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4.5 Choosing file formats for web graphics
A graphic can add to the time it takes for a web page to download. By planning carefully and using the following techniques, you can speed up the rate at which your course appears on a student's browser.
  1. Download speed is directly related to the size of the files that contain your images. Therefore, try to keep graphics files as small as possible.
  2. Reduce the resolution (dots per inch or dots per centimeter) at which you store your images. By reducing your image from 120 dpi to 60 dpi, your file size will reduce to one-quarter its original size.
  3. Use fewer colors, especially with manually created illustrations. You will usually have the choice of saving a file as a 16-color, 256-color, or 24-bit (16,777,216-color) image. Look at your image after saving it with fewer colors. Your users will probably not notice the difference, but your graphic will download faster.
  1. Enter the size of your graphic in the WIDTH and HEIGHT attributes dialog box. This will speed up the display of your images because the browser will know how to lay out the page before downloading the file.
It's True! It's True! The smaller the graphic, the faster the graphic downloads. Many times by lowering the number of colors you can dramatically decrease the size of the graphic.