INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET

AND WEB PAGE DESIGN

A Project
Presented to
the Faculty of the Communication Department
at Southern Utah University

In Partial Fulfillment
of the Requirements for the Degree

Master of Arts in Professional Communication

By
Lance Douglas Jackson

Dr. Jon Smith, Project Supervisor

April 2009
 APPROVAL PAGE

The undersigned, appointed by the dean of the College of Humanities and

Social Science at Southern Utah University, have examined the project en-
titled:

INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET

AND WEB PAGE DESIGN
Submitted by Lance Douglas Jackson,

A candidate for the degree of Master of Art in Professional Communication,

and hereby certify that, in their opinion, it is worthy of acceptance.

_________________________________________
Professor Jon Smith

_________________________________________
Professor Arthur Challis

________________________________________
Professor Lionel Grady

________________________________________
Mr. Mark Walton

________________________________________
Professor Suzanne Larson
Graduate Director
 
 DIGITIZATION PERMISSION FORM

I, Lance D. Jackson, give permission to the Southern Utah University Library to digitize
and archive my capstone project entitled Introduction to the Internet and Web Page De-
sign, submitted for the Master of Arts degree in Professional Communication.

______________________________ _______________________
Lance D. Jackson Date
 
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I wish to acknowledge the following individuals for their help, Support and

encouragement in the completion of this project and the requirements of the Master’s

Degree:

Dr. Jon Smith, chair of my committee for his guidance support and encourage-

ment and for inspiring me to think out of the box. Because of his guidance, I have begun

to aspire to greater heights than I had previously though possible.

Committee members Dr. Arthur Challis and Lionel Grady for their friendship and
support.

Dr. Suzanne Larson, Graduate Director, for always believing in me and being sup-

portive and for her guidance and advice.

I acknowledge the help and support of the graduate faculty of the SUU Commu-

nication Department. Dr. L. Paul Husselbee has been an great inspiration to

strive for the best technically correct workmanship. His courses have been demanding,

yet fair and have helped me to see the importance of being thorough in research design

and execution.

I especially acknowledge and thank Mr. Mark Walton, Director of Web Services

at Southern Utah University and member of my committee and my wife, Deborah K.

Jackson. Mr. Walton has provided much in the way of content editing and suggestions.

His expertise and suggestions have not only been appreciated but have also improved

the quality and usefulness of the project. Debbie has been supportive from the begin-

ning, without her support, this project would not have been possible.

ii
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

TITLE PAGE . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . i

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ii

LIST OF FIGURES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . iv

LIST OF TABLES. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ix

EXPLANATION OF TERMINOLOGY/ABBREVIATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . x

ABSTRACT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xi

COPYRIGHT STATEMENT . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . xii

Chapter

1. THE INTERNET AND THE WORLD-WIDE WEB . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1

2. PLANNING FOR WEB DESIGN. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15

3. TECHNICAL CONSIDERATIONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35

4. IMAGE EDITING AND PREPARATION . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 51

5. BACKGROUNDS, TEXTURES AND ICONS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 71

6. ANIMATION WITH PHOTOSHOP. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 87

7. HTML, XHTML AND STYLE SHEETS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 105

8. WEB DESIGN WITH PHOTOSHOP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

9. ADOBE DREAMWEAVER . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 157

REFERENCES . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14, 33, 49, 69, 85, 104, 135,155, 174

VITA. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 176

APPENDIX . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 178

iii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Chapter 1
1.1 Simple Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 2
1.2 Peer-to-Peer Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 3
1.3 Client Server Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 4
1.4 Internet Access to a Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
1.5 Monitor Pixels . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11

Chapter 2
2.1 Kress & Van Leeuewen Model . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 20
2.2 Open/Cluttered designs . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 21
2.3 Icon/Index/Symbol . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 22
2.4 Layout Models . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
2.5 Rough Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
2.6 Flow Chart . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 28

Chapter 3
3.1 Web Server . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.2 Web Server ISP . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 36
3.3 SUU Computer Network . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 37
3.4 F: Drive Content . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38
3.5 My Computer Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.6 Content of My Computer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.7 Content of F: Drive . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.8 Creating a New Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 39
3.9 Renaming a Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.10 public_html Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 40
3.11 Example of Files Names . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.12 HTML Sample . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 41
3.13 Web Folder Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 42

Chapter 4
4.1 Minimal JPEG Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.2 Medium JPEG Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.3 Large JPEG Compression . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 53
4.4 GIF Image Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.5 Animated GIF Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.6 Solid Background GIF Images . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 54
4.7 After Touch-up Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.8 Before Touch-up Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 58
4.9 JPEG Options Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59
4.10 Image Size Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 59

iv
 List of Figures Continued

4.11 Crop Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60

4.12 Crop on Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 60
4.13 Cropped Image . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.14 Color Picker Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61
4.15 Setting Point of Origin for Clone Stamp . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.16 Using the Clone Stamp Tool . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 62
4.17 Histogram Pallet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.18 Levels Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
4.19 Unsharp Mask Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.20 Save for Web and Devices Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 64
4.21 Optimizing for Web Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.22 Optimizing for Web Example 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 66
4.23 Save Optimized As menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 67

Chapter 5
5.1 High Resolution Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.2 Low Resolution Monitor . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.3 Color Picker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 73
5.4 Texturizer Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 74
5.5 Add Noise Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.6 Creating a New Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 75
5.7 Motion Blur Filter . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.8 Hue/Saturation menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 76
5.9 Completed Texture . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.10 Crop Tool Options . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.11 Cropping Navigation Bar to Shape . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 77
5.12 Navigation Bar Layer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.13 Layer Style Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 78
5.14 Adding Text to a Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.15 Finished Navigation Bar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
5.16 Renaming Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.17 Circular Selection . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 80
5.18 Round Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.19 Adding Button Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.20 Finished “Up” Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 81
5.21 Optimizing the Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82
5.22 Saving the Finished Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 82

Chapter 6
6.1 Animation Frames. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 88
6.2 Animated “WOW” Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
6.3 Convert to Frames Mode . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89
v
 List of Figures Continued

6.4 Playing an Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 89

6.5 Entering a Word to Animate . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.6 Changing the Display Time . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.7 Looping Options. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 90
6.8 Duplicating a Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.9 “Tweening” to Add Frames . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 91
6.10 The Tween Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
6.11 Completed Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 92
6.12 Saving the Animation for Web . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.13 Save Optimized Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
6.14 Flower Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
6.15 Layer Opacity . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 94
6.16 Frame Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.17 Tween Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 95
6.18 Timeline Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
6.19 Converts to Timeline Button . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 96
6.20 Image for Timeline Animation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.21 Timeline Parts. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.22 Timeline Close-up. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 97
6.23 Timeline Twirl-down . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
6.24 Timeline Expanded Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
6.25 Key Frame Marker . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 98
6.26 New Key Frame . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.27 Image of Text for Positioning . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 99
6.28 Image with Additional Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100
6.29 Tmeline Layers. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 100

Chapter 7
7.1 Notepad Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.2 Notepad Open Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 107
7.3 Notepad Editing Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.4 Web Page Example . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 108
7.5 Web Page Rough Drawing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
7.6 Beginning HTML Code Entry . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 111
7.7 Adding HTML Code to Notepad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 113
7.8 Browser Showing Page Title . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 114
7.9 Browser Showing Banner Photo. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 115
7.10 Additional Code Added to Notepad . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.11 Browser Showing Sidebar Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 116
7.12 Browser Showing Added Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 117
7.13 Notepad With More Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
vi
 List of Figures Continued

7.14 Browser With Added Link Text . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 118
7.15 Browser With Added Background Color . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 120
7.16 Browser With Text Relocated. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 121
7.17 Browser Showing Everything In Correct Position. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 122
7.18 Complete HTML Code. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 123
7.19 Style Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 125

Chapter 8
8.1 Water Tank Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 138
8.2 Autumn Photo . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
8.3 Autumn Close-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 139
8.4 Autumn Photo Close-up 2 . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 140
8.5 Save Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
8.6 Images Folder . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
8.7 Save As Menu. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
8.8 HTML Table Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 141
8.9 Photoshop Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
8.10 Layer Pallet. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 143
8.11 Menu Slices Close-up . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
8.12 Navigation Text Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
8.13 Slice Options Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 144
8.14 Text Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8.15 Save As Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8.16 F: Drive Directory . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 146
8.17 Browser Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
8.18 Photoshop Text Layers . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
8.19 Photoshop Slices . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 147
8.20 Adobe Bridge Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
8.21 Adobe Bridge Window . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 150
8.22 Bridge Output Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8.23 Close-up of Output Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8.24 Web Picture Gallery . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 151
8.25 Create Gallery Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 152

Chapter 9
9.1 Dreamweaver Opening Screen . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 158
9.2 Creating a New Web Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
9.3 Dreamweaver Views Buttons . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
9.4 Style Sheet Code . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 159
9.5 Dreamweaver Design View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
9.6 Dreamweaver Title Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
9.7 Entering Titles in Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 160
vii
 List of Figures Continued

9.8 Dreamweaver Properties Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161

9.9 Partially Competed Web Page . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 161
9.10 Changing Photo Text Alignment Properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
9.11 Dreamweaver With Photos Added . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 162
9.12 CSS Styles Listing . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
9.13 Editing CSS Rules . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 163
9.14 Tag Selector . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
9.15 CSS Styles Panel . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 164
9.16 CSS Rule Definition Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 165
9.17 Dreamweaver New Document Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
9.18 Save Style Sheet Menu . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
9.19 New Page in Dreamweaver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 168
9.20 New CSS Rule Icon . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 169
9.21 Linking an External CSS . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
9.22 Attaching a Style Sheet . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 170
9.23 Browsing for Folders . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171
9.24 HTML Code View . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 171

viii
 List Of Tables

Chapter 1.
1.1 Internet Timeline . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 8
1.2 Bit Depth . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 11
1.3 Monitor Resolutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 12

Chapter 3
3.1 Computer Dive Letters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 38

ix
 Explanation of Terminology/Abbreviations

Mac Computer than the ten units common-

ly used in the base ten num-
Cmd + Key: Hold down the Command key bering system. Used to indi-
while pressing the indicated second key. cate color values in HTML
Option + Key: Hold down the Option Key
while pressing the indicated second key. HTML: Hypertext Mark-up Language

Windows Computer HTTP: Hypertext Transfer Protocol

Alt + Key: Hold down the Alt Key while HTTPS: Hypertext Transfer Protocol
pressing the indicated second key. Secure.
Ctrl + Key: Hold down the Control Key
while pressing the indicated key Hyperlink: A hot spot on a web page that
when clicked on, causes a
Common Abbreviations/Terms browser to load the specified
web content
Animation: A series of still image which,
when displayed in rapid suc- Internet: A system of interlinked comput-
cession, give the illusion of ers and networks.
motion
JPEG: Joint Photographic Experts Group- a
ARPA: Advanced Research Projects lossy image format supporting
Agency 16,000,000> colors. Used for pho-
tographs
Browser: Software program used to display
web pages (Internet Explorer) Link: Same as a hyperlink

CSS: Cascading Style Sheet SFTP: Secure File Transfer Protocol

Code: Refers to HTML or XHTML com- Tag: An HTML or XHTML command

puter language code
URL: Universal resource locator - essen-
FTP: File Transfer Protocol tially a web address

GIF: An image format using loss-less com- WWW: World-Wide Web - The hypertext
pression. Supports 256 colors, anima- documents sent over the Internet
tion and transparent backgorunds.
Used for illustrations and clip art XHTML: Extensible Hypertext Mark-up
Language.
Hexadecimal: A numbering system based
on 16 units per place rather

x
 INTRODUCTION TO THE INTERNET
AND WEB PAGE DESIGN

Lance Douglas Jackson

Dr. Jon Smith, Project Supervisor

ABSTRACT

The Internet is a vast resource for information and recreation yet many do not ap-

preciate its history or the process involved in designing and creating effective web pages.

This work seeks to address both the history of the Internet and basic concepts necessary

for the effective design and execution of web pages.

Internet history including a brief discussion of computer networking and the way

the Internet evolved to solve connectivity issues among research and government orga-

nizations is presented. The World Wide Web with its Hyper Text Mark-up Language was

instituted as a way of interlinking hypertext documents that would then be sent over the

Internet.

Visual design essentials are presented and discussed as they relate to effective

web page design.

Various ways of implementing web content including images, animations and full

page construction are presented. The use of Adobe Photoshop and Dreamweaver CS4,

along with Windows Notepad are briefly presented within a context of student self-

exploration of each topic. Each chapter concludes with a quiz and application section

encouraging the student to apply the concepts learned.

xi
 Introduction to the Internet
And Web Page Design

by

Lance D. Jackson
Screen shots and partial screen shots copyright © by the respective software companies:

Adobe® Bridge®
Adobe® Dreamweaver®
Adobe® Photoshop®
Microsoft® Windows XP Professional®

Used with permission

All other text and images COPYRIGHT © 2009 Lance D. Jackson

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED. No part of this work covered by the copyright herein may
be reproduced, copied or used in any form or by any means including but not limited
to: graphic electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, taping, web
distribution, information storage and retrieval systems without written permission of the
copyright holder.

For permission to use, submit an online request including all details of the intended use
to: [email protected].

xii
Chapter 1

The Internet
and the
World-Wide Web
2 Chapter 1
The Internet and the Web

Introduction (or with them) - Facilitating our efforts to be-

come good web designers.

I n today’s world, it is the rare person who has

not had some exposure to the Internet and the
World-Wide Web. According to recent research,
It must be said at the outset that the history of
the Internet and the web is not exactly cut and
as of the year 2004 there were only about 20% of dried. There are many versions of the history
American homes without a computer while 50% and many different people who are given credit
of homes had some form of high-speed internet for the development and continuation of these
connection1. Many of us have not only used the technologies. The information presented here is
Internet but have also created web content in a compilation of many of these stories gleaned
some form or other. The purpose of this chapter from various sources.
is to provide you with a brief introduction to and
history of the Internet and the World-Wide Web Networks
as well as computer monitor technology and
to give you a basic understanding of how they In order to understand the history and work-
work. ings of the Internet and the web you first need to
understand a little about computer networking.
While a thorough and technical history is beyond A network in its simplest form is just a series
the scope of this work, having some idea of the of interconnected people, operations, broadcast
history and development of the Internet and the stations or computers. One example of a network
web is helpful in understanding the design con- is the old telegraph system that you may remem-
straints imposed by the technology. For example, ber seeing in a western movie (Figure 1.1). The
you may need to know why the text formatting telegraph enabled communication between two
of a web page is limited to a
few sizes, basic fonts and type
styles, why the resolution of a
web photo is so low, why exact Figure 1.1 Simple Network

placement of content is difficult and why images

are linked to rather than embedded in HTML or more remote locations by using simple binary
documents. code (Morse code). A message was first convert-
ed from spoken or written language onto a series
As you study web design, you will come to of clicks with short or long spaces between them
understand and appreciate why there are so many (encoding). For example S-O-S, the familiar
constraints and how we can work around them distress signal is encoded as “… --- …” On the

1
See for example: http://infozerk.com/averyblog/20-of-american-homes-are-without-computers/ or http://www.cs.cmu.
edu/afs/cs/user/bam/www/numbers.html.
 Intro to the Internet 3
and Web Page Design
receiving end, the clicks and spaces could be One disadvantage to this type of network is that
“decoded” by a trained operator into an intelli- when a file or other resource is being shared, it
gible message. tends to slow down the host computer because it
may be trying to accomplish other tasks includ-
When computers were first introduced, it soon ing execution of its own programs at the same
became apparent that the ability to share infor- time. It also takes up storage space that might be
mation between them was a valuable and desir- better used for other purposes.
able capability. Initially, if someone wanted to
share data from one computer with another, the Over time, these simple networks gave way to
information from the first computer had to be more sophisticated ones which included network
printed out in some man-
ner and manually entered
into the second computer.
With the advent of paper
punch cards, and later,
magnetic and optical stor- Figure 1.2 Peer-to-Peer Networks
age devices, the process of data transfer became
easier and fewer errors occurred than when done printers and file servers. These “client/server”
manually. But if data could be exchanged di- networks can be found in homes, business and
rectly between computers tremendous increases educational institutions throughout the world.
in the transfer time and operator efficiency could Rather than all computers being able to access
be realized. To facilitate this information ex- data from all the others on the network, in the
change, simple computer networks, sometimes client/server topology, a “file server” houses the
called “peer-to-peer” networks were developed. data files and the individual “client” computers
These networks basically allow the sharing of can access the data (documents, images, data-
information among all the users equally (Fig- bases, etc.) from the server as needed. This frees
ure 1.2). Each workstation can allow or restrict the client machines from having to house shared
the sharing of specific files, folders and devices data and allows them to run programs and pro-
such as printers with other workstations. Where cesses the data much more quickly. Figure 1.3
more than two computers are connected in this illustrates this type of network.
way, the use of a device called a “hub or switch”
facilitates the connections among the various In larger institutions, there may actually be
workstations. The computers do not need to be in many smaller interconnected local area networks
the same room or even the same city, they can be (LANs). A LAN is a computer network that cov-
connected remotely. ers a small geographic area such as a home, of-
fice or localized group of buildings. The addition
4 Chapter 1
The Internet and the Web
of a specialized computer called a “router” to the a series of interconnected networks or a network
network enables the network to communicate of networks. If you can visualize the illustration
with other networks, or connect to the Internet of Figure 1.4 in which the cloud representing
(Figure 1.4). the Internet is composed of thousands of addi-
tional networks, all interconnected, you have a
basic understanding
of what the Internet
Switch Mail Web is. These networks
Server Server connect to each
other through various
means including fiber
optic cable, satellite,
File
Server telephone cable and
microwave.

