view screen. Consequently, make your background file as small as possible so that the person viewing your page can access it quickly.

• Create the image so that text will appear clearly over it. That is: use colors which will complement your text and allow it to stand out.

• Try to create your image so that it blends at the tiling joints.

Project Code Name:

Duck Soup

It is quite easy to add In-line images to your pages provided that your have a gif or jpeg file. Simply add the following basic line to your document:

< IMG SRC="beye2.gif" ALT="Bee Eye View">

Using a Floating Image

• Always use an ALT statement for the browsers which are not downloading the In-line images.

• Start out by using only one or two images per page.

• If you want the viewer to be able to see several images from your homepage, use thumbnails, or tiny likenesses, of your actual images and provide links to webpages with the actual images.

• Instead of using a thumbnail, describe your images and link to an imagepage.

Be careful not to use copyrighted material without permission. You should also make your students aware of the rights of others with regard to copyrights over the network. Most people who post materials on the Web should be aware that graphics files are often downloaded to the browsers Cache folder, but this does not mean that these graphics files and written documents can be used without permission. In many cases the copyright owner will allow you to use the file provided that you give the owner credit and include the copyright as a warning for others that the material is, indeed, copyrighted.

This being said, I now turn to the topic of downloading graphics files using a browser. Most browsers will allow you to download image files in a very convenient way. I suggest you create a folder called