Sandy’s Great Graphic Tip: Re-sizing Graphics in an Editor

Filed Under Design, Successful Blog, Tips | 1 Comment

What Happened to that Picture?

Sometimes you see photos on websites that look funny – too wide or narrow, tall or short. In other words, out of proportion. Some other terms used are scale, perspective and aspect ratio. One common way to re-size a graphic is using a WYSIWYG editor. WYSIWYG is pronounced wiz-e-wig and is short for what you see is what you get.

Hover over the corner of a graphic, click and drag. Depending on the program, it’s possible to lose perspective, so keep this little tip in mind.

Hold down the shift key while clicking and dragging. It will keep the picture looking square.

Another Option to Re-Size a Graphic

Another option is to right-click the graphic and choose format. In the window, you usually have a choice to re-size the graphic by pixel size or percentage of original. You will probably see a check box for preserve aspect ratio or uniform scale. Selecting the box means when you enter the horizontal or vertical size, the other dimension is automatically selected to keep the graphic in perspective.

Here’s a visual example of what I mean:

It’s also a good idea to re-size and edit graphics before uploading them. When you upload a large graphic and only want to display a small graphic, it can increase the file size and make the page load slowly. Let’s talk more about that another time.

Remember, a good-looking graphic makes your webpage look interesting and professional.

See you next time!

–Sandy, Purple Wren

Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: block posters

Filed Under Design, Great Finds, Successful Blog, Tools | 6 Comments

What Do You Want to Decorate?

Great Find: block posters

Permalink: http://www.blockposters.com

Target Audience: Photo Lovers

Content: This nifty tool is very easy to use.

Upload your favorite photo
Slice it any way you like
Download the images
Print

This is a fast, inexpensive way to decorate a room if you have a lot of wall space and you want to create a mood. What’s better than using your own photos? Check out some of the interesting samples.

Here’s three ideas I have for using posters:

Meetings
Parties
Reunions

Let me know how you decorate with block posters!

–Sandy, Purple Wren Communications

Business of Design Online is LIVE!!

Filed Under Design, Great Finds, Successful Blog | 6 Comments

Bravo! Cat, nt, and Jay!

I have the pleasure of announcing an important new entry in the blogosphere. Ladies and Gentlemen,

Go meet BoDo! The Business of Design Online. It’s the genius brainchild of the team of Catherine (cat) Wentworth, Neil (nt) Tortorella, and Jeanette (jay) Wickham. It’s been months in the making and boasts series and services, resources, and a list of guest authors that outflank anything I’ve seen.

Click the screenshot and see for yourself! It’s downright amazing!

So much all in one place. Do you think you have to be a designer to get value from this site. Heck, you’ll even find me there.

Congratulations BoDo Team!

–ME “Liz” Strauss

Sandy’s Great Graphic Find: IconArt

Filed Under Design, Great Finds, Successful Blog, Tools | Leave a Comment

Compact Program for Creating Icons and Cursors

Great Find: IconArt

Permalink: http://www.conware-pro.com/products/ia/

Target Audience: All Computer Users

Content: This Windows-based utility allows you to create your own icon or cursor from scratch or by uploading a graphic. You can create static or animated versions. It’s an easy-to-use, paint style tool that supports text, rotation, color palette options, and gradient fills.

Here’s three things I like about IconArt:

It’s free (only $9.95 for commercial use)
It’s easy to use
You can design from scratch or import art to convert

Let me know how you use it!

–Sandy, Purple Wren Communications

Sandy’s Great Graphic Tips: Selecting File Types

Filed Under Design, Successful Blog, Tips | 5 Comments

Which graphic file type is best? It depends . . .

A lot of people wonder what the difference is between file types. Hereâ€™s a quick description of three common types. To learn more, follow the links for examples and detailed explanations.

.jpg or .jpeg = Joint Photographers Experts Group

Superior for photographs, computer game screenshots, blends or gradients (including metallics)
Allows compression options (removes information to make the file smaller)
Can be used as an image map (single image with clickable areas)
Does not support transparency
Supports millions of colors

.gif = Graphics Interchange Format

Superior for simple shapes, line art, diagrams, or flat colors (think cartoons, icons, logos, buttons)
Supports animation
Supported by most browsers
Allows transparent backgrounds (for round or irregular shapes)
Can be used as an image map
Supports 256 colors maximum

.png = Portable Network Graphics

Designed to improve/replace .gif file but does not support animation
Supports transparency
Preserves sharp edges
Not all browsers support it but it’s gaining in popularity
Supports RGB or greyscale (does not support CMYK for print)

How do you know if you have the right file format?

If itâ€™s too grainy, too fuzzy, or the file size is too large, you might want to review the descriptions above or check out Pat Kalbaugh’s GIF vs JPG page at The Sirius Web. Experiment a little – save it as a different file type and see what happens.

See you next time!

–Sandy, Purple Wren

« go back — keep looking »

Liz Strauss at Successful Blog

Thinking, writing, business ideas … You're only a stranger once.

What Happened to that Picture?

Another Option to Re-Size a Graphic

What Do You Want to Decorate?

Bravo! Cat, nt, and Jay!

Compact Program for Creating Icons and Cursors

Which graphic file type is best? It depends . . .

How do you know if you have the right file format?

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