The Internet has

revolutionized the
Mac PC Unix Network
Computer Computer Printer computer and com-
Computer
munication world.
Figure 1.3 Client-Server Network Its predecessors,
radio, television, tele-
When you connect to the Internet through a graph, telephone and computers helped set the
stand-alone computer either at home or some stage for the integration of capabilities that has
other location whether it be through wireless, become the Internet.
dial-up, DSL, cable or satellite, you are joining a
network hosted by your Internet Service Pro- The first recorded description of interactions that
vider (ISP). You may not physically see or even could be accomplished through networking was
know about the other computers on the network, a series of memos written by J.C.R. Licklider
but they are there nonetheless sharing the same then working at MIT. In 1962 he envisioned a
Internet access which helps to explain the slow- global interconnection of computers through
down experienced during times of heavy use. which data and programs could be quickly ac-
cessed from any site.
The Internet
Licklider was the first head of the computer pro-
So what is this thing called the Internet? In its gram at the Advanced Research Projects Agency
simplest terms, the Internet is nothing more than (ARPA)2. While there he convinced his succes-
 Intro to the Internet 5
and Web Page Design
sors of the importance of his networking concept other along the same route. The path is decided
and they eventually worked to help develop the upon before the transmission starts. The route is
Internet. dedicated and exclusive. The path is released for
other users only when the session is finished. An
Meanwhile Leonard Kleinrock at MIT pub- example of circuit switching is a dial-up modem
lished the first paper on packet switching theory using a telephone line. The path from the com-
in July 1961. The first book on the subject was puter to the service provider is fixed. Data moves
published in 1964.
Kleinrock con-
vinced Lawrence G. Router Internet
Roberts of the fea-
sibility of his ideas
and in 1965, work-
ing with Thomas
Merrill, Roberts
Switch Mail Web
connected a com-
Server Server
puter in Massachu-
setts to a computer
in California with a
slow speed dial-up File
telephone line thus Server
creating the first
wide-area computer
network. They also
found that circuit Mac PC Unix Network
switching was Computer Computer Computer Printer
totally inadequate -
Figure 1.4 Internet Access to a Network
confirming the need
for packet switching. from the computer to the modem, from the
modem to the telephone line, from the telephone
Circuit switching is a way of transmitting data line (through a maze of wire and switches) to
through a fixed and predetermined path of wires, the service provider. The path cannot be used by
switches and other devices. Circuit switched data anyone else whether it is for a different on-line
is transmitted serially from one place to an- session or a simple telephone conversation until
2
The Advanced Research Projects Agency (ARPA) changed its name to Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency
(DARPA) in 1971, then back to ARPA in 1993, and back to DARPA in 1996.
6 Chapter 1
The Internet and the Web
the initial session is finished and the path is In September of 1969, the first node of the AR-
released. PANET (the forerunner to the Internet) was com-
pleted at UCLA. The second node was estab-
In packet switching, computer data is broken into lished at Stanford. Soon, two more nodes were
small chunks. Each chunk is placed in a package added, one at UC Santa Barbara and the other
of data called a packet. The packet contains (in at the University of Utah. These last two nodes
addition to the original data) the address of the incorporated application visualization projects
sending computer and the address of the destina- which allowed the sharing of visual data such as
tion computer. Each packet is sent to its destina- scientific formulas. By the end of 1969, the four
tion by itself and may take a completely different host computers were connected together form-
route than other packets. The concept is similar ing the initial ARPANET that would eventually
to a bunch of vehicles moving along busy streets. become the Internet. Computers were quickly
A street is able to accept all kinds of traffic added and work on host-to-host protocols (a set
continuously and is not closed while one vehicle of rules for information exchange) and other
moves down it from the point of origin to the network software was completed.
destination. If one street is closed, the traffic can
take another route. One of the main functions of Three years later in 1972, the first public dem-
an Internet router is to send packets of data to onstration of the ARPANET was conducted and
their destination along the best route available at electronic mail was introduced. All the while
the moment. At the destination the packets are refinement on protocols was occurring. The
reassembled into a usable string of data. To help ARPANET (Internet) was based on the idea that
you visualize this concept, think of you and a there could be many independent networks of
friend each driving to the same distant location arbitrary design connected to each other. So the
in your own automobiles. You start out at the Internet as we know it utilizes the idea of open-
same place but may each choose a different route architecture networks which permit all users to
and at the end of the trip, you both arrive at the interconnect on an equal access basis regardless
same destination and are reunited. of the type of computer or operating system they
use. This makes it possible for systems and net-
In 1966 Roberts went to DARPA (formerly works of any type to communicate effectively as
ARPA- see footnote 2) and put together a plan long as they use standard protocols.
for what was to become the ARPANET. The
development of packet switching and computer
In 1980, the Transmission Control Protocol/
networking occurred in parallel without the
Internet Protocol (TCP/IP) was adopted as a de-
researchers knowing of each other’s work. But
eventually hardware and software developers fense standard and on January 1, 1983, all hosts
came together and the ideas that ultimately were were required to adopt the TCP/IP standard or
to become the Internet were born. be left out. During this time the ARPANET was
 Intro to the Internet 7
and Web Page Design
being used extensively by the military and de- is not the web and the two terms should not be
fense communities. In just over eight years, the confused or used interchangeably.
“backbone” had grown to over 50,000 networks
on seven continents and even outer space. The There are many computer languages and “proto-
United States alone had 29,000 of these. cols” used on the Internet. A protocol is simply
an agreed upon format for transmitting data.
Finally in 1990 the ARPANET was decommis- Protocols determine, among other things, the
sioned and TCP/IP replaced most all other proto- type of error checking, how the interconnected
cols world-wide. It was not until 1995, however devices will indicate they have finished sending
that the term “Internet” was formally defined by or receiving data and any data compression used.
the Federal Networking Council. Some of the more common protocols used on the
Internet include; the Hypertext Transfer Proto-
Over the next two decades the Internet continued col (HTTP), Telnet, and File Transfer Protocol
to change and expand. It began in the era of the (FTP). A secure version of HTTP “HTTPS” is
large main-frame computers but survived into also common.
the era of personal computers, client-server and
peer-to-peer computing using localized desktop Today the web mainly uses the HTTP and
computers of many sorts. It was envisioned as HTTPS protocols. Browsers such as Internet
facilitating a range of functions from file sharing Explorer and Firefox are software programs that
and remote login to resource sharing can interpret the HTTP protocol (and
and collaboration, and has facilitated specific languages like HTML) and
the creation of electronic mail and cause the data contained therein
more recently the World Wide to be displayed on a computer
Web. monitor. Browsers facilitate access
to web documents called “web
World-Wide Web pages” that are linked to each other
using “hyperlinks.” A hyper link is
The term World-Wide Web (WWW), an element in a web page that creates a
usually shortened to the “web,” is a system link to another place in the same document, an
of interlinked hypertext documents accessed entirely different document or media content of
through the Internet. Although many people use some type.
the terms “Internet” and “web” interchangeably,
in reality the Internet is the system that facilitates Web pages as displayed in a browser window
the transfer of data and the web is the data itself. can contain graphics, sound, text and video. In
The web is just one of the ways that data can be reality, the graphics, sound and video are not
disseminated over the Internet. So the Internet part of the web document. They are linked to the
8 Chapter 1
The Internet and the Web
web document and displayed in accordance with NeXT computer platform (a distinctive type of
the instructions contained in it. So the images, computer like PC or MAC) and a smaller limited
sounds and videos are version that would run
all transferred over Internet Timeline on other computers. It
the Internet separately Date Event soon became clear that
and are displayed with 1962 Licklider concieves Internet concept CERN could not do all
the text according to the 1966 ARPA project begins the development work
instructions contained in 1969 ARPA goes on line on the web so Berners-
the hypertext document. 1972 E-mail introduced Lee pled for outside
developers to help.
1973 TCP/IP designed
Tim Berners-Lee, a
1981 IBM introduces PC computer
scientist working at In 1993 The National
1982 Word “Internet” first used
CERN (The European Center for Supercom-
1984 Term “Cyberspace” developed
Organization for Nuclear Apple introduces Mac computer puting Applications
Research) invented the (NCSA) released the first
1990 ARPAnet ends
World-Wide Web in Berners-Lee creates the World-Wide Web version of their Mosaic
1990. It was originally 1992 Term “Surfing the Internet” is coined browser. The software
intended as a means to 1993 Mosaic browser introduced ran on an X Windows
meet the demand for 1994 Netscape founded System computer which
atomic information shar- was popular with the
1995 Windows 95 with browser released
ing between scientists research community.
1999 AOL buys Netscape
working at different Shortly thereafter NCSA
2000 10,000,000 domain names registered
institutions around the 20,000,000 websites (doubling since Feb.) also released versions for
world. The basic idea 2003 5 billion instant messages per day the PC and MAC envi-
was to merge the tech- E-mail generates 400,000 terabytes per ronments. The existence
year
nologies of personal of these reliable, user-
2005 YouTube.com begins
computers, computer friendly browsers had an
2006 Estimated 92 million websites
networking and hyper- immediate impact on the
2007 iTunes passes one billion downloads
text into a powerful and 1.114 billion people use the Internet spread of the web.
easy to use information Table 1.1 Source Webopedia: Brief Timeline
system. of the Internet By the end of 1994, the
web had 10,000 servers,
The first web server in the U.S. came on line in 2,000 of which were commercial, and ten mil-
December of 19991 at Stanford University. At lion users. In 1995 the International World-Wide
this time there were only two types of browser. Web Consortium (W3C) was founded to lead the
One was the original version that only ran on the web “to its fullest potential through development
 Intro to the Internet 9
and Web Page Design
of common protocols that would promote its transmitted from one place to another. The larger
evolution and insure its operability.” Since then, the file, the longer the process takes. Because
the protocols have continued to be developed, of this, in practical terms, it is better to keep the
standardized and enhanced. size of each individual file as small as possible
so the transmission time is minimal. In design-
When you launch a browser it requests and ing web content we try to keep the size of each
displays pages of information. The function of file as small as possible to improve the “down-
the browser is to interpret the program language load time.” To further help, the images and other
of web pages and transform it into the words media content of a web page are not saved as
and graphics you see on your computer monitor. part of the HTML document but are linked to it
The language the browser interprets is called the so these items download separately which also
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML). On each improves efficiency.
web page, words, phrases and even images are
made into hyper links. Clicking on a link causes Additionally, the browser saves a copy of the
the browser to request and display another page downloaded files on the local computer in a
which probably also contains links. process called “caching.” When a file is cached
on the local computer, if you want to see it again,
The web documents are stored on a so-called the computer can call the file up from the local
“Web Server” (see Figure 1.4). A Web Server is cache rather than having to download it again,
a computer intended to house and deliver web thus saving more time. We can also save time by
content. The computer is secured so that only using an image on more than one page. The im-
authorized people can access it to make changes age can be displayed on multiple pages but only
to the data. If you are on the same network as has to be downloaded once.
the Web Server, you may be able to save the
data directly onto the Web Server computer (if HTML
authorized). If, however, you are not on the same
network as the Web Server, you must connect to Hypertext Markup Language or HTML is the
it remotely using a login and password specifi- basic computer language of the web. It is usu-
cally set up for that purpose. In this case the data ally delivered over the Internet through either the
is sent to the server using the FTP protocol or HTTP protocol or e-mail. “Hypertext” usually
Secure FTP (which requires FTP or SFTP soft- refers to text displayed in a browser or e-mail
ware to be installed on your local computer). program that will lead the user to other, related
information as desired. Hypertext facilitates the
Since data is sent over the Internet serially (one dynamic organization of information through
data bit at a time) it takes a specific amount of links and connections (called hyperlinks).
time for each file, image or other element to be
10 Chapter 1
The Internet and the Web
As previously mentioned, HTML was developed The commands and codes that make up HTML
in the early 1990s by Tim Berners-Lee who was may be written in a text editing program such as
an independent contractor at CERN. The original Microsoft’s Notepad. However it is more com-
intent of HTML was to provide a means where- mon today to utilize graphic layout software
by scientific information could be shared among such as Adobe’s Dreamweaver in which the
various researchers. design of the web page is laid out visually by
the designer while the program writes the actual
Berners-Lee’s proposal for HTML included 22 code that makes up HTML behind the scenes.
elements - 13 of which still exist in the cur-
rent implementation. At the time he considered As already discussed, HTML was initially envi-
HTML to be an application of the Standard Gen- sioned as a means for sharing of scientific data
eralized Markup Language (SGML) developed so the original versions did not allow for any
by IMB in the 1960s. degree of sophistication as far as formatting text
or graphics. Over time some graphic and limited
The initial drafts of HTML expired in 1994 text formatting capabilities have been added but
following which an HTML Working Group was to ensure that everyone continues to have ac-
formed. In 1995, the HTML Working Group cess to web content, new versions of HTML and
completed “HTML 2.0” that was the first HTML browser software need to be at least partially
specification intended to be treated as a standard backwardly compatible. Therefore many of the
against which future implementations would be original limitations of HTML remain and the
based. There was in reality no “HTML 1.0;” the web designer must be aware of and work with
2.0 designation was made to distinguish it from these limitations. We will learn about these re-
previous versions. Since 1996 HTML specifica- strictions in more detail in later chapters.
tions have been maintained with input from com-
mercial software companies and W3C. Computer Monitors
Basic HTML is a static markup language mean- In order to be an effective web designer, you
ing that the content of pages created with it is need to have a basic understanding of the tech-
static or not changing. Dynamic HTML is a col- nology used to display your web pages. Initially,
lection of technologies used together to create in- computers were capable of only displaying
teractive and animated web sites. These dynamic textual and numeric information. In fact the
sites utilize a combination of static HTML, a first computers did not have any kind of graphic
client-side scripting language like JavaScript, a
display. Rather, the results of their computations
presentation definition language like CSS and
were displayed by a series of lights or on paper
the Document Object Model. In this book we
tape or punched cards. Eventually graphical
will learn some basic HTML, XHTML and CSS
displays (monitors) which were close relations
as applied in various ways.
 Intro to the Internet 11
and Web Page Design
of black and white television screens came into emitting diodes (LED). You can usually detect a
use. These displays were available in black and CRT monitor because they are much deeper and
white, green and later even amber became com- heavier than the LCD or LED types due to the
mon. It was thought that green and amber were large glass tube that forms the display screen.
easier on the eyes of people who had to look at
Monitors are described in
terms of resolution or the
number of individual dots
of color (called pixels) they
can display. Resolution is
expressed in terms of the
number of horizontal and
vertical pixels, for example
800x600 pixels per inch
(PPI). Resolution is affected
by many factors including
the size of the screen and the
Figure 1.5 Monitor pixels
physical size of the pixels.
their computer screen for extended periods of As technology has advanced and monitor size
time. has increased, display standards and resolution
have changed. Is it now common to find moni-
With the adoption of graphical displays, comput- tors that offer wide screen viewing for video
ers were now capable of displaying not only text editing, gaming and watching DVDs.
and numbers but also images. Programmers and
developers took advantage of the graphical ca-
Bit Depth Number of Colors
pabilities and began designing software applica-
1 2
tions and protocols that could utilize and display (monochrome)
the graphics. The first graphics were simple and 2 4
(CGA)
primitive black and white images but over time,
4 16
color came into use and display capabilities (EGA)
continued to be improved. Today’s high quality 8 256
displays can effectively show full color images, (VGA)
16 65,536
video, animation and other graphic content. (High Color, XGA)
24 16,777,216
Older monitors use CRT (tube) technology while (True Color, SVGA)

new monitors use liquid crystals (LCD) or light Table 1.2

12 Chapter 1
The Internet and the Web
Referring to Figure 1.5, If only the red pixels are a wide screen monitor this ratio is typically16:9.
illuminated, the screen will show red in that area, Table 1.3 indicates some standard monitor reso-
the same is true for the blue and green. If no pix- lutions and sizes.
els are illuminated, the color is black and if all
are illuminated equally to maximum brightness, It is important for the web designer to be aware
the color will be white. Other color combinations of the screen resolution and aspect ratio because,
are displayed by showing various amounts of the these factors help determine how to design ef-
three colors. Your eye blends the colors together fective web pages. For example, if we design a
to produce the final color you see. The larger web page for 1024x768 resolution, people who
the number of colors a monitor can display, the only have an 800x600 PPI monitor cannot see
larger it’s so called “bit depth.” Table 1.2 illus- the entire page on their screen and have to scroll
trates some common bit depths. both horizontally and vertically to see the com-
plete page. On the other hand, a page designed at
Each monitor has a maximum resolution that 800x600 PPI will be smaller than the available
it can display (native resolution) but it can also screen space when displayed on a monitor with
display lower resolutions. On a Windows PC, higher resolution.
you can easily tell the resolution setting of the
monitor by clicking the right mouse button on an In practical terms, when designing static web
open area of the desktop and selecting the prop- pages, we usually design for the lowest resolu-
erties option. From the resulting menu, click the tion we think our typical user will have on his
Settings tab. The resulting window will allow computer monitor. Considering that most people
will have a monitor capable of at least 800x600
Standard Resolution Typical Use PPI, we generally use 800x600 as our starting
XGA (Extended 1024x768 15 -17 in. CRT
point. In the future, we will no doubt be able to
Graphics Array) 15 in. LCD
SXGA (Super 1280x1024 15-17 in. CRT raise that number to 1024x768 or higher as older
XGA) 15-19 in LCD computers and monitors are replaced.
UXGA (Ultra 1600x1200 19-21 in CRT

Conclusion
XGA) 20 in. LCD

Table 1.3

you to see the current resolution settings (and Through this chapter we have had a brief look
make changes to them) as well as to see the color at the development and implementation of the
quality or bit depth. Internet, the World-Wide Web, HTML and com-
puter monitor technology. As you become more
Historically, most computer screens had an as- familiar with these concepts, you will be in a
pect ratio of 4:3. This simply means the ratio of better position to converse intelligently with oth-
the width of the screen to its height is 4 to 3. For ers about the development of web technologies
 Intro to the Internet 13
and Web Page Design
and understand the restraints under which a web Chapter Quiz
designer must work.
To help you access your understanding of the
concepts presented in this chapter, answer the
following questions:

1. What is a computer network?

2. What types of computer networks are there?

3. What is the Internet?

4. Briefly discuss the development of the Inter-

net.

5. What is the World-Wide Web?

6. Why was the web developed?

7. What is a computer protocol?

8. What is meant by hypertext?

9. What is a link?

10. What is HTML?

11. For what applications is the HTTP protocol

used?

12. What does monitor resolution mean?

13. How are colors created on a computer moni-

tor?

14. What is the aspect ratio and why is it impor-

tant?
14 Chapter 1
The Internet and the Web

References
European Organization for Nuclear Research. (2008). How the web began. Retrieved on
September 10, 2008, from http://public.web.cern.ch/Public/en/About/WebStory-en.html.

Howe, W. (2007). An anecdotal history of the people and communities that brought about the
Internet and the Web. Retrieved on August 25, 2008, from
http://www.walthowe.com/navnet/history.html

How stuff works: How computer monitors work. Retrieved on September 15, 2008, from
http://computer.howstuffworks.com/monitor.htm.

Leiner, B.M., Cerf, V.G., Clark, D.D., Kahn, R.E., Kleinrock, L., Lynch, D.C., Postel, J.,
Roberts, L.G. & Wolff, S. (2003). A brief history of the Internet. Internet Society
retrieved on August 25, 2008, from http://www.isoc.org/internet/history/brief.shtml.

Sterling, B. (2008). Short history of the Internet. Retrieved on August 25, 2008, from
http://w3.aces.uiuc.edu/AIM/scale/nethistory.html

Unuth, N. (2008). Circuit switching vs. packet switching. Retrieved on September 10, 2008,
from http://voip.about.com/od/voipbasics/a/switchingtypes.htm.

WWW and HTML definitions from wikipedia.org. Retrieved on September 8, 2008.

Chapter 2

Planning for
Web Design
16 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design

Introduction Planning

M any web designers, including both the

novice and experienced, create web con-
tent that ignores principles of good design. Their
The first step in the creation of an effective web
site is the planning phase. According to one
expert, “Building a new web site or revamping
pages may contain busy colored backgrounds, a an old one is not unlike working on that dream
multitude of animated pictures, and/or many text home, in that in both projects careful planning is
styles. Devices such as reverses (light colored essential.” Planning helps save time and money
text on a dark background) are used too often
as well as helping to reduce the stress of the
and make reading the text difficult especially for
project. After the planning is complete, the im-
people with disabilities. Much of the scholarship
plementation of the strategy is a fairly straight-
and practice of web design treats writing for the
forward task. There are several steps that should
web as a simple transfer of traditional skills and
go into the planning process for a successful web
processes typically seen in print documents to
web pages; which can, under certain conditions, site. These include:
be effective but often is not. In addition, stud-
ies have found that designers do not always see 1. Choosing a focus and keeping it simple.
web design as a process or as connected to other 2. Allowing plenty of time for planning and
communication forms. Rather, most designers development.
cited technological strategies they needed to 3. Visiting web sites of similar type to see how
master, ignoring the content. Many complained others designed them.
that the technology did not speak their language.
They would usually seek out someone who had Other questions that should be addressed in the
designed something similar to what they were planning phase include:
working on and then copy that design style for
their own pages. These practices caused the de- 1. Who will be visiting the site and why?
signers to be more conservative in their designs
2. How they will visit (browser, PDA, cell
and to produce many pages that resembled each
phone).
other.
3. What are the goals and requirements for
the site, are there any legal issues that
What then are some of the things that need to
need to be addressed (copyright, etc.).
be considered to be effective in designing a
4. How will the site be hosted.
web page? Throughout this chapter, strategies
and practices that will help you become better
at your job; that is to design and create unique, One reason it is so difficult to create effective
attractive, effective, easily navigable, and user- web content is that the audience or consumers
friendly web pages will be presented. who can view the site are from diverse, some-
times international, backgrounds. As a result,
 Intro to the Internet 17
and Web Page Design
things that appeal to some will not have inter- quently asked questions and contacting the site
est to others. J. Dalgleish suggests five “doing owners/operators must be included. There also
areas” that may help to categorize what your needs to be some kind of feedback mechanism
customers want. These areas are: that allows visitors to comment on their experi-
ence at the site if they desire. Prompted feedback
1. Evaluate competing business and products tends to be less useful unless the visitor receives
2. Select products and transact with e-service something in return for his comments. Never the
provider. less, feedback in any form can be helpful in fine-
3. Get help. tuning the site to be more successful.
4. Provide feedback.
5. Stay tuned in as e-customers. Global Knowledge Training’s white paper “10
tips for creating your web site” suggests some
When deciding among businesses or services, additional areas of concern in web design includ-
customers will often turn to web sites for infor- ing:
mation. Because of this, looking at competitor’s
web sites can help with deciding how to design 1. Accessibility.
a site that will most effectively complete. The 2. Security.
site needs to offer useful information in a well 3. Web server statistics.
organized and easy to find way. It should not 4. Dynamic technology styles.
necessarily copy a competitor’s design, although 5. Effective use of appropriate design soft-
viewing a competitor’s site could suggest things ware.
that may make your site more effective. 6. Standards and browser independence.
7. Database access.
Site visitors have to construct the path they take 8. Using image editors.
through the site. In other words they create a 9. Site planning, design and management.
context that is relevant to them in a personal 10. Technological flexibility as the points that
way. To facilitate this, the use of site maps, need to be addressed for successful web
search engines, etc. is effective. People will design.
find the site irrelevant or intrusive if they do not
receive information relevant to them from their On time, within scope, and within budget should
visit. be the project management motto these days.

