Can you tell me why images that have tranparent areas are helpful on a web page?
Expert Answer
#)Can you tell me why images that have tranparent areas are helpful on a web page?
As of my knowledge,images that have tranparent areas are helpful to load very easily and and better visibility for giving better UX(user experience) design to the web pages..
Optimize Images for the Web:
1.Use SVGs First
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) is an XML markup language for storing vector images (check out SVG Basics on Treehouse). Instead of using pixels to represent image data (like more familiar JPEG, GIF, and PNG file formats), SVGs use a series of points called “vectors” that are mapped to a two-dimensional coordinate grid.
2.Rescale Raster Images
3.Pick your PNG for Performance
4.Use Animated GIFs Very Sparingly
5.Aggressively Compress @2x Images
6.Load JPEGs Progressively
Some of the techinics to transperent images used in web pages are,
Optimize Website Images for Better Design & SEO
When we talk about “optimizing” an image for the web, you can think about this in two ways: 1) making sure your images can be indexed by search engines, and 2) making sure they just look good.
Most posts just go over one aspect or the other, but in this post I’ll cover both.
1. Start with high-quality images:
–You don’t have to be a professional photographer to use great photographs on your website.
How to Optimize Website Images for Better Design & SEO
—Whether you have a blog, online store, or a regular website that you want to look amazing, it pays to take a few moments to optimize each image you upload.
When we talk about “optimizing” an image for the web, you can think about this in two ways: 1) making sure your images can be indexed by search engines, and 2) making sure they just look good.
Most posts just go over one aspect or the other, but in this post I’ll cover both. Even better is that all of these steps can be done with free, easy-to-use tools—no Photoshop required. (In this post I’ll mostly be demonstrating with the free web version of Pixlr, which is a great tool for basic photo editing.)
1. Start with high-quality images
You don’t have to be a professional photographer to use great photographs on your website. Every day it seems like there are more high-quality stock photo sites out there that allow you to download their photos for commercial use, for free. Some of our favorites are:
- Pixabay
- Unsplash
- Barn Images
- PicJumbo
- SplitShire
- Little Visuals
- …and even more listed in our Support Center
Of course, you can’t use stock photos for everything (like photos of your team or product). If you need to take photographs of your own products, there are a few easy tricks to make your photos look well-lit and more professional, even without fancy camera equipment
If you’re looking for something more graphic-based, there are a ton of new, free online tools that you can use to build your own infographics or photos with text overlays. We love Canva and PiktoChart. If you’re looking for a logo, we recommend checking out 99designs.
2. Use the right file type: JPEG or PNG:
–With images, you’re most likely to encounter a JPEG (or JPG) or a PNG. There are pros and cons of each, but for most cases you can remember the following:
- Photographs should be saved and uploaded as JPEGs. This file type deals with all of the colors in a photograph in a very manageable, efficient way, so you won’t end up with the monster file size you would if you saved a photograph as a PNG.
- Graphics, especially those using large, flat areas of color, should be saved as PNGs. This includes most design files, infographics, images with lots of text in them, and logos. PNGs are higher quality than JPEGs and they deal with areas of color and text with nice crisp lines, so you can zoom in and not lose any quality. They also support transparent backgrounds (which you’ll want if you’re using a logo). If you have a choice, we recommend saving the PNGs as “24 bit” rather than “8 bit” because of the better quality and richer array of supported colors.
3. Balance file size and resolution to make images web friendly
With web images, you want to find the right balance between file size and resolution. The higher your resolution, the better your image will look, but the larger the file size will be. Huge image files on your site can slow down the loading of your page (page speed), which hurts your user experience and, eventually, your search engine ranking.
- Image size: The measurement of the height and width of the image, in pixels. You probably think of traditional printed photos as 4×6, 5×7, or 8×10. But on the web, images are measured in pixels. So for example, the feature image at the top of this page is 795×300 pixels.
