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These stories are about our society and ideas for improving it.
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Page updated:
Wednesday, 12 September 2007
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SPECIAL REPORT...
Getting your message across
USING IMAGES online...
THE WORLDWIDE WEB is a multimedia format - a place where the written word, photographs, sound, video and animation combine to deliver information.
There are a few things to consider when considering which of these media to use.
Photography
- both colour and greyscale (black and white) are suitable for publishing online
- images should be saved at screen resolution (72 dpi - dots per inch) or they will take too long to download and encourage visitors to click off (the websites of photographers may be an exception; because their purpose is to display the work of the photographer they may feature larger images for viewing at greater resolution)
- images should not be too large in size but should be large enough to show detail.
Flash animation
Animation using Macromedia Flash or similar software can be useful in training material, for displaying products and for sites aimed at an audience of graphic designers. They are also used by photographers and journalists to present online slide shows combining photographs, text, sound files, spoken commentary and actuality (sound recorded in the field).
- flash animations require viewers to have the free Flash reader software (downloaded from the Macromedia website) before they can be viewed
- Flash presentations take time to download; this might not be a problem for viewers with broadband connection but can be slow over a dial-up modem
- some website developers offer the option of both a Flash and a non-Flash version of their website.
Video
- video is useful for educational purposes and reportage
- video can be 'streamed' - played while it is being downloaded
- video consumes bandwidth - it is more useable for viewers with broadband connection
- video requires editing software; some computers, such as Apple Mac and Sony, provide basic editing software with their computers; more capable software, such as Adobe Final Cut Pro, is needed for serious production
- video takes much time and effort to script, shoot, edit and format for online presentation.
Photographs the most useful visual media
For online content producers without an abundance of resources, photography is the cheapest form of graphic information production:
- it can be shot on a digital camera and downloaded to a website after processing
- or shot on a conventional film camera and the image scanned and saved for the web at 72dpi.
For those with the skills, scanned line or colour drawings or illustrations produced on software such as Adobe Illustrator or Macromedia Freehand can be placed online.
Remember - for many website visitors accessibility equals time. Websites with graphic material that takes too long to download and for which special software has to be downloaded may be bypassed.
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