Visitors to a site may need to seek help as part

of their experience at a particular site. They may
need to find out where to go, who to talk to, or
how to resolve a problem. So provisions for fre-
18 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design
CONCERNS FOR PEOPLE WITH DIS- To improve a site’s accessibility it is important
ABILITIES to include alternate text for images using the
“alt” tag in the HTML code. Additionally, tables
The Americans with Disabilities Act has pre- applied to web pages should include table header
scribed certain standards for web pages that the text in the “<th>” tag. These topics will be cov-
government and government contractors must ered in a later chapter. Other things that can help
abide by. Because of this, accessibility has be- improve accessibility include being careful with
come a big issue especially with such sites, but the use of colors that are hard for color blind
other commercial and personal sites could also people to distinguish. Red/green combinations
benefit from making the content of their web are especially important to avoid. Also, the use
sites more easily accessible and understandable of sound on the site should be done with care.
especially by people with disabilities. Not everyone has speakers on their computer and
there are people with hearing disabilities. Audio
There are several reader programs for the dis- should not be used to convey the main message
abled but if someone is only able to read the text of the site, but rather to enhance it.
of the site, they are missing much of the visual
content. According to C. Sliwa: SECURITY AND OTHER

The move from text-based to visu- Security is important for a web site though not
ally oriented Web content has been
tough on the blind, and now there’s a really a design concern so it will not be dis-
new threat on the horizon. The shift to cussed in great detail. However, the server soft-
dynamic “Web 2.0” technology, which
ware needs to be kept updated so the site cannot
Gartner Inc. predicts will be pervasive
by the end of the year [2006], could be hacked and the content compromised which
exacerbate the problem of inaccessible could affect the overall design, effectiveness and
sites (p.12).
look of the site.

Web 2.0 applications may make use of things

Keeping track of site statistics is important to
such as Asynchronous JavaScript and XML
help assure the success of the site. Following the
(AJAX) and Dynamic HTML to update informa-
visitation trends on the site can help the designer
tion in one part of a page, such as a table, with-
find out if the site is effective or if changes need
out having to reload the complete page. Screen
to be made. Using site tracking technology, the
readers, magnifiers and other assistive technol-
designer can see how many people visit the site,
ogy may not know which parts of the page have
which pages are most popular, etc. These data
changed if designers don’t include information
can help the designer decide if modifications
that the assisting devices can handle.
need to be made so that the site is more effective
and attractive to visitors. There are several sites
 Intro to the Internet 19
and Web Page Design
on the Internet that facilitate tracking of visitors. Firefox, Opera and Safari. Increased use of CSS
It usually involves including some special codes is helping with the multiple browser concerns.
that are provided by the tracking company in There is also a trend to use more JavaScript,
your web pages. Each time the site is visited; the flash animation, etc. which makes pages more
tracking code causes a message to be sent to the dynamic and more interesting.
tracking company who then keeps track of the
statistics and sends back a report to you. Static web pages are fine but they quickly be-
come time intensive both for the developer and
Dynamic styles such as the use of Cascading for the site visitors. Database-driven web sites
Style Sheets (CSS) help with the control of the can refresh their own data in order to present
page layout and facilitate the ability to control timely information in a way that a manually
multiple pages from a single file. CSS also al- updated site cannot. A few well-programmed
lows the designer to create more sophisticated dynamic pages can replace thousands of static
designs and interactivity than is allowed in pages. The dynamic pages utilize server-side
HTML. When using dynamic styling as noted languages including ColdFusion, PHP, and ASP.
above, care must be take to assure site accessibil-
ity. The actual text of the language used on the home
page needs to be simple, direct and accessible.
The choice of the software used to design the Jargon and technological terminology should
web content may have a bearing on the effective- be avoided or at least explained. Saturated color
ness of the site. The software should be chosen on web sites retains the same meaning it does in
to allow the creation and use of cross-platform other contexts. Saturated color, especially prima-
files. The major scripting languages including ry colors for example, is associated with children
ColdFusion, PHP, ASP, JSP, etc. should also be and with controversial subjects and issues ac-
supported. Adobe Dreamweaver and Eclipse are cording to a study by Cranny-Francis.
a couple of the more popular and common ap-
plications, although some designers still prefer Visual Design
to enter the HTML code manually using a text
editor program such as Notepad. “The first rule of visual design is legibility”- so
says B. Kovark. Highly textured backgrounds
When designing the web site, the finished pages fighting colored headlines or text set in obscure
should be checked on various browsers and on fonts make for difficulty in understanding and
different computers to assure that the design is defeat the purpose of the web site. The second
effective in multiple (cross-platform) environ- rule according to Kovark is that size, font and
ments and for code validation. The most popu- style give important clues about the content of
lar current browsers include Internet Explorer, the site. Gothic fonts for example may indicate
20 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design
religious pages while western fonts may say The physical page layout is another important
something about equestrian web sites. Sans serif concern. As shown in figure 2.1, web design in
fonts convey a modern or straightforward im- western cultures closely follows the reading pat-
pression while serif fonts may convey a tradi- tern of top to bottom – left to right. The center is
tional feeling. An additional concern about fonts the place of the greatest prominence. Items that
is that they are not embedded in the HTML web appear on the left side are things that are “given”
page. In order for a computer to display a font or known to the viewer either in the particular or
correctly, it must be installed on the local user’s the idea they represent while items on the right
computer. Since every computer does not have tend to be unfamiliar or new. On the top is the
all possible fonts installed, not all computers can ‘ideal’ or the essence of the idea. The bottom is
access or display every font a designer may wish the place for the ‘real’ - meaning the everyday or
to use. For this reason, text on a web page is material realization.
usually limited to a serif font such as Times New
Using Cranny-Francis’ logic, the layout of figure
2.1 is culturally specific and maps the most
Ideal Given Ideal New conventional arrangement of items. Because
of this, the model can be used innovatively to
present material in unique and different ways.
For example, placing a new item on the left side
Center introduces it to the viewer in such a way as to
control the newness – because it is in the ‘given’
position the viewer is led to believe that they al-
ready know this. Conversely, placing something
Real Given Real New already known or familiar on the right side can
give it a new or different look.

Figure 2.1. Based on Kress & Van Leeuwen Spatiality is also related to the creation of mean-
model as cited by Cranny-Francis
ing in a web site. Although a web site may be
very colorful and visually complex, it may also
Roman or a sans serif font such as Ariel or Ta- contain a lot of free space. This space is referred
homa (a relatively new font developed primarily to as white or negative space although it does
for web use) because they are standard on most not need to be white in color. Convention says
computers. Designers who wish to use other that we do not have to, nor should we want to,
fonts are advised to create their text as an image use every free pixel of space. More open designs
using a program such as Photoshop and save it as are often seen as higher quality and more presti-
an image file for placement on the web page. gious. Usually, the inexperienced designer will
 Intro to the Internet 21
and Web Page Design
try to use all available space. Consider the open study of signs and how humans assign meaning
design on the cover of an up-scale magazine with to these signs. Visual Social Semiotics theory
its open and abundant space as compared to the identifies three types of images, icon, index and
cover of a “middle or lower class” tabloid where symbol (see figure 2.3). An image is an icon if it
every available inch is filled (figure 2.2). Another has a resemblance to a person or an object. Icons
aspect of spatial- can be paintings,
ity is the use of photographs, illus-
borders or bound- trations, etc. They
aries. Borders or may be anything
boundaries can be from very simple
created with color, to extremely
lines, shapes and complex. A com-
text. mon icon on a
web page is the
Communicators familiar house
using the Internet Figure 2.2 Open design from Life, more cluttered design from OK! that represents
to convey their the home
messages make use of photographs, illustrations page. An index is an image that we recognize
and diagrams. The ratio of images to text in web because it stands for something. An example is
documents has been slowly increasing over the the upward pointing arrow on a web page that
years. As the Internet has developed from a text we understand to mean the top of the page. We
only medium into the media-rich environment of usually require some kind of text to help us un-
the World Wide Web, there has been a dramatic derstand the meaning of an index. So the arrow
increase in the use of visual elements online. C. in this example would also have associated text
Harrison informs us that “the important thing that says “top of page” or something similar. A
for professional communicators to understand is symbol is an image that has no obvious visual
that readers/users no longer solely rely on text connection to the concept for which it stands. We
for comprehension; they absorb and process all know its meaning only because we have learned
that they see within a document to create mean- it through our own experiences or through the
ing for themselves.” experiences of others. For example the word car
does not look at all like an automobile but when
The understanding of how text and images work we see the word, we understand what it means
together to create meaning and how images can because we have learned it through experience.
enhance or detract from meaning can be ex-
plained in the communication theory of Visual Just as the Kress & Van Leeuwen model in figure
Social Semiotics. Semiotics is essentially the 2.1 can help us in understanding the layout of
22 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design
the entire web page; it is also useful in helping of the web site could have been much differ-
understand the images placed thereon. According ent. Suffice it to say the image which conveyed
to C. Forceville (1999): the feeling intended by the web designers was
carefully selected. Placement of images such as
Pictures, including multimodal ‘texts,’ location on the page and size are also important
give significant information through
the ways in which their elements are considerations as previously noted.
arranged. Three aspects are distin-
guished: the ‘zone’ in which an element
The appropriate use of color on a web page can
occurs (left/right, bottom/top, centre/
margin); the ‘salience’ bestowed on enhance functionality. Color can focus the user’s
it (via foregrounding/ backgrounding, attention on a specific section of the page. For
relative size, colour, etc.); and ‘fram-
ing’ devices such as vectors between
instance red may highlight a sale item or yellow
participants (p. 166). may apply to something new. Color, especially
bright color, should be used carefully. Too much
The understanding and selecting of images for use of bright color can be exhausting or dis-
use on a web site, in spite of all the theories, is tracting. The use of color should be consistent
still a rather interesting and subjective process. throughout the web site. An example would be
In an example cited by Harrison, choosing which a banner that retains the same color and loca-
tion on each page. Blue underlined text should
be avoided because it is the default style of a
link. And for best legibility, colors that provide
a strong contrast between text and background
should be used. Colors that are web-safe (cross-
platform) should be selected. There are 216 of
Figure 2.3 these cross-platform colors that are RGB light-
source colors. The web safe colors are defined by
photograph of the Supreme Court building to the various shades of red, green and blue from
use on its web site could have gone one of three which they are composed and are represented to
ways. The photo chosen was an ant’s-eye view the browser in hexadecimal values. In addition
of the building making the building look large there are sixteen predefined colors such as white,
and imposing to suggest the importance of the silver, black, red, etc. that a browser can recog-
court to the nation. Rejected photos included nize directly by name.
a level-eye view symbolizing that the court is
on the same level as the average citizen and the Finally, there are three philosophies for web
bird’s-eye view suggesting that court was of design as defined by Clint Eccher. These are
lesser importance. If the designers had chosen usability, multimedia and mortised. These
one of the other images, the perceived message philosophies should be rated using the three
 Intro to the Internet 23
and Web Page Design
factors of aesthetics, usability and functional- sign is worthless unless it causes the site visitor
ity. The usability philosophy represents the ease to stop and view your web site. When someone
of finding and processing information. In other first accesses your web site, you have only a few
words, this philosophy attempts to make a web seconds to attract and hold her attention. If you
site accessible to all users regardless of platform fail to do so, she will not stay to enjoy what you
or browser. One way to do this is to strip the have so painstakingly created but will instead
site down to bare essentials; eliminating most find somewhere else more to her liking.
if not all images and relying mainly on text to
convey the message of the web site. The mul- In a newspaper, the most important elements
timedia philosophy is on the opposite side of are placed above the fold so that when a paper
the design spectrum from the usability philoso- sits on a table, those items are visible. On a web
phy. Multimedia sites use animation, audio and page, you should try to design so that the most
video to create more interesting and interactive important things occur on the first screen full
sites. Mortised sites represent the philosophy of of information, if your page is longer than one
piecing together graphics, text and functionality screen. Vertically scrolling to see additional in-
(like forms) to make sites that are fast, flexible formation is considered acceptable but horizontal
and usable. The designer needs to decide which scrolling is not. Things that should be placed on
philosophy will be most suitable for the purpose the first screen of a home page might include the
of the site they are designing. name of the site, the primary message, an indica-
tion of what the site is about, navigation features
Layout Principles to get to other parts of the site and other informa-
tion that is important for the site visitor including
In order to create effective graphic addresses and telephone numbers, etc.
designs, you need to understand a few basic
visual design principles. These principles when Wendell Crow tells us that a good layout is like
properly applied to your web designs will facili- music from a fine orchestra. “It is harmonious,
tate your designing of outstanding web content. balanced, rhythmic, emphatic. It repeats themes
These design principles are generic and can be and uses devices such as dynamic contrast to
applied to any area of design whether for print, surprise and stimulate the audience.” So too is a
web or other media. web design. We must take advantage of the fol-
lowing principles and use them effectively in the
The main concern you have as a web designer is creation of our web content.
how to allocate the available space effectively. a. Balance – a sense of stability or equilibri-
Space (also referred to as white space or nega- um. Balance can be either formal or infor-
tive space) is all we have to work with so you mal.
must learn to use it effectively. Your finished de- b. Contrast- differences in size, shape, color
24 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design
or other elements that promote interest and to black or from faint to saturated color.
attract viewers.
o. Unity- the sense that all design elements
c. Direction- positioning of elements to pro- belong to the design as a whole; elements
mote the movement of the eye in the de- are related to each other.
sired way. Illustrations may “point” to other
items. Photos may be placed along an axis
Figure 2.4 illustrates some of these design prin-
to suggest movement, etc.
ciples in the “thumbnail” form.
d. Emphasis- an element or group is made
to stand out by use of size, content, color or
position. It should also be remembered that in western
cultures, people are used to reading from left to
e. Harmony- the use of similar line weight,
right and from top to bottom. If you place con-
shapes, and tones so they match well and
are pleasing to look at. tent in other ways, it could tend to confuse your
site visitors. But is done effectively, can also
f. Line- can delineate shape or show direc-
tion, movement or emphasis. create some unusual effects.

g. Perspective- approximates the relative

Every page has a mathematical center. This is
position of the elements as seen by the
viewer. Can be used to create depth on a the point midway from top to bottom and left to
flat screen. right. The mathematical center is, however, not
h. Point- the position on the page that holds necessarily the focal point of the page. When
the primary attention of the viewer. Should your eye first encounters a new page, it natu-
not be confused with the term used to rally falls on a place above and to the left of the
describe the size of type. Can be real or mathematical center. The exact location is not
imaginary.
as important as the principle behind it, but the
i. Proportion- matching of shapes and sizes optical center is located approximately 3/8 from
so they either blend or contrast effectively.
the top of the page. You should take advantage
j. Rhythm- a sense of orderly but not boring of this natural aid and use it as the focal point or
repetition. Duplication of patterns or images orientation center of your pages. If an element
for example.
chosen for this location can stop the viewer, you
k. Shape- shape can create depth or through are on your way to achieving an effective web
size and proportion show importance or
page.
impact.
l. Sequence- a way of ensuring that reading
follows a definite path. From left to right or
Checklist For Design
top to bottom for example.
As you plan the design of a web site, in addition
m. Texture- the visual “feel” of the design.
to the material already presented in this chapter,
n. Tone- The range of light values from white there are many things that you should consider.
 Intro to the Internet 25
and Web Page Design

Figure 2.4
26 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design
The following checklist can help you to evalu- break the content into several linked pages than
ate the quality and effectiveness of your own (or to try including everything on one page. A good
any) web site. rule to follow is to place no more than about
200-300 words per page and to use some kind of
1. Is there a notable consistency in the site? In device such as a horizontal rule between para-
other words do all the pages appear to be re- graphs to facilitate comprehension.
lated? Things that can help with consistency
include using the same header and/or footer on 5. Requiring your users to scroll vertically is
each page, placing a menu in the same location acceptable but forcing horizontal scrolling is
on each page, using similar colors and back- considered by many to be poor design. Horizon-
grounds on each page, staying with a similar tal scrolling can be eliminated by designing your
layout style, etc. pages for the lowest screen resolution (refer to
chapter one for a discussion on resolution). We
2. Are all the pages finished? In the past, placing usually design for a resolution of 800x600 ppi.
“under construction” messages and images was If your content is such that vertical scrolling is
considered acceptable. But today, it is gener- necessary, try to limit the content to two or three
ally accepted that web content is (or should be) full screens of information.
always under revision and the use of “under
construction” messages and images is redundant. 6. Work to keep download time to a minimum.
The best rule of thumb to follow is that if your If someone has to wait more than about three
content is not complete and ready, don’t put it on or four seconds for a page to download, they
line. will usually become agitated, give up and go
to another site. Since there are still those who
3. Do all the links work as they are supposed to? rely on dial-up connections at 56K (speed of the
Check each link with a browser and be certain connection measured in thousands of data bytes
that they all do what they are supposed to. If you per second) for their Internet access, we usually
are making plans for a new page, it is acceptable try to keep the total size of the content for each
to place the text or image that will eventually be page including the HTML page itself, associated
the link to new content on a page but it should images and other content to around 100K. Tech-
not be activated until the new page, is ready to niques for reducing the size of image files will be
go on line. discussed in chapter four.

