Lecture Notes: Integrating Multimedia Content
Fonts and Typefaces in Web Design
Fonts and typefaces play an important role in creating an attractive website. This article explains the basics of fonts and typefaces.
Use of Graphic Images in Web Pages
Graphics and images can enhance a website or become a distraction. Check out this article for some basic advice on using images in websites.
JPG vs. GIF
There are many differences between the GIF and JPG formats for images. This article explains the differences very well and provides examples. Here's another great link with examples. For information on when to use each, go here.
Shortening URLs
Long URLs can be cumbersome to work with, particularly when posting them on social media platforms, such as Facebook or Twitter. For example, http://charters.cathris.com/gallery/mc_visa_logo.gif is long, but using the bit.ly service, it can be shortened to http://bit.ly/UhJW6Z. The service is free and the URL is unique. Any link to the URL will now go to bit.ly, which will then link to the actual URL. Of course, the performance is now a bit slower as it has to make two requests rather than one. There are several other URL shortening services besides bit.ly, including:
- tinyurl.com
- tiny.cc
- goo.gl
File Size Comparisons
Below are comparisons of the same image saved in several popular file types. (Note that there is no reason to view more than one of the TIFFs or the PNG. Since all are lossless formats, their appearance is identical.)
Below are comparisons of the same image saved in several popular file types. (Note that there is no reason to view more than one of the TIFFs or the PNG. Since all are lossless formats, their appearance is identical.)
File type | Size |
Tiff, uncompressed |
901K
|
Tiff, LZW lossless compression (yes, its actually bigger) |
928K
|
JPG, High quality |
319K
|
JPG, medium quality |
188K
|
JPG, my usual web quality |
105K
|
JPG, low quality / high compression |
50K
|
JPG, absurdly high compression |
18K
|
PNG, lossless compression |
741K
|
GIF, lossless compression, but only 256 colors |
286K
|
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|