Graphics are great unless you make some of these mistakes

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I know you like to put graphics on your page. There is little better than a site which has been done by a professional graphics designer. The perfect balance between graphics, color, fonts, photos and layout is rare and a wonder to behold.

On the other hand, a site with bad graphics or some obvious blunders can be agonizing and even painful to look at. Here are some of the more common errors.

Large Graphics

Large graphics have their place on the web. Some sites give away massive numbers of wallpaper images, which by definition are very large. In fact, I know of a site which offers over a thousand Tomb Raider wallpapers that is very good.

What you want to avoid is using large graphics on your main pages. Instead, you can use a technique such as showing thumbnail images or links to the larger graphics. Thus, those people who want the large graphics can get them, while those who do not are not forced to wait for them to load. The Tomb Raider site solved this problem by including 100 very small (32 x 32 pixel) thumbnails on a page. Clicking on an image displays the larger wall wallpaper.

Improperly Optimized Graphics

All of the common graphics formats (GIF, PNG and JPG) allow for compression of various kinds. One common error is to not take advantage of this compression. For example, you can cut down the number of colors in a GIF image, which makes it smaller. Or you can increase the loss percentage in a JPG, substantially reducing it's size.

Why do you want to do this? Simply so that your visitors do not have to wait for a long time while your graphics load.

Animations

Check the section called "Animation Mistakes" for many common errors with animated graphics. Suffice to say that less is generally better.

Graphics which Require Plug-Ins

There are some graphics formats which require exotic and obscure plug-ins in order to be seen. While there are advantages to using plug-ins (Adobe Acrobat comes to mind as an excellent plug-in to use) they should be avoided when possible. Most of your visitors will not take the time to install a plug-in just to see your web site.

Garish backgrounds

Keep your background graphics simple and neat. You want to make sure the graphics are subtle and contract greatly with your text. In other words do not use a light pink background with light red characters. Very hard to read. Also avoid neon or other bright backgrounds - these tend to so overpower your web site that people leave almost immediately.

Additional Reading

• A poor design chases away visitors and gives you a bad name Design your site poorly and your visitors will go elsewhere
• There are many silly mistakes that you can make with text People come to your site for the content, and text is what they usually way. Make sure they can read it without being annoyed.
• Graphics are great unless you make some of these mistakes Graphics are great except when you make some of these stupid, idiotic mistakes. (See also Graphics Formats, Graphics Formats - GIF, Graphics Formats - JPG and Graphics Formats - PNG)
• Use animated GIFs very sparingly Animated GIFs are excellent when used properly, but it's easy to overdue it and chase away your visitors. (See also Graphics Formats - Animated GIFs).
• Be careful with various sound options Adding background sound to your pages is generally a mistake
• Video is tough to do correctly Careful with those videos - visitors like video but load times make it difficult to do correctly.
• Be sure and carefully plan your site navigation Carefully plan your site navigation or your visitors will not come back
• Layout your pages properly to keep people happy Plan your page and site layouts well to keep your visitors happy and fulfilled
• Use Java sparingly If you use Java without allowing for non-java visitors you will loose people immediately
• Don't use ActiveX on an internet site My advice is to not use ActiveX at all on an internet site. It's fine to use it on an Intranet site as you control the environment.
• Colors can make or break a web site Want to really lose your visitors fast? Use a bad combination of colors on your site! Make it look like an LSD nightmare.
• Organize your site Properly organized sites are a dream, disorganized sites are a nightmare
• Keep your pages relatively short Short pages are the rule in web design. One to three screenfuls is best, longer is a site killer.
• Advertising is a necessary evil You generally want to advertise but keep it short, simple and tasteful (See also The secrets of how to advertise your web site).
• Use Rings wisely Yes you want to use Rings, but don't use them incorrectly
• Careful with dynamic HTML Be careful with dynamic HTML. Can increase load time, make for slow, clunky sites, and is incompatible with earlier version browsers.
• Don't change the cursor unnecessarily Be careful with dynamic HTML. Can increase load time, make for slow, clunky sites, and is incompatible with earlier version browsers.
• Popups are stupid and obnoxious Don't use popups ever. They are annoying, stupid and scare away visitors
• Are Popups Ethical? Is it ethical to place popups and popunders all over your web site? Depends upon what you are trying to accomplish
• More on Popups, Popunders and other Unethical Behaviors There are many unethical devices such as popups, popunders and so forth. Are they needed or desired? No, they are not.

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