4. Don’t overwhelm the page with either text or 7. Is the site friendly to persons with visual or
images. Pages that are too complex are difficult hearing disabilities (refer to the discussion earlier
to understand and invite the user/visitor to your in the chapter)? If you use images as links, try
site to leave and not come back. It is better to to also include textual links in the page footer.
 Intro to the Internet 27
and Web Page Design
Make sure the text is large enough to be easily ries of “thumbnail” and “rough” sketches to help
seen. Avoid the use of reverses (light colored text visualize the look of the intended pages. Figure
on dark backgrounds) especially for body text. If 2.4 is an example of thumbnail sketches while
you include sound files, make sure the page will figure 2.5 is an example of a rough drawing. You
be self-explanatory as much as possible without should always begin any design project with a
the audio. well created and documented plan. To implement
the planning phase of a design project, the fol-
8. Design for browser compatibility. Differ- lowing steps are suggested.
ent browsers do not handle text and graphics
the same way. You should test your designs on First you must know about the product, service
computers with different sizes and resolutions of or institution for which you are designing the
monitors and using different browsers to en- web content. Is there a new product to intro-
sure compatibility. At the very least you should duce? Is there new or different information that
check your designs on both Internet Explorer and the visitors to your web site will want or need to
Firefox (since they are the predominant brows- know? What specific features or information are
ers on the PC platform), and on Safari and Opera important to convey, etc. Depending on who you
on the Mac platform. are designing for, this may be information you
are already know or you may need to do some
Following these steps plus research to find out.
the other information cov-
ered in this chapter will go Next you need to under-
a long way toward helping stand the target audi-
you become an effective ence. You need to know
designer of web content. what age group you are
targeting, what socioeco-
Planning nomic factors are in play,
Tools what kinds of things
Figure 2.5 they may be interested
Now that you have some in, etc. You may need to
idea of the design considerations of a web page do some research to obtain this information or it
or web site, it is time to begin the actual planning may be data you already have. Using this data,
process. As it turns out, the computer is a very you will be able to decide the best way to present
good tool for executing graphic design but it is your information to the potential audience. For
not a really good planning tool in most cases. instance, if you are targeting children and you
Because of this, planning is usually done in the require them to register on your site, you must be
traditional way– through research and using a se- aware of laws regarding the collection and use of
28 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design
personal information and other applicable regu- You should identify links; indicate how the vari-
lations. The content must be attractive and dy- ous pages of your web site will work together,
namic to gain and hold their attention. Language etc. In this stage you will usually refer back to
and images used must be age appropriate, etc.
Introduction
With your data collected and analyzed, you are
ready to begin the actual design process. Begin
by writing down the goals you have set for the
web site. Make sure they are clearly stated. If Home
you are not able to articulate your goals, you will
have no way of accessing whether or not your
design is effective. You will use the goals and re-
fer back to them throughout the rest of the design Events Links About Us
and evaluation phases to be sure you accomplish
what you started out to do.
Figure 2.6
Now begin thinking of ways you can format
and organize the web site to help accomplish the basic layout principles of balance, unity,
your goals. As you go through this process, it harmony, emphasis, and use the principles that
helps to begin making small hand-drawn sketch- will best help you convey your intended mes-
es of your ideas. These sketches are usually sage. It also helps to make a kind of hand drawn
referred to as “thumbnails” in graphic design. If flow chart in this stage of the design. The Chart
you are designing for a client, you may want to is a kind of map that allows you to visually see
involve him in this process. You can also discuss how the site is going to be organized (figure 2.6).
your ideas with others to see if what you are It may be fairly simple or extremely complex.
thinking makes sense to someone else or if there Throughout the entire design process, you need
are things you have forgotten or overlooked. to check back to make sure you are meeting your
goals. You will also check with your client along
Once you have the basic idea of what you want the way to indicate your progress and receive
clearly established. You choose the thumbnails approval.
and ideas behind them that will best convey the
information you want to present and refine them The introductory page should provide the organi-
into more sophisticated designs called “rough zational focal point for the entire web site. Each
drawings.” These drawings do not have to subsequent page should be consistent as far as
include body text or actual images but the place- icons, banners, etc. are concerned. Logos should
ment of all design elements should be shown. appear at the same location on each page. The
 Intro to the Internet 29
and Web Page Design
content should match the visual feel to convey are summarized below:
information as well as continuity effectively.
1. Failing to provide information that describes
The site should be simple. Too many frames, your web site. In other words, you should be
animations, multiple fonts, sizes and colors tend clear and forthcoming about the purpose of the
to distract and confuse the viewer. web site. Include a clear yet brief description on
the first page or include it in an “About Us” link.
Follow principles of good navigation. Arrange You should even describe why the information
your pages in a hierarchy. If someone has dif- may not be useful for some people.
ficulty navigating your site, they will leave and
probably not come back. Make a link on each 2. Skipping “alt” and “title” attributes. Be sure to
page that will return to the previous page as well use these attributes for every link and image on
as the home page and any other pages you want your web site (refer to earlier discussions in this
the visitor to be able to go to. Always put the chapter).
links in the same place on all the pages. Be con-
sistent with link colors. Use links in the body of 3. Changing URLs for archived pages. When
the text to refer the reader to pages or other web you create your pages, do so in a way that will
sites where additional information can be found. allow you to move content into an archive with-
Don’t let any page dead-end. Always provide a out having to change the URL.
way out (link) of every page.
4. Not dating your content. You must continually
It is considered acceptable to look at other web update your content if you want return visitors.
sites and incorporate the layout ideas you find Date stamp each page somehow even if it is
into your own web pages. It is not, however, ac- only putting “last modified on…” somewhere
ceptable to use the actual content of those sites on the page. Also help readers to easily find new
in your own site without first obtaining written content some way such as creating a “new info”
permission. Violating copyrights is not an ac- link, etc.
ceptable practice in any venue.
5. Creating busy, crowded pages. Keep your
If you have updated your site, let the visitors points short and relevant with links to more de-
know where they can find the new information tailed information for people who want to pursue
so they can decide if they want to view it right the topic in greater detail.
away.
6. Going overboard with images. Decorative im-
Finally, TechRepublic lists 10 common web ages, except for banners and necessary branding,
design mistakes to watch out for. These mistakes should be used as little as possible. Use images
30 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design
to illustrate content or when they themselves are done in a number of ways: you may decide to
the content you wish to provide. But don’t use write the HTML code yourself or you may use
images just to “pretty the pages up.” a web design tool such as Adobe Dreamweaver.
Photoshop can also be used to create web con-
7. Implementing link indirection, interception or tent including photo pages. There are many ad-
redirection. Never prevent other web sites from ditional design tools available.
linking directly to your content.
With the completion and publishing of the design
8. Making new content difficult to recognize on the web, it is now a good time to evaluate the
or find. This item ties to item #4. Any web site design to see if you were successful in reaching
whose content changes regularly should make your goals. There are many ways of accomplish-
the changes easily available to visitors. ing this. For example you may want to include
a feed-back page so site visitors can respond to
9. Displaying thumbnails that are too small to be your designs. You could also do surveys of your
helpful. If you use thumbnails as links to im- potential visitors. You should also review your
age galleries, make sure the thumbnails are large original goals to see if you stayed on target with
enough so the reader can see what the full size them throughout the process.
image looks like.
Clint Eccher discusses seven rules of web design
10. Forgoing web page titles. This is also men- that should be considered by anyone who desires
tioned elsewhere in this paper. Always set the to make an effective web site:
title of each web page. However do not make
the mistake of using the same title attribute for 1. Just because you can does not mean that
all the pages in your web site. Each page should you should.
have its own distinct title. Search engines iden- 2. There is almost always an exception.
tify your web site by the page titles you use. Also 3. Users are the ultimate judge.
when someone saves a bookmark, the browser 4. Crossover experiences should be sought.
uses the page title for the bookmark name. 5. Humility is the best approach.
6. It is impossible to please everyone.
Once you have completed the planning and de- 7. Stay on top of standards and specifica-
sign phase, the implementation of the design will tions.
be a fairly easy and straight-forward process. To
implement the design, you will need to secure
photos, create illustrations, write copy and gather
all the design elements you will use in order to Conclusion
implement the design. The actual design may be
 Intro to the Internet 31
and Web Page Design
Although the information presented in this chap-
ter may at first seem overwhelming, given time
and experience, it will become second nature
to you. You will not use every concept or idea
in every design; rather you will glean from the
various suggestions the design concepts that will
help you accomplish a specific project.

The rules and the concepts presented in this

chapter, if followed, will help the novice and
intermediate designer along their way to become
a professional.

This chapter has attempted to suggest a few basic

considerations that the beginning web designer
should be aware of in order to facilitate their ef-
forts in designing functional and attractive web
content. You should now have a better under-
standing of some of these concerns and strategies
that will help you become a more successful. In
subsequent chapters, you will learn the tools and
skills necessary to facilitate the implementation
of your web designs.
32 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design

Chapter Quiz 8. Visit several web sites. Try to analyze each ac-
cording to the information presented in the chap-
1. Define a reverse and explain why it may not be
ter. Which design principles are used, is there
effective for handicapped persons.
consistency between pages, what do you like,
what don’t you like, how could you redesign it to
make it better?

2. Discuss the importance of planning before imple-

menting a web design.
Application
Begin planning for your own web site:

a. Decide on a topic, content or theme.

3. List at least five items that should be considered
during the web design phase.
b. Define and try to understand the target audience.
a.
c. Set specific goals you want to accomplish with
b.
the design.
c.
d. Visualize the structure of the web site. Create a
flow chart.
d.
e. Select the design principles you will use and
e
begin making some thumbnail sketches. You will
eventually want to settle on a sketch for each
4. What are the rules of good visual design?
page. Remember to be consistent through out.

f. Create rough sketches of your ideas for each

page.
5. Discuss five principles of layout; be able to sketch
g. Be able to justify why you have chosen to design
examples of each.
your web site the way you have. Does it meet
the criteria you defined earlier? If not, go back to
a.
the thumbnail stage and start over.
b.
h. Begin collecting the information and images you
will use.
c.
* Do not begin the actual layout on the computer
d.
until you have completed the above steps.
e.

6. What is the difference between the mathematical

and optical center?

7. Discuss the purpose of thumbnail and rough

drawings.
 Intro to the Internet 33
and Web Page Design

References
Anderson, R.A. (2006). Exploring the art and technology of web design, Clifton Park,
NY: Thompson

Baird, R.N., McDonald, D., Pittman, R.K., & Turnbull, A.T. (1993). The graphics of
communication (6th Ed.), Fort Worth, TX: Harcourt Brace Jovanovich College
Publishers.

Berger, A.A. (2008). Seeing is believing: An introduction to visual communication (3rd

Ed.), New York: McGraw Hill.

Conover, T.E. (1995). Graphic Communications today (3rd Ed.), St. Paul, MN: West Publishing
Company

Crow, W.C. (1986). Communication Graphics, Englewood, NJ: Prentice-Hall.

Cranny-Francis, A. (2006). Spinning a web site: Analyzing the textual strategies of a web
page. Screen Edition, 43, 70-75.

Dalgleish, J. (2000). Customer-effective web sites, Upper Saddle River, NJ: ft.com

Eccher, C. (2004). Professional web design: Techniques and templates. Charles River Media

Forceville, C. (1999). Educating the eye?: Kress and Van Leeuwen’s Reading Images:
The Grammar of Visual Design. Language and Literature, 8 (2), 163-177.

Harrison, C. (2003). Visual social semiotics: Understanding how still images make
meaning. Technical Communication, 50 (1), 46-60.

Kaiser, S. (2006). Deliver first class web sites: 101 essential checklists, VIC Australia:
Sitepoint.

Karper, E. (2005). “Ordinary people do this”: Rhetorical examinations of novice web

design. Business Communication Quarterly, Sept., 340-344.

Kovark, B. (2002). Web design for the mass media, Boston: Allyn and Bacon.

Sliwa, C. (2006). Accessibility issue comes to a head. Computerworld, 40 (19), 1-15.

Ten tips for creating your web site. (2006). Global Knowledge Training LLC. Retrieved
on June12, 2007, from http://www.globalknowledge.com.

10 common web design mistakes to watch out for (2007). TechRepublic. Retrieved on
November 7, 2007, from http://techrepublic.com.com/2001-6240-0.html
34 Chapter 2
Planning for Web Design

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Chapter 3

Technical
Considerations
36 Chapter 3
Technical Considerations

Introduction

D
Internet
esigning for the web in the Communica-
tion Graphics class (or any other class at
SUU) requires us to use the facilities provided
by Southern Utah University. These facilities
and resources include not only the computer and
software but also the student web server and the Web
campus network including your personal (F: Server
drive) space on the network. There are certain re-
Figure 3.1
quirements that you will need to be aware of and
procedures that are necessary for you to follow
the remote location on a storage device of some
as you design and publish your web content at
kind (CD, etc.) to have them post it for you or
SUU. In this chapter, these requirements and pro-
you must send it yourself over the Internet. The
cedures will be presented and discussed. URL’s
use of the Internet to post web data to the server
and other preliminary technological concepts
is the most common method. To facilitate this,
including file naming, restrictions and limitations
a special computer program called an FTP (File
will also be introduced and discussed.
Transfer Protocol) client is used. Some sites will
require SFTP (a secure version of FTP). The FTP
Web Server of SFTP software allows you to connect over the
Internet to the remote web server and transfer the
In order for web content to be accessible on the
data to it. You must have an agreement with the
Internet, it must be placed on a special computer
organization that owns the server to host your
that has a connection to the Internet. This com-
web content before you can post data to it. They
puter is referred to as a “web server” (Figure
will provide you a user name and password to
3.1). The web server can “host” any number
of individual web sites. The web server allows
people the ability to access and view the infor- ISP Internet
mation associated with a web site, but restricts
unauthorized persons from making changes to
the content.

If you are developing web content and the server

Computer Web
is located remotely (Figure 3.2), in order for you Server
to get your content to the server, you have two
options. You must either send it to someone at Figure 3.2
 Intro to the Internet 37
and Web Page Design
connect to the remote server in order to post your
data.
Router Internet
At SUU things are a little different. The student
web server we will use is provided by SUU as
part of the network infrastructure (Figure 3.3).
Your personal link to the web server is created
by simply making a folder in a specific location Switch Web
on the network server. Posting your web con- Server
tent is no more complicated than saving it in the
folder you will create. The web access you create
will be available as long as you are a student
File
at SUU. After you complete this class you will
Server
continue to have access to your web site and will
be able to control and update it. As previously
discussed, your web site should always be under
development and updated as often as neces- Computer Computer
sary to make sure the content is current. After
completion of this class (or any other class that
Figure 3.3
requires you to create web content at SUU) if
you have no intention of maintaining and updat-
ing your web site, you should delete it including sources the network has to offer. The administra-
all the associated files and folders. If you choose tors determine and grant access to the resources
to continue to maintain the web site, you should an individual user can use. When you log into
be aware that when you graduate or leave the the SUU campus network as a student, one of
university, your personal student computer ac- the resources available to you is the student web
count and any associated information including server (figure 3.1). Access to the student web
your web site will be deleted. Therefore if you server is not automatic but gaining that access
want to retain copies of your documents, you is a simple process that you need to accomplish
will need to make the copies by the end of the yourself.
semester in which you intend to leave the univer-
sity. Every student at SUU has an account on the
student server. The account is accessed with a
As you will recall from chapter one, when the unique user name and password. No one else has
computer you are using is connected to a net- access to the account unless you give them your
work, you may be granted access to all the re- user name and password. For security purposes,
38 Chapter 3
Technical Considerations
you should keep the password to your account
private and change it periodically.

Associated with your student account is an area Content of a

typical F: drive.
reserved specifically for you to store files and
folders. This storage area is referred to as your
“F: drive” (Figure 3.4). On a PC computer, stor-
age devices are named according to the letters
of the alphabet. Letters ‘A:’ through’ E:’ are
reserved for storage on the local computer. For
example, the C: drive is usually the local hard Figure 3.4
drive, A: and B: are usually reserved for remov-
have stored there. If you attempt to store more
able media like floppy disks. D: and E: are for
than the allotted space will accommodate, you
CD, DVD and USB devices (Table 3.1). Drive
will receive an error message from the system
letters from F: through Z: are usually reserved
and will have to delete files and folders you no
for network resources.
longer need or move them to a flash drive or
CD-R before you can save new content.
PC Computer Drive Letters

A: Floppy Drive Web Folder

B: Floppy Drive (can be reas-
signed to another resource)
C: Local Hard Drive The special web folder mentioned above is cre-
D: CD or DVD drive ated on the F: drive. It has a specific name that
E: 2nd CD, DVD or USB (flash must be used. If you do not use the correct name
drive)
F: First network Drive or create this folder in the F: drive, the connec-
↓ tion to the web server will not occur. The folder
Z: Last network Drive
must be named “public_html” without the quota-
tion marks. To create the “public_html” folder,
do the following:
Table 3.1

1. Log in to the student server. This can be done

in any student lab on campus. Select the “My
Your F: drive is a network resource that is
Computer” (Figure 3.5) icon on the desk top or
available to you wherever you go on campus to
click the start button and then select “My Com-
access the network. The storage space allotted to
puter” from the options listed.
you in your F: drive is limited to a maximum of
100 Megabytes for all files and folders that you
 Intro to the Internet 39
and Web Page Design

My Computer Icon
On PC desktop

Figure 3.5

2. Locate and select the “F: drive” by double-

Content of
clicking the left mouse button on the folder icon
My Computer
to the left of its name (Figure 3.6). The complete
name of this drive starts with your individual
user name and ends with “(F:).” You may see
Figure 3.6
some files and folders already on the drive. Some
of these are created for you automatically by the
network. If you have previously saved data to the
F: drive, it will be there as well (Figure 3.7).

3. Move the mouse pointer to a blank area away

from any existing files or folders in the open Content of a
typical F: drive.
window and click the right mouse button.

4. From the drop down menu that appears select

Figure 3.7
“New” and then “Folder” from the list of avail-
able choices (Figure 3.8).

5. By default the new folder will have the name

“New Folder” and will be highlighted with the
curser blinking at the end of the “New Folder”
name (Figure 3.9). As soon as the folder is cre-
ated and before deselecting it or doing anything Creating a
New Folder
else, just type the name “public_html” without
the quotation marks using all lower case letters
in the box beside the folder icon.

6. If you accidentally deselect the folder before

renaming it, simply click the mouse two times, Figure 3.8

briefly pausing between the clicks, while point-

40 Chapter 3
Technical Considerations
ing to the end of the name to re-select it then bers that identify the server) such as 127.0.0.1
enter the correct name. may be used. The protocol and resource names
are generally not case sensitive. Following the
resource name you may find additional names
such as “/hss/comm/contact.html.” These speci-
fy the folders and specific web pages that should
be fetched. They are usually case sensitive.
Figure 3.9

Each class member has a unique URL. Your

Figure 3.10 illustrates the “public_html” folder URL at SUU is as follows:
on the F: drive ready to use. All your web con-
tent must be placed in this folder to make it ac- http://www.student.suu.edu/~username
cessible on the Internet.
Username is your individual user name - the one
you use to log in to the SUU student network
with. The ~ symbol (technically called tilde) is
located to the left of the “1” key on your key
Figure 3.10
board. For example, the instructor’s URL would
be as follows:
URL
http://www.student.suu.edu/~jacksonl
The URL (Uniform Resource Locator), such as
“http://www.suu.edu/hss/comm/contact.html,” Your web site is viewable by anyone accessing
is the complete address for a web site, or more the web anywhere in the world as long as they
specifically, for an individual HTML document know the URL or run across it in a search en-
on the specified web server. The URL is broken gine.
into various parts. The first part identifies the In-
ternet protocol being used, such as the hypertext Web Page Naming
transfer protocol (HTTP) in the example above.
In most cases, you can ignore the protocol if it A web page is a text document identified by the
is HTTP because modern browsers assume that “html” (preferred) or “htm” file name extension
you will be using HTTP unless specified other- for example “mypage.html.”
wise. The second part of the address, “www.suu.
edu” in this case, is the resource name. A domain The first page of your web site, sometimes
name such as “suu.edu” or an “IP” address (In- referred to as a home page, should always be
ternet Protocol - consisting of a series of num- named “index.html” (at least at SUU). Regard-
 Intro to the Internet 41
and Web Page Design
less of what you may call it or what title it is
given, it should always be saved using the name
EXAMPLES OF ACCEPTABLE NAMES
“index.html.”.Any other pages can be named
index.html
anything you choose but keep the names as short
content.html
as possible and do not use spaces or punctua- photos.html
family_vacation.html
tion other than the hyphen and underscore. Web
football_scores.html
servers are often programed to look for files baloon_flight.jpg
water_fall.gif
named index.html and load them unless another
winter-at-cedar-city.png
file name is specified in the URL. If no name is vacation-movie.avi
specified and the index.html file is not present,
the server will usually return a page not found EXAMPLES OF UNACCEPTABLE NAMES
error. Although some servers will display a ge-
photos.family.jpg (too many periods)
neric information page when the specified URL Girl’s night out.gif (spaces and ‘ mark)
scary-movies!.mov (! mark)
is not found or available. Refer to Figure 3.11 for
watch here*.png (space and *)
file naming examples. tree.gif.gif (gif name repeated)
the old family farm.html (spaces)
jim roberts beats isaac hooper in fight.html
Web Site Content (too long and spaces)

The HTML documents you make are only a

part of the complete web page as displayed in a Figure 3.11

browser window. In reality an HTML document

is just a plane text file that contains the mark-up server. At SUU all this web content is placed in
language a browser uses to format the page and your “public_html” folder on the F: drive. This
place items on the screen (Figure 3.12). In that concept will become easier to understand as you
sense, it is similar to an InDesign document in work more and more with HTML files.
which fonts and images are not imbedded in the
main file but are only linked to it.

Part of the linking process of an HTML file is

the finding and displaying of images and media
content in the browser window. For this reason,
any images or other media you want displayed
as part of your web page must be available to the
web server. We accomplish this by placing all
the images and other media we want on our web
page in the same folder or sub-folder on the web
Figure 3.12
42 Chapter 3
Technical Considerations
Not all image types will display in a web ware and software, and it will look exactly as
browser’s window. We limit the image types intended — with layout, fonts, links, and images
that will work to ones that utilize image com- intact. If you format the form correctly with the
pression. This enables us to make the files as Adobe Acrobat application (not covered in this
small as possible without compromising quality class), your forms can allow the viewer to fill in
which in turn allows for the fastest download the information requested on his computer and
speed possible. The main types of images used then print or save it. A web page will link to a
on web pages are the GIF, JPEG and PNG files. PDF form and browsers will open it. The only
These image types are native to the browser. The requirement is that the computer must have the
characteristics and uses of each file type will be Adobe Reader application installed. When some-
discussed in next chapter. Multi-media files such one installs the Reader program, a plug-in is
as video, flash and audio can also be used but installed into the browser that enables it to open
usually require the installation of a special soft- and display PDF files.
ware “plug-in” in order to display these files.
This plug-in concept also holds true for multi-
Figure 3.13 shows a typical web folder and its media file types. For example in order for a
contents. Note the file names and sub-folders. browser to display a Flash animation, it must
have the Flash plug-in installed. Quick Time
must be installed to display Quick Time media
files, etc.

SUU Guidelines

In general, you may want to become familiar

with the SUU web guidelines found at http://
www.suu.edu/it/webdev/. Although these
requirements do not specifically relate to student
web content, it is a good idea for you to become
Figure 3.13
acquainted with requirements which, if you are
designing for a club, organization or other entity,
You may want to create some pages of your must be followed.
web site, especially document pages containing
forms in the Adobe PDF format. The advantage The following additional guidelines are provided
to this is that anyone with Adobe Reader can by SUU web Services and apply to web content
open a document across a broad range of hard- that officially represents the university. This
 Intro to the Internet 43
and Web Page Design
information may also be helpful to you as you WordPerfect are not web images. If you
are desperate for some clip art, there
design web content for yourself :
are several web sites that offer free web
clip art, just do a search for them. We
ORGANIZATION: do not encourage the use of clip art on
official university pages.
It makes it a lot easier to work on your
web site if you have it organized. One CONTENT:
easy way to structure your information
is to only put your html files in your
a. Web sites need to contain relevant
main web folder. Then create sub-fold-
content. You need to evaluate and
ers for your images, PDF documents,
analyze the content you want and need
etc.
to provide for your audience. Rewrite
materials so they are to the point and
STORAGE SPACE: contain useful facts and information.

a. The web server is not a storage b. When getting ready to build a new
space. Everything that is in your web web site or rebuild a site, you need to
folder is accessible to people through ask yourself some questions:
the web. Even if you haven’t linked
to it, files can be picked up in search
-- What is your goal in offering this web
engines and anyone can get to your
site?
personal items.

