Week 2 Thougths on Latest Web Design Topics

One thing I quickly realized is the how powerful Photoshop is. Our class activities gave me an opportunity to learn some useful tools in this program. In the past I have used a scaled down version of Photoshop called Elements. I’ve never taken the time to gain a solid understanding of this program and have only really mastered cropping. Some of the other features we learned in class will greatly help me with what I want to do with my website. I have a passion of taking pictures and sharing them with others. Understanding the basics of how to go about preparing an image for the web is essential for a successful site.

I thought the marquee and feathering was a nice touch depending on what you want to do with the image. I noticed these features in Elements but never tried them before. It seemed every time I would try something new I would end up getting frustrated and at times ultimately ruining the image. Additionally, I never understood the concept of layers until we discussed them in class. This alone addresses many of my past frustrations with Photoshop. I am looking forward to experimenting with some of the other features and reinforcing the ones we learned.

It is not a good idea to attach an image to an email or upload to website “as is”. Image sizes can be extremely large and trying to send them over the internet or posting them on the internet can create problems. Some mail servers are set up to deny sending large files. It also takes a long time to download images from websites when they are too large. Some things can be done to make the image more suitable for the internet. Making the below changes will allow users to view the image more quickly and it will not take up as much space.
1) – Cropping is a technique that allows you to reduce the image size. All photo editing software has a cropping feature and it provides a way to select the wanted part of the image to be copied into a new photo image. This new image will be smaller and can be sent via emails or posted on blogs and websites. This is beneficial when you may have an image that contains parts that area not of interest to you.
2) – Another way to make an image ready for email and internet is to change the image size. Many times the image size can be fairly large considering how the image was created and saved. To check the image size of a file you can go to image > resize > image size and see what the document size is and change it to smaller measurements. One image I opened was showing 14” x 10” and the file size was 135kb. After I changed the file to measure 3” x 5”, the file size became 26kb.
3) – Changing the pixels per inch (ppi), is another way to make a file ready for the internet. Most images are saved at high resolution because they are used to make photographs from. High ppi with photographs is desirable because the higher the ppi the sharper the image. However, when using images for internet use, the sharpness of the picture in not the main concern. By reducing the ppi to 72 the file size will be reduced making it better suited to use on the internet.
4) – When working with jpeg files you can choose a compression setting. The higher the number the better, sharper the image will be but the file size will be larger. You should choose a number and then view the image to find a compression setting that will properly show the image without giving up too much detail and sharpness. The lower the number the more the image will be compressed.
5) – Making the background transparent will also reduce the file size. This is nice feature to use when you want the background color to show around the image. You can use the marquee feature to remove the part of the image you want to show and then paste it into a new file and save it with a transparent background.

Week One Entry

The “directories” topic covered in week one reading will be extremely beneficial to me. Until now I haven’t really used directories, however, after reading about them and working through the short exercise in the book I realize how useful directories can be. I searched the web using Google during some of my previous classes looking for tutorials on various topics such as programming and data structures. I eventually was able to find such information, but, I could have decreased my search time had I used directories.


Graphic design is everywhere we look in both the web and print. The success of the design depends greatly on contrast, proximity, repetition and alignment. A good design will keep the viewer’s attention long enough to get the intended message across to the reader. I also believe “designs” influence a persons overall opinion about the company for which it is for. This makes it ever more important to have a design that expresses a clear message and is professionally done. .


Web design provides the opportunity to give huge amounts of information to masses of people at the fraction of the cost of print. I work for a powder coating company and in the past we have spent $20K - $30K annually on printing product literature so we could send hard copy brochures to our customer base. Over the past several years we have developed a website that contains all of our product literature and technical documents so customers can visit our site and get the information they need without the use of hard copy brochures. I do not think the web will ever completely replace print; however, it certainly makes it easy and cost effective for the transfer of certain types of information. We have saved thousands of dollars over the years because we have reduced the number of color cards we needed to print. In addition, the actual designing of web information is very flexible and can easily be changed and updated. This is very beneficial when it comes to things such as overall new designs, price changes, introduction of new products, and change in hours, etc. When using the web approach customer feedback is very easy to capture and can be accomplished by using a feedback form or email. A common way with print would be to send a post card and wait for the customer to complete and return. This approach is not only very slow but time consuming and expensive as well.


One of the things that surprised me the most was learning about the overuse of the “centering” alignment. After seeing the several before and after pictures of alignment in the book, I agree that it is a much cleaner approach with everything being left aligned. At work I have been guilty of over using the “centered” alignment and I am looking forward to learning how to break that habit and creating a visually appealing design.

Up and Running

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Day One

The first night of class...