Here’s how to speed it up…
Your Visitors Won’t Wait





         On the web, how much time do you have to make a first impression?

         About 20 seconds. If your site doesn't load (come up on the screen) by then, you're likely to lose your visitor.

         A major culprit that contributes to a slow start on your screen is images that are too large (too many pixels). Unless your visitor has DSL or a cable connection, you can expect that your site will be sluggish throughout the visitor’s session if you employ large files (pictures) on your site.

         Here’s one way to solve the problem. When you create files (images) for the web, use the Save for Web option in the File menu. And when you save that file, check the loading times for different speeds, especially for users running on 56K connections.

         I guarantee it will be a real eye-opener.

Some Common Questions:
         How large is a web image when it’s too large? Generally, I try to limit file sizes to no more than 20K each. There are exceptions, such as an
 
image that has a large amount of information.

Slicing.jpg (see: slicing.jpg 2/1/2006)
         If that’s the case, I would employ image slicing. This is where the image is divided into sections. In Photoshop and ImageReady, slicing allows you divide a single image into multiple smaller files, where each slice is an independent file. Each section will load as an image on its own. This gives the user something to look at as the page loads and is much faster than trying to load a large image. If you need to use image slicing it is recommended that the total image size not exceed 100K.

Saveforweb.jpg
         How will we know what is large? This will be determined by using the Save for Web feature in Photoshop, which will give you information
about different file sizes and their loading times, as based on using a (slow) 28.8 K (kilobytes per second) modem.

         How can we reduce the size so that our website comes up in 5 to 10 seconds?

         Generally, this is a factor of setting the image size and resolution. I recommend that you don’t make your images any larger than 500 pixels in either height or width. Smaller is better. When using file formats, I recommend JPEG, and in the Save for Web dialog box in Photoshop, choose 30% as a starting point. You will have to experiment a bit to find a happy medium. The file sizes change depending on the amount of complexity in an image; i.e. a blue sky will compress more than an image of people in a park.

         Is the “Save For Web” option on all computers, all browsers? No. It is only found in Adobe Photoshop. Other programs (e.g. photo editing programs like Gimp, MicroSoft Paint, MicroSoft Imaging) may have a similar feature, but will have a different names.

         What’s a 56K connection? This refers to 56 kilobytes per second. This is used with a dialup modem or one that you can use to connect to the Internet through your telephone line.

Nathan Segal boosts your digital productivity with proven tips, tools and techniques to create better scans, images and prints in his e-book, “The Photoshop Companion.” Visit http://www.photo-shop-tutorials.com. He has been writing for computer and photographic magazines for 8+ years.


           


           

Tommy Thompson

Kerry Kolb

Jon Saban

Jake Nelson