-- Who are your key users? (or who do

b. No one should have MP3 files or
you want to be your key users?)
video on the web space, unless they
have a specific use for it within their
web site and it is not violating copy- -- What do you want your users to get
right laws. out of your site?

c. If you have used Photoshop to cre- -- What do your users expect to get
ate graphics for your site, that’s great! from your site?
But we don’t want the .psd files on the
web server so store them elsewhere. TEXT NAVIGATION

IMAGES Somewhere on each page, there should

be text-based links to navigate the site.
a. There are only 3 types of images These text links should mirror the links
that can be used on web pages - GIF, that are on graphics.
JPG & PNG. PNG isn’t used that often.
Your images will most likely be GIF or USE META TAGS
JPG. GIF is used for simple line art and
JPG is used for color intensive images
(such as photographs). A. Normally, search indices will use
the first few lines of text from a docu-
ment as a short description to display
b. The clip art found in Word or in a search result. Since this text is not
44 Chapter 3
Technical Considerations
always applicable, use the <META> tag C. Everybody is encouraged to make
in the HTML code to provide a more ac- pages that are accessible for people
curate description of your web site. with disabilities.

B. Meta tags are placed inside the D. Spell check and proofread your
<head> section of the HTML code for pages. To spell check in Dreamweaver,
the web page. under the “Text” menu the last option
is “Check Spelling.”
C. The description cannot contain
HTML markup, and should be less than E. When using different fonts, keep
1024 characters in length. To put a in mind that just because a font is
Meta description in a page, insert the installed in the computer on which the
following line of HTML in the header page was built, this does not mean that
same font is installed on every com-
o <META NAME=”description” puter. Stick to standard typefaces. Web
CONTENT=”Your description here.”> Services recommends sans-serif fonts
such as Arial or Verdana. Those are the
easiest to read on a monitor.
D. In the same way, extra keywords
can be added. These keywords are
used next to the ones found in the F. Frames are discouraged.
document. If a keyword is overused
(some engines use an upper limit of G. Do not make pages in which the
7 occurrences) the entire list will be user has to scroll horizontally. Make ti-
ignored. To put Meta keywords into a tle bar images that would fit in 800x600
page, insert the following line of HTML resolution.
in the “header” of the document:
H. Do not use overly patterned back-
o <META NAME=”keywords” grounds. Dark and loud backgrounds
CONTENT=”Keyword, keyword, key- lower visibility of a page.
word”>
I. Do not place counters on pages
OTHER GUIDELINES:
J. Do not use blinking text
A. The SUU web servers are not stor-
age facilities. They are for web content K. Avoid the “Click Here” syndrome.
only. Do not store non-web-related files (This is an accessibility issue) Phrasing
in your “public_html” folder. links in this way assumes the user is
using a mouse. It is also redundant.
B. Do not “orphan” files on the web
servers. If a special page is needed for L. A hyperlink should be understand-
a one-time event, then unlinked from able on its own. Pages must have de-
the other pages but left on the server, it scriptive text links. Similarly, things like
is still pulled up by the search engines. “Information about X is available by
Remove these files completely from the following this link” are not permitted.
server. A good way to check a page, read only
the link text on the page, with none of
 Intro to the Internet 45
and Web Page Design
the surrounding text. If it doesn’t make • Provide text links to complement any image
sense, change it. map links on the page.

M. No dead-end pages. Every page

should have at least one link. • Provide a text only version of the web page,
or the entire web site, that is accessible from the
N. Do not put “Under Construction” main page.
on a page. If the page isn’t ready to be
on the www, then don’t put it on the
server. ALL Web pages are permanently • Provide phone numbers a person can call for
under construction. personal assistance.

O. There is to be no advertising on the

• Do not use the blinking text attributes or re-
SUU student web pages (this is very
important). verses – white text on a dark background.

While these guidelines are specifically intended • Avoid using red/green color combinations.
for official SUU web content, following them These are difficult for color blind people to dis-
will help insure that your web site is as effective tinguish.
as it can be. Remember there is to be no advertis-
ing or links to advertising on student web pages. • Don’t use audio to provide essential informa-
tion about the web content or at least also pro-
Accessibility vide an alternative text file for hearing disabled
visitors.
When designing a web site, it is always a good
idea to make it accessible to persons with sight Limitations
or even hearing disabilities. There are some
simple things you can do to create a more acces- HTML does not allow for absolute positioning of
sible web site. Some of these have already been either text or images. We work around this limi-
discussed and are repeated for emphasis. They tation by placing text and images in the cells of
include; invisible tables (tables with no visible borders).
HTML has the ability to stack layers on top of
• Providing alternate text for all images. This is one another to try achieving absolute positioning
done using the “alt=” attribute of the <img> tag but this does not work well in practical terms.
(discussed later). Text can flow differently on different comput-
ers and in different browsers so the exact length
• When using an image as a link, provide a cap- of a line of text can not be accurately predicted.
tion under the picture (or other text) that also is a This makes it difficult to place items in proper
text link to the same reference. position relative to each other. In addition, some
46 Chapter 3
Technical Considerations
browsers can get the layers mixed up. Layers the description of the web page including the
can only be safely used for animated images. For tags (commands) that format the page and the
these reasons, the use of tables is still the method text and pictures to be displayed in the browser
of choice for placing elements - especially when window. It does not, however, contain the actual
text is to be associated with an image. images. Images are stored on the web server and
are transferred to the viewer’s computer sepa-
Different programming languages such as Java rately. This means the images must be in your
are used not only to place items but to control public_html folder or they will not be available
content, create special effects, generate reply to the viewer and a blank box will be displayed
capabilities, etc. but these languages are beyond instead.
the scope of this book.
Since you may be using tables, it is important
Possibly the greatest limitation from a design to note that most common browsers, Netscape,
point of view is text. HTML does not handle Firefox and Internet Explorer for example,
formatting text very well. Text size, font, color handle tables differently. So if you use tables, be
and treatment (bold, italic, underline) can be sure to test them on different browsers to be sure
specified, however, text fonts are not embedded they are displaying correctly.
in the document. This means the actual font used
must be installed on every computer that views Another limitation is the connection speed of
the web page or it will not display correctly. For the computer. Some people still use a dial-up
this reason, text is usually limited to Times New connection which, at best, allows a 56 Kbs data
Roman/Palatino and Arial/Helvetica/Tahoma/ rate (30 Kbs is probably more realistic). For the
Verdana since these are generic fonts that are designer, this means that you should try to keep
installed on almost every PC and Mac computer. the total amount of data required for each page
In practical terms, the sans-serif fonts usually to around 100 KB maximum. Any more than
display cleaner on a computer monitor that do that and people may get tired of waiting for your
the serifed fonts. In addition, text size is speci- page to load and will leave your web site.
fied in relationship to other text (or to the default
size) and is not specified in points. For these Files and pictures that are transferred to some-
reasons, if you need a special font, text treatment one’s computer over the internet are put in a
or size, you should create an image of the text special folder on the local computer’s hard drive.
in Photoshop using the font, treatment and size We sometimes use the term “cache” for these
you want and then place the image on the web files. Items stored on the local computer’s hard
page - possibly with a transparent background drive can be displayed much faster than new
rather than trying to insert the text directly onto content can be delivered over the web. If the
the web page. The HTML file itself contains viewer’s computer detects that a photo has been
 Intro to the Internet 47
and Web Page Design
downloaded and stored locally previously, it will
load the cached image instead of downloading
the image from the web again. Because of this,
it is a good idea to use the same images across
all your web pages. For example a logo from the
first page is cached, then for any other pages that
display the same logo, the image is called from
the local computer’s hard drive instead of from
the Internet. This process speeds up the viewer’s
browsing of your web site and allows you to add
new graphics to other pages while minimizing
download time.

Conclusion

As you contemplate designing web pages at

SUU please consider that what you put on your
web site is not only available to everyone any-
where in the world, but it is a reflection on the
university community as a whole. If you post
anything to the web site that could put the uni-
versity in a bad light, the web site may be delet-
ed and you may forfeit your privilege to use it.
48 Chapter 3
Technical Considerations

Chapter Quiz Application

1. Visit the SUU Web Services web site at “http://suu. 1. Using the information from this chapter, create the
edu/it/webdev/” and closely review the information “public_html” folder in your personal F: drive on the
pertaining to your use of the student web servers. student network.

2. Continue to plan and design your personal web

2. How can you get your web content sent to a re- content applying the concepts in this chapter to refine
mote server? and edit as necessary.

3. Following the instructions for creating the public_

html folder, create sub-folders inside the public_html
3. To post web content at SUU, what special folder is folder in which to place your images, PDF files and
required and in what location? other web content. Name these folders approprately.

4. What is a URL? Discuss the parts.

5. Discuss some naming restrictions for web files.

6. What is an HTML file? What is imbedding?

7. What image types can be associated with a web

page? Why?

8. What other types of content can be placed on a

web page?
 Intro to the Internet 49
and Web Page Design

References

SUU web policies and guidelines. Retrieved on October 10. 2008, from http://suu.edu/it/webdev/
50 Chapter 3
Technical Considerations

Page intentionally left blank

Chapter 4

Image Editing &

Preparation
52 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation

Introduction the normal “save as” function and select the file
type from the various choices but it is strongly

I n this chapter you will learn about images of recommended that you use the “save for web”
various types and how to prepare them for use function instead. If you use “save as” to save a
on web pages. As you work through the chapter, GIF, PNG or JPEG image you will not have as
you will need to use the student data files pro- much control of the image background transpar-
vided on the class CD. The files are located in a ency, resolution, file size, compression, number
folder called “Student Work Files.” These image of colors, animation, etc.
files may be in various formats. As you follow
the directions in this and subsequent chapters, It is also important to remember that most com-
you will learn the skills necessary to create effec- puter monitors can only display images at up to
tive and attractive web content. about 72-92 pixels per inch so images saved for
the web are usually limited to a resolution of 72
File Types ppi. This also greatly reduces the storage size of
the image and the time required for the image to
There are three main image file types you will move across the Internet. Names for images and
use when creating web content. Photos used in photos used on web pages should conform to
web pages have traditionally been in either the the same standard as the html pages; do not use
“JPEG” or “GIF” format. More recently, the punctuation marks except (_) and (-) or spaces in
“PNG” format, including PNG-8 and PNG-24, the file names and keep the names short if pos-
and others have been introduced. These graphic sible.
formats compress the image data so the infor-
mation can be transferred more quickly. Once The characteristics and uses of each of the three
on the other end, the browser decompresses main image types will be discussed next.
the pictures for display on the monitor. The file
storage size is a reflection of the actual image JPEG
dimensions, the resolution, and amount and type
of compression. JPEG (pronounced JAY-peg) stands for Joint
Photographic Experts Group, the name of the
When you are preparing an image for use on committee that created the standard. The JPEG
a web page, you should always use a program standard specifies both how an image is com-
such as Photoshop to optimize the image for web pressed into a stream of bytes and decompressed
use. With an image open in Photoshop, you can back into an image, and the file format used.
select the “save for web and devices” option.
This is gives you control of the image so you can JPEG compression is used in a number of file
tailor it for your exact needs. You can also use types. JPEG/Exif is the most common image
 Intro to the Internet 53
and Web Page Design
format used by digital cameras and other pho-
tographic image capture devices. Along with
JPEG/JFIF, it is the most common format for
storing and transmitting photographic images on
the web. These format variations are often not
distinguished, and are simply called JPEG.

JPEG compression is best used on photographs

and paintings of realistic scenes with smooth
variations of tone and color (continuous tone).
For web usage, where the bandwidth used by an
Figure 4.1 Minimal Compression - 59 K
image is important, JPEG is a good photographic
image format. But JPEG is not as well suited for
line drawings and other textual or iconic graph-
ics where the sharp contrasts between adjacent
pixels can cause noticeable artifacts.

The compression method used in JPEG im-

ages is usually “lossy” which means that some
visual quality is lost in the process and cannot
be restored. For this reason, it is usually not
advisable to work on succeeding generations of
a JPEG image where the file is compressed and
then decompressed to be worked on. The resul- Figure 4.2 Medium Compression - 38 K
tant file is then saved (compressed) and opened
(decompressed), manipulated in some way and
compressed again (only to be decompressed and
worked on still more).

There is also a “Progressive JPEG” format, in

which data is compressed in multiple passes of
progressively higher detail. This is ideal for large
images that will be displayed while download-
ing over a slow connection, allowing a reason-
able preview after receiving only a portion of
the data. But, progressive JPEGs are not widely
Figure 4.3 Large amount of compression - 4 K
54 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation
supported, and even some software which does
support them (such as some versions of Internet
Explorer) only displays the image once it has
been completely downloaded.
Figure 4.4 Examples of GIF images with
transparent backgrounds
The JPEG format has two very distinct advan-
tages. The first is that you are able to take a fairly
large image, say 2 megabytes, and compress it
down to a perhaps 50 kilobytes or smaller. The
smaller file saves greatly on storage space and
transmission time. The compression ratio can
be as high as 20:1 with full color retained. The
other advantage is that the JPEG format stores
24 bits/pixel of color information. This means
Figure 4.5 Example of an animated GIF image with
the format will support about 16 million colors. the first frame visible

In practice, we will usually want to compress the

image as much as possible without introducing
any noticeable or objectionable artifacts such as
image distortion and pixilation.

Figures 4.1 through 4.3 illustrate an image with Figure 4.6 Examples of GIF images with solid back-
grounds
varying amounts of compression along with the
resultant file storage size. See if you can see any
of the effects of compression on the image in the
various versions.

GIF

A “GIF” or Graphics Interchange Format image

is a bit-mapped image format that was intro-
duced in 1987 by CompuServe and has since
come into use on the web because of its wide
support and portability. The name is usually pro-
nounced “Jif” (like the peanut butter). Figures
4.4 through 4.6 illustrate several GIF images.
 Intro to the Internet 55
and Web Page Design
The format supports up to eight bits of color PNG
per pixel resulting in 256 distinct colors. The
GIF image format is used for illustrations, The PNG format was intended to replace the GIF
small pictures, icons, clip art, roll-over effects,format and to some extent the TIFF format. The
animations, and images that need a transparent PNG format has three advantages over the GIF
background. The GIF format uses a different format. First it supports alpha channels which
compression scheme than JPEG that is based on can be used as masks to hide or reveal specific
adjacent colors. It is lossless as far as informa- parts of an image (variable transparency). Sec-
tion is concerned. ond it allows gamma correction (cross platform
control of image brightness). Third it enables
The GIF format has two very important features; two dimensional interlacing ( a method of pro-
it supports animated graphics, including roll-over gressive display). In addition the PNG format
effects, and transparency. To make part of an compresses better than the GIF in most cases
image transparent, one or more colors in the im- but the difference is not large enough to justify
age are marked as chroma-key colors during the switching to the format on that basis alone. The
saving process. When the image is displayed in format also supports up to 48 bits of color which
a browser window, the computer disables these makes is suited for photographic images.
colors and allows whatever is in the background
to show through. The PNG format, on the other hand, makes no
attempt to support animations so it is not an op-
During the saving process, a GIF image is usu- tion for making animated images.
ally converted to the “Indexed Color” mode. If
you intend to work on a GIF in Photoshop, you In practice, the PNG format has many of the
will normally have to convert it to RGB before desirable features of both the JPEG and GIF for-
you can do much editing on it. mats but also suffers from some of the weakness
of both as well. Because of this, the format is not
An image is animated in much the same way as widely used on the web as the other two are.
animated movies are made. Several different Although its use is increasing with time.
frames, layers or both are displayed in sequence
producing the illusion of motion. Other Image Types
The GIF compression process was patented in The JPEG, GIF and PNG images are the only
1985. Controversy over licensing agreements in- types you will be using for web content but there
spired the development of the Portable Network are many other image types. A few of the more
Graphics (PNG) standard. common types include the following:
56 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation
PSD a lossless format makes the format useful as an
image archive, because, unlike standard JPEG
The PSD format is the Photoshop native docu- files, the TIFF using lossless compression (or
ment format. When you are working on an im- none) may be edited and re-saved without losing
age, you will normally want to save it in the PSD image quality; other TIFF options include layers
format and then convert a copy of the original and pages.
to other formats for use on the web or for other
applications. The TIFF format is a good choice for saving
scanned images.
The PSD format allows you the greatest flex-
ibility in editing an image and when you save it; EPS
all the layers, masks, selections, paths, channels,
etc. you create can also saved with the image. EPS files (Encapsulated PostScript) are more-
This makes subsequent editing easier. Tempo- or-less self-contained, reasonably predictable
rary items like the editing history are not saved PostScript documents that describe an image or
regardless of the format you use. drawing, that can be placed within another Post-
Script document.
The PSD format does not use image compres-
sion so the files are usually fairly large but since When the format was first created by Adobe,
no compression is used, the image quality is not the only computers using the PostScript printing
affected by saving of multiple generations. language were the Apple Mackintoshes. To make
the files viewable on Windows systems, Adobe
TIFF began including a TIFF file encoded into the EPS
file. In order to take full advantage of the format,
TIFF or Tagged Image File Format is another a printer must have PostScript capabilities.
format for storing of photograph and line im-
ages. The format was originally created by the Other file types are also available and are too
Aldus company for use in what were then called numerous to discuss here. If you are interested in
“Desktop Publishing” applications. Today the them, please do some research on your own.
format is widely supported by many graphic ap-
plications. Basic Photographic
Touch-up
TIFF is a flexible, adaptable format for handling
images and data within a single file. A TIFF file One of the first skills you will need when you
for example can be a container to a JPEG com- begin to prepare images for web use is photo-
pressed image. The ability to store image data in graphic touch-up and repair. Abode® Photo-
 Intro to the Internet 57
and Web Page Design
shop® is the computer application of choice for 6. Use the Levels menu and associated Histo-
such work. In this book, it is assumed the reader gram to check for appropriate levels.
has at least a basic understanding of Photoshop.
We will use Photoshop CS 4 Extended but the 7. Adjust the overall contrast or tonal range of
proceedures will work with any recent version the image.
of the appliation if you remember that different
versions handle commands differently in some 8. Remove any color casts using the “hue and
instances. saturation” and associated menus.

The following steps are suggested for image cor- 9. Adjust the color and tone in specific parts
rection and repair. Usually you will complete the of the image to bring out highlights, shadows,
tasks in the order listed. Otherwise the results of mid-tones and desaturated colors. Use the dodge,
one process could cause unintended changes to burn, sponge and associated tools as necessary.
other aspects of the image making it necessary
for you to redo some of your work. These steps
10. Sharpen the overall focus of the image using
are adapted from the Adobe Photoshop CS3
the unsharp filter.
Classroom in a book.

You will gain practice in photo touch-up us-

1. Duplicate the original image. (Always work
ing some practice files provided on the Student
on a copy so you can recover the original later if
Work Files folder on the class CD, G: drive or
necessary.)
the class web page. Please remember that all the
2. Check the image quality and make sure the images in the Student Work Files are protected
resolution is appropriate for the way you will use by copyright. You should not use them for any
the image. A standard rule of thumb is to set the purpose outside class assignments.
image resolution to 1.5 - 2.0 times the resolution
of the output device you will be using. For web The following steps will guide you through the
images this is usually 72 ppi. touch-up process:

3. Crop the image to its final size and orientation. 1. Locate and launch the Adobe Photoshop appli-
cation (in the future, it will be assumed that you
4. Repair flaws in scans of damaged photographs have already opened the application unless stated
including rips, dust and stains. otherwise).

5. Clean up the image and remove unwanted 2. At the top of the open Photoshop window,
items using the clone stamp, healing brush and select File and then Open. (CTRL/CMD + O is
associated tools. the keyboard shortcut).
58 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation
3. Navigate to the location of the Student
Work Files. Open the Chapt 4 folder. Find the
Clair_after.jpg file and open it (figure 4.7).
This file shows you what your work should look
like when you have finished the touch-up. Now
without closing the image, open Clair_before.
jpg (Figure 4.8).

