Operation Manual

Working with Graphics, Animation, and Multimedia 49
Design Tips
Graphics
You can obtain pictorial content in lots of ways: scanning, grabbing
screen images, using clip art, creating from scratch. No matter where
you get an image, you’ll need to modify it in some way: cropping or
enhancing it, adding text, applying a special effect, combining it with
another image. For these tasks, you don’t have to be a great artist, but
you do need to know your way around a paint program like Serif
PhotoPlus. Make sure you’ve got a package that can save to the .GIF
format. Whichever program you’re using, the information and advice in
this section will help you use it effectively with WebPlus.
Before moving on to some more technical aspects of enhancing Web
graphics, let’s review a few visual design precepts with special
relevance for Web pages in general. As in other sections of this chapter,
we’re interested in respecting the way people actually experience Web
pages.
♦ If you’re using graphics as page elements, not just as background,
then use small, significant elements throughout the page, not just at
the top and bottom. As users scroll, the page should preserve a
balance of text, graphics, and white (background) space.
♦ At the same time, avoid insignificant adornments like rules,
bullets, and icons unless they’re part of an overall scheme.
♦ Don’t use too many colors on the page or background. Half a
dozen per page, including background, body text, links, and
graphics, is about right to lend your site a professional appearance.
(Plain white or light backgrounds are favored.) Pick no more than
two dominant colors per page; the further any other color is from
these “dominants,” the less space it should occupy.
♦ Elements with similar form or function (for example, all section
heads or horizontal rules) should share the same color.
♦ Try varying the artistic forms you use. Throw in a photograph or
two—even if they have no special relevance to your site, they’ll
enhance its visual appeal on a decorative level as long as they
blend into a compositional scheme. Think about using a clip art
photo as a background for a logo, text head, or navigation map.
Don’t get stuck on using just one type of graphic.