- Resolution: Left over from the world of print, resolution is the quality or density of an image, measured in dots per inch (dpi). Most computer monitors won’t display more than 72dpi, so anything bigger than that is overkill and just making your file unnecessarily large. When a design program has the option to “save for web”, it means saving the file at a low, web-friendly resolution.
What do you do if your file size is too large for your website?
—Resize the image. If your photo is 5000 pixels wide, you can easily resize it to 1200 pixels wide, or even smaller depending on how you plan to use it on your site. This will significantly reduce the file size. When you resize, make sure to keep the proportions the same so you don’t distort your image.
- Reduce the resolution. Photo programs like Pixlr and Canva will automatically reduce your image resolution to a “web-friendly” size (72dpi and 92dpi, respectively). You can do this in PhotoShop too with the ‘save for web’ option. You can also “Save As” in many photo programs and then adjust the quality level from there.
- Run your image through a free program like TinyPNG or TinyJPG. Both will significantly reduce your file size without interfering with the quality.
What if you are using a photograph with text over it (like the feature images we use on this blog)? If the majority of the image is a photograph, you can stick to JPEG.
You can select the type of file you want with any simple photo program by going to “Save As,” “Export,” or “Save for web” and choosing the file type you prefer. There are also free online tools like Zamzar that will convert files for you.
You can convert from PNG to JPEG, but you don’t gain any quality by converting a JPEG to a PNG. So for example, if you only have your logo as a JPG, you’ll need to go directly to your designer and ask for a PNG from their original design files, rather than trying to reverse-engineer one from the JPEG.
How do you find the file size, image size, and resolution of your image?
You can find the file size and image size right on your computer. If you’re on a PC, right-click on the image file, choose “Properties” and then the “Summary” tab. On a Mac, Ctrl+click on the image file and choose “Get Info.”
Finding the resolution requires a more advanced photo program like Photoshop, but most basic image editing programs will automatically save images at a lower, web-friendly dpi. Pixlr’s free web version presents your images at 72dpi, and Canva lets you “save for web” which gives you a PNG at 92dpi.
- Resize the image. If your photo is 5000 pixels wide, you can easily resize it to 1200 pixels wide, or even smaller depending on how you plan to use it on your site. This will significantly reduce the file size. When you resize, make sure to keep the proportions the same so you don’t distort your image
- Reduce the resolution. Photo programs like Pixlr and Canva will automatically reduce your image resolution to a “web-friendly” size (72dpi and 92dpi, respectively). You can do this in PhotoShop too with the ‘save for web’ option. You can also “Save As” in many photo programs and then adjust the quality level from there.
- Run your image through a free program like TinyPNG or TinyJPG. Both will significantly reduce your file size without interfering with the quality.
5. Name the image file correctly to help your SEO
–Most people don’t think much about their file names. They may call a photo “Photo1.jpg” or “Screen Shot 2015-06-02 at 3.41.15 PM”. If this sounds familiar, take a moment to rename your files before you upload them to your website. Why? Because doing so will give your SEO a boost.
Think about it this way. When Google scans your website, it can read your text but it can’t see what’s in your images. The file name provides information about what’s in the image so that Google can interpret it correctly (think eiffel-tower.jpg rather than DSC12345.jpg).
The file name also becomes part of the image’s url, so naming your file something in plain English will make your urls easier to navigate and interpret.
6. Fill out your captions and alternative text
Once people upload an image into a Photo element, they often forget to fill out the additional information. But just like the file name, this info gives you some added SEO juice.
7. Put the image near relevant text
Choose images that are related to what the text is saying, rather than something completely out-of-the-blue. An image that is surrounded by relevant text (with related keywords) will rank better.
This tip also helps you avoid stock photo cliches. If your website is about education, you don’t get any SEO boost from having a photo of an apple. Photos of teachers, students, and classrooms, though, will be more interesting for readers and more relevant to your subject matter.