4. From the Control menu at the top of the

screen, select Arrange Documents>2-UP (Fig-
ure 4.9). This displays the before and after pho-
tos side-by-side so you can look at and compare
Figure 4.7 after
them with each other. Look for things that need
to be corrected. For example the red in the eyes,
the bald head in the foreground, the photogra-
pher in the back ground, etc.

5. Now that you have some idea of what the

image will look like after it is adjusted, you can
close the Clair-after.jpg image.

6. Rather than working on the original image,

you will work on a copy. In this way, if you
make a major mistake, you can always go back
Figure 4.8 before
to the unaltered original and start over.

Make sure the Clair_before image is selected

then from the Image menu choose Duplicate.
You may have to click the Show All Menu
Items bar at the bottom of the menu to see the
Duplicate menu. The Duplicate Image dialog
box opens. Name the image something different
than the original, then click OK (you can use the
Figure 4.9
default “copy” name if you choose). The com-
puter creates a copy of the original image.
 Intro to the Internet 59
and Web Page Design
Now you can select the original image and close
it without saving. It will be available to be used
again if you should need to start over.

7. The copy needs to be saved before you go on.

Regularly saving will insure that you don’t lose
anything should a power failure or other mishap
occur.

Save the copy on your flash drive. You already

Figure 4.10
gave it a new name in the previous step so it only
needs to be saved. In the Save As menu, make
sure you are saving to your flash drive. Check
that the name is as you want it and that the file
type is set to “JPG.”

When you click Save, a JPEG Options box

appears (Figure 4.10). Here you can adjust the
image quality and decide if you want the image
to be progressive or not (the section on JPEG
images in this chapter discusses image quality).
Later on, we will learn a different way to save
Figure 4.11
images that gives us much greater control over
the file size and image quality. Remember that
the JPEG format introduces some loss into the
image. To prevent that, you may want to save as
Hint: When preparing an
a PSD image instead of the JPEG. image for a web page, it is
advisable to choose a size
8. Now that the image is saved, we need to that will allow the image to
be displayed at as close to
decided what resolution and pixel dimensions 100% scaling as possible.
we need for the final image. We do this using the In practice plus or minus
Image Size menu. Click Image>Image Size or 10% is usually acceptable
but if you try to make it
Ctrl/Command + Alt/Option + I (Figure 4.11). larger than about 110% on
the web page, the image
will start to pixelate.
In the resolution field, you can see the resolution
is already at 72 ppi. so that does not need to be
60 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation
changed. In the pixel dimensions area, you can
see that the image size is 400 x 300 pixels. If Hint: You can also use Photo-
we were to place this image at 100% scaling on shop to increase the size and
resolution of an image. When
a web page that is 800 x 600 pixels, the image you increase the image size
would occupy one fourth of the entire page. or resolution, Photoshop uses
a process called interpolation
to fill in the missing informa-
We also see that the size of the image is about tion. The image quality will
352K. This is the uncompressed size. With JPEG not be as good as if you have
compression, the size may be much smaller used a larger image with
higher resolution to start with
depending on the quality selected in the saving but in some cases you may
operation not have that choice.

Enter 300 in the Pixel Width field and observe

the changes in the Height, Image Size and
Figure 4.12 Crop Tool
Document Size fields.

Once you have seen the effects of the changes,

click OK. The image is resized.

9. Now we need to crop the image to its finished

size and proportions. The Crop tool (Figure
4.12) is located in the Tool Pallet. You can select
it by clicking it with the mouse or by pressing
the letter “C” on the keyboard (unless you have
the type tool selected).

Using the crop tool draw a rectangle from the

upper right to the lower left (Figure 4.13) of Figure 4.13

the image. Once you have released the mouse

button, you can resize or move the crop area as
needed. Hint: There are other crop
options as you can see
from the Control Pallet at
When you are ready to finish the crop, press the the top of the Photoshop
Enter/Return key. If you decide not to crop after window. You can set crop
dimensions, resolution,
all, press the Esc key. If you make a mistake,
etc. Be sure to clear the
you can select Edit>Undo or Ctrl/Command + fields after you finish the
Z. crop.
 Intro to the Internet 61
and Web Page Design
10. You can see that cropping has not only re-
duced the file size but has also removed some of
the undesirable elements from the photo (Figure
4.14).

Now we need to remove the “Red Eye” effect

and fix any other flaws in our photo including
the bald head and what is left of the photogra-
pher in the background.

Lets start with “Red Eye” removal. First you

need to zoom in on the image so you can clearly
see the red in the eyes. Use either the Zoom tool
or the Navigator Pallet to do this.
Figure 4.14 Cropped Image

Red eye results from the light of a camera flash

entering the eye and reflecting off the retina. The
Red Eye reduction tool is in the same tool group
as the Spot Healing brush. Find a tool that
looks like a band-aid, point to it and hold down
the mouse button until the hidden tools appear.
Choose the Red Eye tool from the group. Now
position the tool over the red part of one of the
eyes and click the mouse button. In this case,
you will probably see the eye and part of the
face become notably darker. The Red Eye tool
darkens the selected color and any other closely
related colors. For this reason, the Red Eye re-
duction tool works better on a higher resolution Figure 4.15
image.

Since the Red Eye tool did not work well in this
case, you will need to undo the tool’s effects
and perform the Red Eye reduction manually.
Double click on the Foreground Color in the
tool pallet. This activates the color picker. Place
62 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation
a check mark in the “Only Web Colors” box and
move the color range slider to the “blues” range
(Figure 4.15). Now pick one of the medium
gray-blue colors and click OK. Select the Paint
Brush tool and set the brush diameter to one pix-
el. Now with the image still zoomed in, use the
paint brush to carefully change the color of a few
of the red pixels in the eye to the medium gray-
blue. Zoom out occasionally to be sure what you
have done looks natural. If not, undo what you
have done and try again with a darker or lighter
color until you are satisfied with the result.

Next we need to cover the bald head. You will do Figure 4.16

this with the “Clone Stamp” tool from the tool

pallet. The Clone Stamp tool resembles a rubber
stamp.

The Clone Stamp tool allows you to copy parts

of an image from one place to another. With the
tool selected, set the brush diameter to a 17 pixel
soft-edged brush (use the tool options menu or
simply click the right mouse button in the image
area). Leave the other options at their default
settings.

Now you need to set a point of origin (Figure

4.16) - the place in the image you will be copy-
ing. Position the tool on the right sleeve of the
gown above the bald head. Now hold down the
Figure 4.17
Alt/Option key and click the mouse button once.

Move the tool to the bald head, hold down the

mouse button and begin drawing. You will notice
a plus sign on the blue sleeve indicating the area
that is being copied and see the color and texture
 Intro to the Internet 63
and Web Page Design
from that area being applied to the image in the
An alternative to removing the
current location of the tool. Continue working photographer is to convert the
the tool. You may need to reset the origin point background layer to a normal layer
by renaming it then duplicating
and brush diameter several times to get the seats
the layer by dragging it to the new
and sleeve texture just right. If you make a mis- Layer Icon in the Layer Pallet. Doing
take, just undo and repeat the action until you are this will make a second layer that
is identical to the first. Now hide
satisfied with the result (Figure 4.17).
the bottom layer and select the top
layer. Then using the Eraser tool
Now all that remains is to remove the photogra- with a soft edge, carefully erase the
photographer from the top layer.
pher on the other side of the picture. You can do Now un-hide and select the bottom
that using the Clone Stamp tool as we just did or layer. Use the move tool to reposi-
try the suggestion in the side bar to the right. tion the bottom layer so the chairs
show through the place you erased
on the top layer. You simply need to
If there are small imperfections in the image you align the chairs so they fit into the
top layer correctly. When you are
wish to correct, the Spot Healing brush works
satisfied, you can flatten the image
well. Just click the tool over the item you want again from the Layers menu.
corrected and the tool does the rest. This works
wonders on small dust particles, and scratches as
well as skin blemishes, etc.

11. Now that we have corrected the flaws in the

image, we need to check the levels to see if the
range of light to dark is correct. First flatten the
Figure 4.18
image using the Layers menu.

The Histogram pallet can tell us if we need to

make changes to the levels. The histogram shows
us the amount of light and dark areas and color
distribution in the image (Figure 4.18).

Looking at the histogram, we can see that the

image has a lot of dark areas and not so many
white. To even the image out a little, we use
the Levels menu. The Levels menu is found by
selecting Image>Adjustments>Levels or Ctrl/
Command + L. From the Levels Pallet (Figure Figure 4.19
64 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation
4.20), you can now adjust the levels manually or
automatically.

Try clicking the Auto button to have the com-

puter make the adjustments for you. Notice the
changes in the Histogram and the image itself.
Now hold down the Alt/Option key. The Cancel
button becomes a Reset button. Click the Reset
button to undo the effect of the Auto Level cor-
rection while leaving the menu open.

Beneath the histogram in the Levels Pallet, you

see black, gray and white pointers. These allow
you to manually change the levels. Point to the
white pointer on the right and drag it toward the
left. Notice the changes in the light levels of the
Figure 4.20
photo. Choose a level that looks good to you and
then do the same with the black and gray(mid
tones) sliders. When you are satisfied, click OK.

Normally, the Auto Levels are sufficient es-

pecially while you are learning. You can use
these same techniques to correct the Contrast,
Color and Color Balance of your photos. These
Image>Adjustment menus give you great control
over the final look of the image. Although the
Clair image color looks OK the way it is, experi-
ment with the Color, Contrast and other menus
until you have a basic understanding of how they
work.
Figure 4.21

Now suppose that you have a particular area of

the image that you need to correct? Simply make
a selection around that area and use the Adjust-
ment menus as necessary to correct that part of
the image. Using the Hue/Saturation Menu on a
 Intro to the Internet 65
and Web Page Design
selection of an apple, for example, would allow Click on File>Save for Web & Devices. The
you to change its color from green to red while resulting pallet is shown in Figure 4.22.
maintaining the texture of the original.
Along the top edge you will see four tabs: Origi-
12. With the corrections to our image complete, nal, Optimized, 2-up and 4-up. Click the 4-Up
we now need to apply a sharpening filter. Many tab. This will cause the computer to display four
times when we scan a photograph, the scanner versions of the image. In upper left, you will
introduces a softening effect to the image. Heavy see the original image. The other three give you
editing can also cause a blurring. places to experiment with different optimiza-
tions. The selected image window is surrounded
Because of this, the final step in our touch-up is by a border indicating the currently selected ver-
to apply a sharpening filter that will help to cor- sion (Figure 4.23).
rect the effects of blurring in the image.
Since this is a photograph, we will want to save
If you have anything selected, deselect it either it using the JPEG or alternately the PNG format.
by choosing Select>Deselect or pressing the Look at the options on the right side. You will
Ctrl/Command + D keys. see a Preset: option. Make sure it is set to JPEG
High. Now click on the upper right copy of the
Now from the Filters menu, select image to select it.
Sharpen>Unsharp Mask (Figure 4.21). You
should immediately see the image sharpen. You In the dialog box right below the Preset: make
can accept the defaults of the filter or use the sure that JPEG is shown. If not change it. Now
sliders to change the way the filter works. If in the box below the previous box, select High
you sharpen too much, the image will become if it is not already selected. This indicates a high
pixilated and unnatural looking. When you are quality or minimally compressed image.
satisfied, click OK.
Click on the lower left image. Change the image
13. With all the editing finished, it is time to save specifications to JPEG and Medium.
the image. First, save the file to your flash drive
in the normal way. This gives you a copy in high Repeat the process with the lower right image.
resolution so you can re-open it and continue to This time selecting the Low quality option. Now
work on or make changes to it as necessary. compare each of the three optimized images with
the original in the upper left. See if you can de-
Now we are going to save it for use on the web. tect any noticeable or objectionable degradation
To do this, we are going to use the “Save for in the image quality. Use the zoom tool found
Web & Devices” option found in the File menu. along the upper left edge of the window to help
66 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation

Figure 4.22

Figure 4.23
 Intro to the Internet 67
and Web Page Design
you see the image quality better. Each time you
click the zoom tool on the original image, the
copies also zoom in (Figure 4.23).

In this case, you may not see much difference

between the high and medium quality versions
but there is noticeable distortion in the Low
quality version.

You will also notice that beneath each image

there is a box that gives you information about
that version of the image. The storage size of the
original is about 352K, the high quality is about
28K, the medium about 13K and the low about
9K. You will also see the approximate download
time at 28Kbps.

For this image, we decide to use the medium

quality because there is not that much noticeable Figure 4.24

difference between it and the high quality ver-

sion but the file storage size is about half.

Just for the fun of it, you decide to see the effect
of GIF compression on the image. Select the
lower right photo then change the compression
(under the Preset) to GIF and observe the result.
The image quality changes as it is converted
from 16 million to 256 colors. The file size also
increases so there is no benefit to using the GIF
format.

Using your mouse, click on the medium qual-

ity image ( lower left) to select it. Make sure the
Preset is still set to JPEG and Medium. Then
click on the Save button. The Save Optimized
As menu (Figure 4.24) opens.
68 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation
You use this menu in a similar manner as you Chapter QUIZ
use other save dialog boxes. First choose the
Save In location. For web images, this will be 1. What is meant by image optimization?
your “public_html” folder on the network F:
drive. Next, make sure you are using the cor- 2. What are the three main image types used on
rect name for your image. Remember to not use web pages?
spaces or punctuation in the name. Finally, in the
Save as Type box, make sure that “Images Only List the characteristics of each:
(*.jpg)” is showing. Then click the Save button.
The image is saved to the network drive and is a.
now ready to place on a web page.

Conclusion
b.
In this chapter you have learned about various
image types and how to use the Photoshop pro-
gram to touch up and optimize photographs for
use on a web page. c.

You have also learned about the proper processes

and the order in which to apply the various pro-
cesses to most effectively touch-up and enhance 3. Be familiar with the steps of basic image
images. touch-up. Why should they be completed in
order?
In future chapters you will learn to make back-
ground images and textures, buttons, icons and
animations and to use Photoshop to prepare web 4. Begin selecting and preparing images for your
content including picture packages and web own web content.
photo galleries as well as actual web pages.
 Intro to the Internet 69
and Web Page Design

Application

1. Find your own photograph that needs some

touch-up and editing. If necessary, scan it then
use the tools of Photoshop to make the necessary
corrections and repairs.

2. Practice saving images for the web including

the use of optimization, various file formats and
treatments.

3. When you visit web sites, explore the images

to see what format they are saved in and analyze
why the designer chose the format that was used.

4. Select photographs you are going to use on

your web pages. Prepare them correctly for use
on the web. Save them until you need them for
your web page design projects.
70 Chapter 4
Image Editing and Preparation

References
A basic introduction to PNG features. Retrieved on October 28, 2008, from http://libpng.org/pub/
png/pngintro.html.

Abode Photoshop CS3: Classroom in a book. Adobe Press 2007.

File type definitions courtesy Wikipedia.org. Retrieved on October, 30, 2008 from wikipedia.org.
 Intro to the Internet 71
and Web Page Design

Chapter 5

Backgrounds,
Textures & Buttons
72 Chapter 5
Backgrounds, Textures & Buttons

Introduction common. When these images are placed on a

web page, the browser repeats the image over
and over until the background is filled. The num-

T he use of background images and tex-

tures on web pages in current practice is
not as common or popular as it once was. Al-
ber of times the image is repeated depends on the
resolution of the monitor screen displaying the
web page.
though HTML and most browsers do support
background images, current practice is to use On a static web page, it is fairly difficult to have
a cleaner design with either a white or black the background filled with only one copy of an
background. Occasionally other colors are also image because the image is a fixed size while
used. The intent is to not overpower the design resolution of the monitor on which the page is
or the viewer with a background that is too busy displayed will vary from computer to computer.
or distracting. Backgrounds are also sometimes So on one screen, the image will display fine
applied to table cells. while on another with lower resolution, you may
see only part of the image and on another with
As previously mentioned, using a dark back- higher resolution, the image will repeat as neces-
ground with light lettering is difficult for people sary to fill the screen. Figures 5.1 and 5.2 show
in general to read so the use of these “reverses” the same background image as displayed on
should be limited to special circumstances. Ad- monitors of two different resolutions.
ditionally the text should be larger than normal
to facilitate easier reading. Since you learned about photo editing including
the re-sizing of images in the last chapter, in this
Icons, buttons and similar devices are commonly section we will concentrate on creating back-
used on web pages to assist with navigation or ground textures.
provide emphasis. These are often saved in the
GIF format. Bricks

In this chapter you will learn how to use Photo- 1. Start the Adobe Photoshop CS4 program on
shop to create backgrounds and textures as well your computer. If you are working in the student
as buttons and other small images. lab, select the “ignore color profile” option if so
prompted.
Backgrounds &
Textures 2. Create new image. From the File menu, select
New or press Ctrl/Command + N on the key-
Backgrounds and textures are usually fairly board. In the new image dialog box, specify
small images. 150 to 200 pixels square is fairly 200 pixels for both the height and width, 72 ppi
 Intro to the Internet 73
and Web Page Design
for the resolution, RGB for the color mode and
White for the background. Specify a name if you
wish and click OK.

3. Save the image as a PSD file on your flash

drive before you proceed. You will want to save
regularly so you don’t lose your work should
something happen to your computer.
Figure 5.1 High resolution monitor
We will be making two different textures with
this basic shape. The first will resemble brick
while the second is more complex and will re-
semble woven fabric.

4. First we will choose a color and fill the back-

ground with it. On the tool pallet, double click
the “Set foreground color” tool. The Color
Picker appears (Figure 5.3).

Figure 5.2 Low resolution monitor

Check the Only Web Colors box. This allows
you to choose only colors that browsers will
understand and display correctly. As you slide
the pointer along the vertical color range bar, you
will be able to select various ranges of color and
can then click on the specific color you wish to
use. You may also enter your color in the dialog
box next to the “#” sign. The numbers and letters
in this box represent the various amounts of red,
green and blue color being mixed to create the
color you want to use expressed in the hexadeci-
mal code that browsers understand.

For this image, we chose to enter “cc9966” in the

# dialog box. This produces a nice brown color
just right for our bricks. After you have selected Figure 5.3
the color you want, click OK.
74 Chapter 5
Backgrounds, Textures & Buttons
5. Now you need to apply the color you have
chosen to your image background. You can do
this in several different ways. First, you can go
to the Edit menu, choose Fill then in the Use
dialog box choose Foreground Color. Another
and faster was is to hold down the ALT/Option
key and press Backspace or Delete. You could
also use the paintbrush and paint the area with
the color.
Figure 5.4

6. Now that the background is colored, we are

ready to apply the texture. Select Filter>Filter types, we decide that saving as a low quality
Gallery (Figure 5.4). JPEG will serve our purposes. Since this in-
tended as a background, it does not need to be
The Filter Gallery allows us to apply a variety extremely high quality. The low quality JPEG
of predefined filters to our image. As the pallet image file will be about 4.5K which is great for
opens, you will see a menu. Near the right side our purposes.
of the screen. The last item in the list is Texture.
Save the image to your “public_html” folder.
Click on the arrow next to the work Texture then Remember to save the original as a PSD to your
select the Texturizer. flash drive in case you want to change it later.

On the far right side, below the cancel button Cloth

you see the Texturizer is selected. In the Tex-
ture: box, change the type to Brick if it is not A cloth texture can be created with the Textur-
already showing. izer filter as well but we want to do things a little
differently to achieve a believable woven fabric
Using the sliders, you can adjust the effect to look. From the Student Work Files open Tex-
your own preference. We chose 100% scaling tured Cloth.psd. This is what your finished cloth
and 5 for the Relief with Light from the Top. will look like. Now close the file.
Once you are satisfied, select OK and the filter is
applied to your image. 1. Create a new Grayscale document 200 x 200
pixels square at 72 ppi with a white background.
7. The texture is now finished and you can save
it for use on a web page. Select File>Save For 2. Choose Filter>Render>Difference Clouds.
Web & Devices. After looking at the image This will make the basic tones for a displacement
 Intro to the Internet 75
and Web Page Design
map that we will use to give the cloth the uneven
look we expect from hand-woven cloth.

3. Save the file to your flash drive using the

name map.psd.

4. Select the entire image and press the Back-

space or Delete key - first making sure that the
background color is set to white. Then deselect.

5. Now choose Filter>Noise>Add Noise. The

add noise filter opens (Figure 5.5).

Set the Amount to some high number (we used

200) and select Gaussian in the Distribution
area. Click OK. Figure 5.5

6. Rename the layer “Horizontal” by selecting

Layer>New>Layer from Background and
giving it the correct name or double click on the
layer and type “Horizontal” in the New Layer
Name box.

