Defining the size of your graphics within HTML

Defining the size of your graphics within the HTML code.

by Royce Bair

Because photographer's Web pages are usually heavy with graphics, it's important to define the SIZE (in pixels) of each digital image (GIF or JPEG), so that the Web browser can quickly layout the page. Netscape, the most popular browser, will give a message at the bottom of its window, "layout complete" when it has received all the source code necessary to define the position of all the elements on that page.

If the HTML code is properly written, a Web surfer using Netscape will receive that message within just a few seconds after entering a site. This allows the user to immediately begin scrolling the page and moving around. Even if a page would normally take several minutes to completely download all the graphics, defining the size of your graphics will tell Natscape where to immediately place the text on that page layout. The user can then read the text and move around while the graphics are downloading. Without this code, the page locks up to any scrolling until every element has a chance to find its place and begin to appear on the page.

Here's an example of how the code is written to let the Web browser know how to layout the page:

   <IMG SRC="images/Title.gif" height=225 width=255 border=0 align=left
   alt="Visit My Portfolio">

This code tells the browser that an IMaGe SouRCe, called "Title.gif" (found in the "images" folder), has a height of 225 pixels, and a width of 255 pixels. The browser now knows were to start aligning and placing the text that follows, otherwise it must wait for the graphic to load. This graphic references or links to another page (that code is not shown) and the "border=0" tells the browser that the photographer does not want the typical, ugly, colored border around the image which indicates that it is also a link button. The "alt" tag points to the text that will be displayed in place of the graphic, should it fail to load, or if the user chooses stop a slow loading graphic. It is also a good idea to put hypertext links on the page the do the same thing, even if they are grouped at the bottom of the page, so they would not distract from the visual ascetics of the page.

By defining the size of your graphics and offering alternate hypertext links, you enable your potential user with greater choice and freedom --endearing qualities which may help to get you another link to your URL.

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Royce Bair, Director and Douglas Pulsipher, Manager
The Stock Solution
(A Stock Photo Agency)
6640 S. 2200 W.
West Jordan, UT 84084
Phone: 801-566-8684
E-mail us: tssphoto@xmission.com