7. Duplicate the layer by dragging it to the New

Layer icon in the Layer Pallet (Figure 5.6).
The new layer will be named, Horizontal Copy.
Double click on the Horizontal Copy layer’s
name and change it to “Vertical.”

8. Hide the Horizontal layer and select the verti-

cal. Then choose Filter>Blur>Motion Blur.

In the Motion Blur Pallet, change the angle to 90 Figure 5.6

and the Distance to about 30 (Figure 5.7). Click

New Layer
OK. icon
76 Chapter 5
Backgrounds, Textures & Buttons
9. Select and show the Horizontal layer. Hide the
Vertical layer.

Apply the motion blur filter to the Horizontal

layer. Change the angle to 0 degrees and leave
the distance at 30. Click OK.

10. You are now ready to see the result of all

your work. Make sure both layers are visible.
Select which ever layer is on top.

At the top of the layers pallet, you will see the

word “Normal” in a dialog box (Figure 5.6). Figure 5.7
This box allows you to change the Blending
Mode of the layer. Changing the blending mode
of a layer effects the way the selected layer inter-
acts with the layer immediately below it.

Change the blending mode of the top layer to

“Multiply.” The result should look like woven
cloth. Now is a good time to save the file. Be
sure to change the name so you don’t save over
the “map” image saved earlier.
Figure 5.8
11. Flatten the image using either the layer
menu or Layer Pallet. Then convert it to RGB.
To change to RGB choose Image>Mode>RGB
color.

12. Now we are going to add some color to

make it look a little more realistic. Choose
Image>Adjustments>Hue/Saturation (Figure
5.8). Locate the check box labeled Colorize and
check it. We used a Hue of 42, Saturation of 26
and Lightness of +15 but feel free to experiment
and choose the settings you like. Click OK.
 Intro to the Internet 77
and Web Page Design
13. Next we are going to use the map image
we created earlier to displace the pixels and
give them a more random and hand-made look.
Choose Filters>Distort>Displace. In the re-
sulting dialog box make sure Stretch to fit and
Repeat Edge Pixels are selected then click OK.

You are prompted to choose a displacement map.

Navigate to the location you saved the map.psd
image and choose it, then click Open. The map is
applied to the image. The result should be some-
thing similar to Figure 5.9.

Figure 5.9
In practice, as previously stated, background
images are usually either not used or are trans-
parent enough so as to not obscure the content of
the web page. It is more common to use colored
or image backgrounds in a table to emphasize or
make it stand out from the rest of the page

14. Save your finished image in the Save for

Web & Devices menu. Also save it as a PDS Figure 5.10

image to your flash drive. We will use it again in

the next section.

Bars, Buttons, Etc.

In the design of a web page, having navigation

bars, buttons and icons is fairly common. These
graphic items are usually small and are often
saved as GIF images. In this section, we will
make a few of these basic forms.

Navigation Bars

We will start with a simple Navigation bar. Figure 5.11

78 Chapter 5
Backgrounds, Textures & Buttons
From the student work files Chapter 5 open Nav
bar.psd. This is what your finished ball will look
like. Clove the file.

1. In Photoshop, open the cloth PSD image we

made in the last section. This will be the basis of
your bar.

2. Select the crop tool from the tool pallet. In the

control menu at the top of the screen, set the tool
options as follows (Figure 5.10): Width - 100 px, Figure 5.12
Effects Icon
Height - 20 px leave the resolution field blank.

Now drag the crop tool on the image to select

the area you will retain in the cropping process
(Figure 5.11). The crop area is constrained to
the dimensions you specified in the tool options.
Complete the crop by pressing the Enter/Return
key. Now clear the crop options so the tool will
be ready to use for another function by clicking
the Clear button.

3. Next we will give the bar a 3D look by apply-

ing a layer effect. Since the layer is a background
layer, we must first rename it to make it a normal
layer. Background layers will not allow us to ap-
ply layer effects to them.

In the Layer pallet, double click on the back-

ground layer. The New layer menu appears.
Name the layer “Bar” and click OK (Figure Figure 5.13
5.12).

At the bottom of the layer pallet, you see the

effects icon (fx). Click on the icon. From the
drop-down menu, select Bevel and Emboss. The
Layer Style menu appears (Figure 5.13).
 Intro to the Internet 79
and Web Page Design
In the Structure box, change the Style to Emboss.
Leave the other options as they are and click OK.
You can add multiple styles to a layer by check-
ing the boxes in the style area of the menu.

Embossing gives the bar a raised look and will

make a nice effect for the navigation area on our
web page.

4. Now we will add text layers containing the

names we want associated with each bar.

Figure 5.14
Select black as the foreground color by pressing
the “D” key or by double clicking the foreground
color to open the color picker and choosing black
from the menu.

Select the Horizontal Type tool from the tool

pallet. Choose Verdana or Tahoma as the font,
regular as the treatment and 12 points as the size.

Click on the left side of the Bar and type the

word “Home” (Figure 5.14). Adjust the size and
position to achieve a look you like.

Hide the “Home” layer and add additional type Figure 5.15
layers containing the text “Contact,” “About
Me” and “Photos” in the same way. You should
have four text layers.

5 Now save the image as “bars.psd” to your

flash drive. You will be able to open it and make
changes to the image later if necessary.

Hide all the type layers except the “Home” layer

and the “Bar” layer. Select File>Save for Web
80 Chapter 5
Backgrounds, Textures & Buttons
and Devices. Click on one of the Optimized
views and change the image type to GIF (Figure
5.15). Experiment with the Lossy and Color
settings to reduce the image size as much as
possible without sacrificing image quality. We
set Lossy to about 15 and number of Colors to
about 8 which results in an image size of about
1.5K. When you are satisfied, click OK.
Figure 5.16
In the Save Optimized As menu, navigate to the
“public_html” folder on your F: drive or other 1. In the open Photoshop application, create a
appropriate location and name your file “Home_ new image with the height and width both set at
Bar.gif.” Make sure the “Save as Type box” 50 pixels and resolution at 72 ppi.
indicates “Images Only”
2. Rename the background layer by double click-
6. Now that you have saved the Home_Bar, ing on it, accept the default name and click OK.
repeat the process revealing the other type layers Choose Select>Select All or press Ctrl/Com-
one at a time. Give them the names “About_Me_ mand + A and select Backspace or Delete to
Bar,” Contact_Bar” and “Photos_Bar.” as appro- remove the background color.
priate (Figure 5.16).
3. From the Tool Pallet, choose the Elliptical
You should now have four navigation bars saved Marquee tool (hidden under the Rectangular
and ready to use on your web pages. Once placed marquee).
on a web page, each image will be assigned its
own hyper link which will allow the viewer to Holding down the shift key to constrain the se-
navigate the web site. lection to a circle, make a selection that fills the
image area (Figure 5.17).
Buttons
4. Now we need to fill the circle with color.
A button although usually round or square can Choose Edit>Fill or Ctrl/Command +F5.
have any shape you want it to. These objects are
fairly simple to create in Photoshop. For our
example we will create a round button. Open
button.psd from the student work files Chapter 5
folder to see an example of a completed button.
Figure 5.17
 Intro to the Internet 81
and Web Page Design
In the Fill menu’s Use dialog box, choose Color.
The Choose a Color pallet appears. Select a web
safe color that appeals to you and click OK.
Back in the Fill pallet, click OK as well.

If you would like, you can repeat this process

with the Stroke. Choose Edit>Stroke, select a
width and color then click OK. We used black
with a width of two pixels (Figure 5.18). Figure 5.18

5. We are going to make two versions of the but-

ton so we need to duplicate the layer. In the Lay-
ers Pallet, drag the layer to the new layer icon to
duplicate it. Then rename one layer “Button Up”
and the other “Button Down” (Figure 5.19).

6. In the Layers Pallet, Select the Button Up

layer and hide the Button Down layer. Now click
the Layer Effects icon (fx) and choose Bevel and
Emboss from the options.

Change the Structure to Emboss and the Depth

to 300% to make the 3D effect more pronounced. Figure 5.19

Change the Size and Softening to 15. This gives

the button a nice rounded look. Feel free to ex-
periment with the other settings. As a caution, do
not add Drop Shadow, it could cause problems
on the web page depending on how the button
is used. When you are satisfied, Click OK. The
result should look something like Figure 5.20.

7. In the Layers Pallet, hide the Button Up layer. Figure 5.20

Select and show the Button Down layer. Now

click the Layer Effects Icon again and choose
Bevel and Emboss. In the Structure area of the
menu, change the Direction to Down. Leave the
82 Chapter 5
Backgrounds, Textures & Buttons
other settings as they are. Click OK.

8. You now have two versions of the but-

ton. Save the file to your flash drive as a PSD
image to preserve the layers. Now select one
layer and hide the other. Select File>Save for
Web and Devices.

Select one of the Optimized views. In the Preset

box, change the image type to GIF Figure 5.21).
Make sure the Transparency box is checked.
Experiment with reducing the number of colors Figure 5.21
until you start loosing image quality (our exam-
ple was about 32).

Take the Eyedropper tool

(from the left side of the pal-
let), hold down the Shift key
and click around the areas
of the button you want to be
transparent.

Beneath the Color Table

locate the Maps Selected
Colors to Transparent icon
(looks like a small checker
board) and click it one time
(Figure 5.22).

Slick the Save button. Save

the image to your F:\public_ Figure 5.22
html folder or flash drive and
name it button up or button down depending on
which version you are working on.

Return to the image, hide the layer you just

saved for Web and Devices and show the other.
 Intro to the Internet 83
and Web Page Design
Now repeat the Save for Web and Devices opera- In this chapter you have learned about the cre-
tions using the second layer. Name this button ation and use of background images and textures
appropriately. as well as buttons and bars that can be used on a
web page to improve the overall look and func-
You should now have two versions of the but- tionality of the web page.
ton ready to place on a web page. We made two
versions of the button so you could use them in There are many companies that sale these images
a roll-over effect if desired. Roll-over effects commercially in collections and individually.
change an area of a web page when a mouse There are also web sites that allow you to down
pointer is rolled over or clicked on it. load and use images free of charge. If you use
images from the web, be sure you are not violat-
Icons ing copyright laws and that the images are free
for your use.
As discussed in chapter two, the term “icon”
is used generically to mean an icon, symbol or In many cases, creating your own images is a
index. These are usually small images used to better alternative, since you have more control
convey information or facilitate web page navi- over the final look of the images and don’t have
gation. Such images may be used as links to the to worry about copyright violations.
home page, top of the page, bottom of the page,
etc. Or they may just be used for decoration or to
convey a mood or feeling.

Regardless of the use, the images are usually

small (50-100 pixels) and may contain simple
text and/or small illustrations. They can be cre-
ated in either Adobe Illustrator or Photoshop. In
reality, icons are just fancy buttons. The process
of saving these images is the same as for the
other images we have learned in this chapter.

The process of designing an icon will not be

covered since they are similar to the bars and
buttons already discussed.

Conclusion
84 Chapter 5
Backgrounds, Textures & Buttons

Chapter Quiz Application

1. Why are dark or overly patterned background By now you should have a good idea of the types
images on a web page problematic or undesir- of buttons, bars and icons you are going to need
able? Where might they be used successfully? for your web site.

Use the tools of Adobe Photoshop and Illustra-

tor to create the buttons, bars and icons you need
2. Identify the texture effects available in the for use on your web site. Save copies of each in
Photoshop Texturizer filters. the PSD format for future use or manipulation.
Save the finished images using the Save for Web
and Devices menu. Place the prepared images
in your approprate web content folder (F:\pub-
3. Discuss the differences between the Save As lic_html).
and Save for Web and Devices functions of
Photoshop. Under what circumstances would
you use each?

4. What is the difference between a button and

an icon?

5. Why might we save more than one version of

a button or icon?
 Intro to the Internet 85
and Web Page Design

References

Poyssick, G. (2005). Essentials for design: Adobe Photoshop CS2 Level 1. Upper Saddle River, NJ:
Prentice Hall.
86 Chapter 5
Backgrounds, Textures & Buttons

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Chapter 6

Animation with
Photoshop
88 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop
you need to use an image format that will sup-
Introduction
port a number of distinct frames all contained

T
within a single file. The GIF image is the format
he process of animation using Adobe Pho-
of choice for simple animated images because it
toshop is not unlike the process used by
supports multiple frames and file compression
major movie studios in producing a full length
which economizes on bandwidth (the rate of data
animated movie.
transfer measured in bits per second).

Animation is the process of displaying a se-

Photoshop’s Save for Web & Devices function
quence of images of 2-D or 3-D artwork or pho-
allows you to save animated GIF images. Even
tographs in rapid succession to create an illusion
though Photoshop will allow you to save a GIF
of movement (Figure 6.1). Animation in reality
image containing many frames, it is important
is the optical illusion of motion.

Figure 6.1

to remember that if you open an animated GIF

When you see a number of distinct illustrations
image with Photoshop, you will only be able to
displayed in rapid sequence, you interpret it
see the first frame. For this reason, you should
as motion. The effect is mainly due to the way
always save the image as a Photoshop PSD in
your eyes relay information to your brain and
addition to the GIF version. The PSD format re-
how the information is processed (called persis-
tains all the frames you create so you can reopen
tence of vision).
your file in Photoshop and continue to work on
it, but the PSD will not display on a web page.
Research has shown that at display rates slower
than 16 images (frames) per second we still dis-
Animations can also be created in the Adobe
tinguish motion but the motion begins to flicker.
Flash application. Additionally, movie formats
The flicker gets more distracting as the number
such as AVI and MOV can be displayed on a
of frames per second (fps) decreases. In motion
web page but these formats require plug-ins to
pictures, the rate is 24 fps. For analog TV the
be installed in the browser in order for the file
rate is 30 fps. Because of the higher frame rates,
to be displayed, while the GIF format does not.
the motion we perceive from watching movies
Since this is an introductory text, these formats
and TV appears to be real to us.
will not be discussed.

To produce an animated image for a web page,

 Intro to the Internet 89
and Web Page Design
We will learn two ways to create animations in
Photoshop. The first is called frame animation
and the second time line animation.

Frame Animation Figure 6.2

The first step in creating a frame animation using

the Photoshop application is to find or make a
suitable image. For our purposes we will make
our own.

1. Open the Photoshop CS4 application. From

the student Work Files folder, open the Chapt 6
sub-folder. Locate and open the example.psd
document (Figure 6.2). This is an example of
the type of file we will be making. Notice the
layer menu. You see there are only two layers, Figure 6.3
Convert to
the Background layer and the Type layer. The Frames

background layer is hidden so the image will be

transparent for our web page.

If it is not already open, select the Animation

pallet (Window>Show all Menu Items then
choose Animation). The Animation pallet opens.

If the animation pallet does not look like Figure

6.1, locate the Convert to Fame Animation
icon along the bottom left of the animation pallet
and click it to convert to the frames mode (Fig-
ure 6.3). Click Continue on the warning menu if
it appears. Figure 6.4
Play

Now examine the animation’s frames in the

animation pallet. You can see that each frame
contains a variation of the same image. Click
on a few of the frames one at a time. The image
90 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop
in the document window changes accordingly.
When the image is saved in the GIF format, the
frames will be saved as separate images within
the GIF image file. When the image is displayed
on a web page, it is played back according to
Figure 6.5
the conditions we have specified in the creation
process.

At the bottom of the animation pallet, locate and

click on the “Play” button (Figure 6.4) and watch
the animation sequence as it is played.

Close the file without saving.

2. Create a new image (File>New or Ctrl/Com-

mand + N).

In the New image menu, name the file “Pazzaz.”

Figure 6.6
Set the width to 200 px and the height to 200 px.
Set the resolution to 72 ppi. Click OK. Display Time

3. Select a web safe color using the Foreground

Color tool in the Tool pallet. Then select the
Type tool. Choose a fairly bold font (we chose
Black Oak Std). Set the font size to 36 points.
Move Type Layer

Click on the left side of the image window and

type the word “PAZZAZ” in the image window.
If it does not fit, change the font and size until
the text fits nicely (Figure 6.5). Save the image
to your flash drive in the PSD format.

4. Make sure the animation pallet is open and

Figure 6.7
set to the frames view (see step 1). Hide the
background layer and verify that the type layer is
selected.
 Intro to the Internet 91
and Web Page Design
In the animation pallet, you will see only one
frame. Just as every image must have at least
one layer, it must also have one frame. Think of
this first frame as the default view. To make our
animation, we just need to add additional frames
and alter each successive one to be slightly dif-
ferent that the one before and after it.

5. Click the arrow right below the frame window

and change the time delay to 0.1 sec. this sets the
length of time the frame will be visible before
the next frame is shown (Figure 6.6).
Figure 6.8
Looping Duplicate
6. Now you need to move the contents of the
Frame
type layer out of sight (Figure 6.7).

Select the move tool from the tool pallet. Make

sure the type layer is selected. Hold down the
shift key and using the left arrow on your key-
board move the content of the type layer until it
is just out of view. You can move the layer with-
out the using the shift key but holding it down
moves the contents faster.

7. Next you will make a new frame. Initially this

frame will be an exact copy of the original.

Locate the Duplicates Selected Frames icon

in the animation pallet and click it once (Figure Figure 6.9
6.8). This makes a copy of the first frame. Tween

8. With the new frame selected in the animation

pallet, make sure the type layer is still selected
and use the move tool and right arrow on the
keyboard to move the text back into view.
92 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop
You have just made a second frame for your
image. Your animation pallet frames should now
look similar to the example in Figure 6.8.

9. Just to verify that you have completed the task

correctly, click the Play button in the Animation
pallet. If you have set looping to Forever (Fig-
ure 6.8), the text should appear to pop in and out
of the frame. Click the Stop button.

10. The two frames we have made so far are the

first and last of our animation. So we need to
make the frames that are in between them. We
are going to have the computer complete this
Figure 6.10
process for us since the automated process is
much quicker and more efficient than if we were
to do it manually. The process of creating these
in-between frames is referred to as “Tweening.”

Click the Tween icon in the animation pallet

(Figure 6.9).

In the resulting Tween menu, set the parameters

as shown (Figure 6.10) then click OK. The com-
puter generates 10 frames between the first and
last frame. The result should look similar to Fig-
ure 6.11. You should have a total of 12 frames. Figure 6.11

11. Select the last frame. Referring to Figure 6.6,

change the display time of the last frame to 1.0
second. Now click Play to view the animation.
The text should appear to slide into the image
from the left, pause for one second then repeat.

If you only want the action to happen once (or

some other fixed number of times), refer to Fig-
 Intro to the Internet 93
and Web Page Design
ure 6.8 and change the looping to a number that
you want.

12. See if you can figure out how to make the

text move out of the image toward the right us-
ing the techniques you have learned so far.

Here is a hint: Duplicate the last frame, move the

text in that frame so it is out of sight toward the
right side. Change the delay time of the last two
frames back to 0.1 seconds. Tween between the
last frame and the previous frame using the same
settings as we used for the first tweening opera-
tion.

13. With the animation finished, it is time to

save it. First save the file in its Photoshop PSD Figure 6.12
format using the File>Save function. Next select
File>Save for Web & Devices.

In the Save for Web & Devices menu, select one

of the optimized views. In the Preset box (Fig-
ure 6.12) make sure GIF is set as the document
type. You can also reduce the number of colors
which will greatly reduce the size of the file. We
chose two colors. Since we used a web safe color
for the text, it is safe to select only two colors
for this file. If your text disappears with a lower
number of colors, increase the number of colors
until the text reappears. The actual file size will
be fairly small (about 6K for our example).

Remember the GIF file will contain all the Figure 6.13
frames of your animation so 6K is not too bad
for a file size. Your file size may be larger if you
added additional frames to move the text back
94 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop
out of the image. Or if you chose more colors in
the optimization process.

14. Click the Save button. In the Save Opti-

mized As menu (Figure 6.13), Select the destina-
tion you want to save the file in (F:\public_html
or flash drive). Make sure the file name is the
one you want to use. If not, change it.

In the Save as Type box, make sure “Images

Only” is showing. Then click save.

Figure 6.14
15. Now it is time to check the finished file to
see if the animation works like you expected.

Navigate to the location you saved the file. When

you have found it, double click it. The file should
open and you should see the animation play. If
not, try opening it with a browser (for a Win- Layer Opacity
dows computer, right click, choose Open With
and the select a browser from the list). The im-
age is now ready to be placed on a web page.

Additional
Example

The previous example animated text movement

by changing the position of the type in each suc-
cessive frame. You could have done the same Figure 6.15
thing manually by duplicating each successive
frame and moving the type in the new frame
slightly. If you wanted, you could also shift the
vertical position of the type to make it appear to
be coming from the top or bottom rather than the
side.
 Intro to the Internet 95
and Web Page Design
We will next explore an additional method of
animation briefly: Fading in and out. The im-
age you use for animation can be anything you
choose. We only used type in the first example
for convenience.

1. For the fading example, open Fade.psd (Fig-

ure 6.14) from your Student Work Files>Chapter
6 folder. The background has already been
removed for you.

Figure 6.16
2. Make sure your animation pallet is open.

3. Initially you see only one frame. We will du-

plicate that frame in the same way we did for the
first exercise (Figure 6.8). Locate the Duplicates
Selected Frames icon and click it one time.
Now you have two identical frames.

4. Set the display time of each frame to 0.1 sec-

onds (Figure 6.6).

5. Change the looping (Figure 6.8) to Once.

6. Select the first frame in the animation pallet

by clicking on it.

7. Locate the Layers pallet and change the

Opacity of the first frame to 0% (Figure 6.15). Figure 6.17

Do not be alarmed if the opacity of the second

frame also changes to zero. Since the second
frame is a duplicate of the first, any changes to
the first frame will initially affect the second.

8. Select the second frame in the animation pal-

let. Then in the Layers pallet, change the layer
96 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop
opacity back to 100%. Your frames should now
look like Figure 6.16.

Figure 6.18
9. Now we will use the Tween function to
generate the additional frames necessary for our Timeline Animation
animation.
Next we will learn how to make an animation us-
Click the tween icon in the animation pallet (Fig- ing the Timeline animation functions in Photo-
ure 6.9). Set the parameters as shown in Figure shop CS4.
6.17. Then click OK.
Look at Figure 6.18. This is the Photoshop time
10. The computer generates 10 additional frames line animation pallet.
between the first and last frame.
1. Open Photoshop. If you do not have the
11. Click the Play icon in the animation pallet. Animation pallet open, open it from the
You should see the flower fade in without mov- Window menu. Window>Show All menu
ing. Items>Animation.

It is possible to have the image both fade in and

move by setting the appropriate actions in each
individual frame.

12. To make the image fade out, duplicate the

last frame, set its opacity in the Layers pallet to Figure 6.19
Converts to timeline
0% and tween between the last frame and the animation button
previous frame using the same settings as in Step
9 above. Then set the display time of frame 12 2. If the animation pallet does not look like the
to about 2 seconds. Now click on Frame 1 and example shown in Figure 6.18 locate the Con-
then click the Play button. The flower fades in, verts to Timeline Animation button at the lower
pauses, and then fades out. left of the animation pallet and click it (Figure
6.19).
13. Save the image as a PSD. Then save as a GIF
using the Save for Web & Devices menu in the You are now ready to begin a timeline anima-
appropriate location. tion..

3. The first step is to make a new image. Select

 Intro to the Internet 97
and Web Page Design
File>New or use the keyboard shortcut. Make
the image size 200 pixels by 100 pixels, 72 ppi
resolution, RGB color. Name it “Float” Click
OK.

Figure 6.20
4. Pick a color you like from the Tools pallet.
Select a font and size you like (we chose a deep
red, Showcard Gothic font, 24 pt.). Select the
type tool and click in the image area. Type the
word “Float” and position it near the upper right
corner (Figure 6.20). Hide the background layer
and make sure the type layer is selected.

Time
5. Now look at the animation (time line) pallet Time Code Ruler Timeline
(Figure 6.21). Along the bottom, you see the
familiar play buttons but the rest of the pallet is
different than the frame animation pallet.

The bold black numbers are the Time Code.

Figure 6.21
The time code shows the current time position Image Layer Zoom
as indicated by the Time Ruler or Current
Time Indicator (CTI). The time ruler is the blue
diamond shape with the red line descending from
it on the time line. The time code shows hours,
minutes, seconds and frames. The frame rate is
30 fps (similar to TV). Locate the time ruler and
drag it toward the right. Watch the result in the
time code. Now return it to the starting (zero)
position at the left.

The Zoom controls allow you to expand or con-

tract the time line for easier viewing. The larger
icon on the right allows you to zoom in. The Figure 6.22
smaller one on the left zooms out each time you
click. The slider allows you to manually adjust
the amount of zoom.
98 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop
The animation pallet also shows you the layers in
your image. The currently selected layer is high-
lighted. Since our image has only a background Twirl-Down

and type layer, we only see the type layer in the

animation pallet. Just for fun, add a new layer to
your image (Figure 6.22) using the layers pallet
and watch what happens in the animation pallet. Figure 6.23

Then alternately select and deselect the two lay-

ers and you can see the effect both in the image
layers pallet and the animation pallet. When you
are finished experimenting, delete the new layer
by dragging it to the trash in the layers pallet.

6. We animate an image layer by first defining

Key Frames for each layer. A key frame is the
master or beginning frame for our animation and
can also be used to define major steps along the
way. We create the first key frame in the appro-
priate location. Then we move the time ruler to a
new location and change the layer in some way Figure 6.24
at that location the computer generates a new
key frame and calculates all the actions needed
to change the state of the image from the first
key frame to the next key frame. This actually
sounds more complicated than it is.
Key Frame marker

We have already located the text in the position

we want it to be as the animation begins. So now
we just need to set the first key frame for this
position.

On the left side of the layer, you see a small

arrowhead looking icon. This is called a Twirl-
Down in Photoshop (Figure 6.23). When you
click on the twirl-down the menu expands (Fig-
Figure 6.25
ure 6.24) to show us the animation properties of
 Intro to the Internet 99
and Web Page Design

the layer. In the expanded menu, you are able

to choose the way the image is changed in the
animation. In our case, we are going to change it
by position. New Key Frame

Look at the Position property. On the left side,

you see a little Stopwatch. When the spotwatch
is not depressed there is no animation for that
property. When it stopwatch is depressed, the
property can be animated.
Figure 6.26

Make sure the time ruler is at the starting posi-

tion (zero). Click on the stopwatch next to the
Position property. You are telling Photoshop
that you want this property to change over time
(Figure 6.25).

When you click the stopwatch, the computer

generates a key frame in the location of the time
ruler. This tells Photoshop where the animation
is to start and the state of the image at that loca- Figure 6.27
tion.

7. Now, drag the time ruler along the time line

until you reach approximately the three second
mark (Figure 6.26).

8. Using the move tool from the tool pallet,

move the text in the image down toward the bot-
tom and to the right so it resembles Figure 6. 27.

When you do this, Photoshop automatically adds

a new key frame to the time line as shown in
Figure 6.26.

9. Next drag the time ruler back to the starting

100 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop
position and press the Play button. You should the preset is set to GIF. You will probably
see the text start at the top and move down and need at least four colors but experiment if you
to the right. Click the stop button or the anima- want in order to reduce the file size. If the text
tion will continue to play. disappears,you have selected too few colors for
the text to be seen.
10. Now drag the time ruler to the 5 second posi-
tion. Then using the move tool, position the text When you are satisfied, click Save and then give
in the upper right corner of the image. A new key the file a name and save it to the appropriate
frame is generated. Move the time ruler back to place.
the beginning and pay again to see the effect if
you wish. Once back in the main Photoshop window, save
the image as float.psd to preserve it in case you
11. Next lets fade the text out. Make sure the want to edit it again later. Remember that a GIF
time ruler is at the five second position. opened in Photoshop will only show the first
frame of an animation.
Now locate and click the stopwatch next to the
opacity property of the text layer in the anima-
tion pallet. This creates a new opacity key frame
at the location of the time ruler.

Figure 6.28
12. Move the time ruler to the seven second
mark. In the layer menu, change the type layer’s Add a Layer
opacity to 0%. Photoshop creates a new key
frame. Just for fun, lets add a layer and animate it as
well.
Move the time ruler back to zero and click the
play button. You can now relax and watch your
animation. Be sure to click the stop button when
the animation is finished.

13. Lets save it now so we can use it on our web

page. Move the time ruler back to zero so we can
see the text. Select File>Save for Web & De-
vices.

Figure 6.29
Select one of the optimized views. Make sure
 Intro to the Internet 101
and Web Page Design
1. In the float.psd image, click the twirl-down 8. Drag the time ruler to the seven second mark.
icon on the float layer in the animation pallet. Change the layer opacity to 0%.
This hides or collapses the animation options for
the layer. 9. Move the time ruler back to zero and click the
play button. You should see both words moving
2. Move the time ruler back to zero if it is not then fading out.
there already. Using the Type tool, add some
text to the image. In this case we added the word 10. Save the image.
“UP” (Figure 6.28).
Now lets suppose you decided that you put a key
3. Now, look at the animation pallet. You should frame in the wrong place. You can either delete
see the new text layer (Figure 6.29). it or move it. To move a key frame simply point
to it with your mouse, hold down the left button
Click the twirl-down for the new layer. and drag it to the correct position.

3. You will follow the same procedure with this To delete a key frame, simply point to it, click
layer as you did with the first type layer. the right mouse button and choose “Delete Key
Frames” from the drop down.
Make sure the time ruler is still in the zero posi-
tion. Click the stopwatch for the Position prop- You can also delete all the key frames from a
erty on the new type layer. A new key frame is property by clicking again on the stopwatch next
added. to that property (Position, Style, Opacity).

4. Move the time ruler to the three second mark. You could have the content of a layer hidden un-
til a certain point on the time line if you choose.
5. Use the move tool from the tool pallet to move Then at that point, show the layer, add a key
the “UP” type layer to the top and right of the frame and animate the layer. Alternatively, you
image. A new key frame is added. could have the layer visible until a certain point
then hide it and continue with the animation.
6. Move the time ruler to five seconds. Then use
the move tool to relocate the “UP” type layer You can also work with the layers in the frame
down to the lower right corner. animation mode in much the same way.

7. Click the stopwatch for the opacity property of

the layer. A new key frame is added.
102 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop

Conclusion

We have seen how Photoshop can be used to cre-

ate simple animated images. Now it is up to you
to explore the possibilities further.

Animations should be used on a web page to

create interest or convey a message. The anima-
tion should not be used as an end uto itself - to
draw attention to itself so the viewer thinks “Oh
what a clever animated image. I wonder why it is
there?”

Animations should be used sparingly or they will

defeat their purpose.

In the next chapter, you will be introduced to

HTML, the computer language of the web.
 Intro to the Internet 103
and Web Page Design

Chapter Quiz Application

1. What is animation? Use the tools of Adobe Photoshop to create sev-

eral different animated images of your own.

See if you can cause the image to both move

2. What is meant by frame rate? and fade at the same time in the frame animation
mode.

Can you figure out how you would do the fol-

3. What is bandwidth? lowing:
a. Make a sunburst flash out on the screen.
b. Make a wheel appear to rotate.

4. Why is the GIF format used for saving ani- c. Make a bird fly from one tree to another.
mated images? d. Have your name appear on the screen one
letter at a time.
e. Show someone eating something and have
the food gradually disappear.
5. What is meant by Tweening?

6. Why would you want to save your animated

image in both PSD and GIF formats?

7. What is the difference between frame and

timeline animation?
104 Chapter 6
Animation with Photoshop

References

Abode Photoshop CS3: Classroom in a book. Adobe Press 2007.

Oxford American Dictionary (1986). New York: Avalon Books

Wikipedia Definitions. Retrieved on November 18, 2008, from http://en.wikipedia.org

Chapter 7

HTML, XHTML &

Style Sheets
106 Chapter 7
HTML

Introduction (XHTML) is the computer language of the web.

You may be wondering why you need to learn

N ow that all the preliminary items have been HTML and XHTML in the first place.
covered, it is time to begin the implemen-
tation of a web page using HTML, XHTML and Knowing them will enhance your productivity as
Style Sheets. a web developer. It will be easier to track down
a problem in a web design if you know how the
We will assume that you are publishing your page is delivered to and displayed by the brows-
web content using the SUU Student Web Server er. Knowing a little “code” means you can work
and as such, the process is as simple as placing with a variety of applications rather than having
it all into the “public_html” folder of the student to stick with just one. And knowing the code
F:\ drive. Placing web content in this folder, as gives you greater control of the end result.
you will remember from chapter three, makes
it available to the student web server and thus The coding process is fairly easy to learn. It just
the web. If you have not previously created the takes patience and practice. Think of using a
public_html folder, you need to do so now, refer calculator to solve a math problem. Everything
to chapter three for instructions. works fine and we get great results. But some-
times we don’t have or don’t want to use the cal-
If you are designing your web content away culator. The problem can still be solved by going
from SUU, you can still do so by simply creat- back to the basics and doing the work by hand if
ing a temporary file on your flash drive or other we truly understand the math. The same is true
appropriate place and placing your web content for a web designer: We need to know the basics
in it. Then when you are ready, you can copy the (HTML & XHTML) because we often have to
folder’s contents to the f:\public_html folder. go back to them to solve a particular problem an
application can not handle.
To publish web content through an ISP, you
would create the content and then transfer it to STRUCTURE
the host server using either an FTP or SFTP ap-
plication. HTML commands are usually referred to as
“tags.” The tags are enclosed between the less-
First Look than (<) and greater-than (>) mathematical
symbols (also referred to as brackets). So a com-
HTML plete tag may look something like the following:
<img src=”photo.jpg” border=”0”>.
Hypertext Markup Language (HTML) and more
recently Extensible Hypertext Markup Language The first bracket is followed by the element
 Intro to the Internet 107
and Web Page Design
which is a browser command, as follows: can launch it by clicking “Start>Run.” Then in
<img src=”pic.gif”>. the Open dialog box type “Notepad” without
the quotes and select OK.
The element may be followed by one or more
attributes like this: 2. Figure 7.1 shows the available menu items in
<img src=”pic,jpg” border=”10”>. the Notepad program. You will note that there
are only five menu options. Of these, we will
Attributes may have a value assigned to them. only use the File and Edit menus. Our purpose is
For example: <img src=”pic.gif” border=”10”>. text entry and editing only. We are not concerned
with choosing fonts, sizes, formats, etc.
Some tags are complete by themselves while
others require a beginning and ending to function
3. From the File menu choose Open. The Open
properly. For example, the anchor tag,
<a href=”page.html>, creates a link to the
“page.html” document. Once we are finished
with those elements, we must end them. A tag’s
function is ended by adding the forward slash
(/) character before the tag’s element: </a> for
example. Note that the element but not the at- Figure 7.1
tributes are placed in the ending tag.
menu in Notepad looks like the Open menu of
In a process called “Nesting” tags can be inserted many other programs. Navigate to the Student
between other tags. For example a division tag Work files and open the “Chapter Seven>Web
(<div>) can contain a series of paragraph tags Example” folder. Do not be surprised if you
(<p>) with their associated text or media. It is don’t see any files listed. Since Notepad is a
important that you are consistent with the use of text editing application, the program is currently
these nested tags. screening out all but “.txt” file types.

When writing or editing HTML code, we typi- 4. Referring to Figure 7.2, locate the “Files of
cally use a text editing program rather than a
word processor. In the Windows operating sys-
tem “Notepad” is the program we usually use.
In the Mac environment, a similar program is
typically available. Figure 7.2 Click Here

1. On the Windows computer, click “Start>All

Type;” dialog box. It currently indicates “Text
Programs>Accessories>Notepad.” If Notepad
Documents (*.txt).” Click on the arrow associ-
is not available from the Accessories menu, you
108 Chapter 7
HTML

Image tags

Figure 7.3

Figure 7.4
 Intro to the Internet 109
and Web Page Design
ated with this dialog box and change the file type Compare what you see in the browser window
to “All Files.” with what you saw in the Notepad window. Re-
ferring to Notepad see if you can figure out how
You should now be able to see all the files in the the browser is interpreting and displaying the
folder. Important: Whenever you are opening HTML commands.
or saving an HTML file, you must first change
the file type to “All Files” or it will not open or When you have finished your investigation, close
save correctly. the browser and Notepad applications.

5. Locate the file named “index.html” and open In the page you just viewed, some of the tags
it. Examine the file closely. At first it resembles have been “deprecated.” Deprecation means the
a collection of jumbled words, symbols and tag is still usable in HTML but there are better
phrases (Figure 7.3). The tags and text you see ways of accomplishing the same task. The tag
are what comprise the HTML code for the web is older and its use in current web programming
page. You see no photos, text formatting or other (XHTML) is not recommended.
structured content that you would expect in a
web page. The HTML text document contains
XHTML
the commands understood by browsers and is
used to construct and display a web page in the
HTML was based on the Standard Generalized
browser window. Images and media content are
Markup Language (SGML). SGML was cre-
not a part of the HTML file (not embedded) but
rather are linked to from it. The HTML code ated with the intent that it be the one and only
includes instructions on where the media are lo- markup language. Everything from hieroglyph-
cated (URLs) and how they should be displayed ics to HTML can be defined using SGML. The
in the browser window. problem then is that SGML is so broad and
all-encompassing that it is difficult if not impos-
6. Now that you have seen the HTML code that sible for the average person to learn or use all its
makes the page work. Lets look at the same file features.
in a browser (Figure 7.4).
Because of the challenges with SGML and
Launch a web browser (Internet Explorer, therefore HTML, the W3C defined the Exten-
Firefox, Safari, etc.). From the “File” menu se- sible Markup Language (XML). XML eliminates
lect “Open” or press “Ctrl/Command + O”. many SGML features that are not applicable to
languages like HTML making them easier to
Navigate to the Student Work Files and select the understand. HTML version 4.01 is not XML
“Chapter Seven>Web Example” folder. Locate compliant so XHMTL was created as a reforma-
the “index.html” file and open it.
tion of HTML.
110 Chapter 7
HTML
XHTML attempts to support all the rules of the document. The rules are enclosed in their
HTML using XHTML standards. own <style> tag and effect all the specified tags
within the document. The contents of the style
If this all sounds confusing, don’t let it worry tag are not HTML or XHTML and therefore do
you. By learning HTML, you are also learning not follow the same rules.
the basics of XHTML. There are some differ-
ences but they are mainly beyond the intent of An external style sheet is the most powerful way
this book. of implementing styles. A single style sheet can
be made that will control the look of your entire
CASCADING STYLE SHEETS web site. The external style sheet can be linked
to each document in which you want a specific
Style sheets are a way to manage the overall look style or number of styles applied.
of a publication. A style sheet controls the back-
ground, text fonts, colors, location of items, etc. In this book, we will only introduce you to basic
style sheets so you can understand them. For a
Initially, HTML did not allow for style sheets; greater understanding, you can refer to the web
focusing on content rather than style. In 1996, or other text book resources. The http://www.
the W3C proposed Cascading Style Sheets (CSS)
csszengarden.com/ web site is a very good ex-
for HTML.
ample of using CSS instead of tables to format a
page.
In simple terms, a web page style is just a rule
that tells the browser how to format and display
the content of a particular tag.
First Web Page

Now that you have some basic idea of what

There are three ways to implement style sheets:
in-line style, document-level styles and exter- HTML/XHTML is, it is time to see if you can
nal style sheets. implement your own web page using HTML/
XHTML and style sheets.
In-line styles just add a “style” attribute to a tag:
<h1 style=”color: #0000ff”> for example makes Before beginning HTML programming, you
the h1 size text blue. In-line styles are the sim- need to copy a few files to your F:\public_html
plest to way to apply “style” to a tag. But you or other web folder. Open your Student Data
must include the style attribute in every individu- Files. Look in the Student Work Files>Chapter
al tag you want the style to apply to. Seven folder. There you will find a sub-folder
called “images.” Open the images folder and
The power of style sheets is more evident copy all the files to your web folder (if you are
when you place a list of rules in the head of not working in an SUU computer lab, you can
 Intro to the Internet 111
and Web Page Design
make a folder to temporarily store your work on
your flash drive and transfer the content to the F:
drive later).

The web page we are making is based on the

informal balance model we learned about in
chapter two. The page will be for a Nature Orga-
nization called “Lake Effects, LLC.”

As you go along, you will save our work and

check it in a browser periodically so you can see Figure 7.5
the result of applying various HTML tags and If you wanted to go a step further, you could
styles to the design. replace the rectangles with rough sketches of the
photos or images that will be placed there but
Please note that as you go along, you will prob- you should get the general idea from the rough
ably want to view your work in both Internet drawing. Remember that these rough sketches
Explorer and Firefox which are the two most are usually hand drawn but you could use a com-
popular browsers. This will give you a feel for puter page layout program like InDesign if you
the differences between browsers and emphasize choose.
the importance of designing for multiple brows-
ers and operating systems. 2. If it is not already open, launch the Notepad
or other text editing program. If necessary, select
1. Start by making a rough drawing of the in- “File>New” to create a new text document.
tended web page. The drawing shows us text and
graphic placement but does not go into a lot of In the document window, type the following
detail. A sample rough drawing for this page is HTML commands:
shown in Figure 7.5.
<!doctype html public “-//W3C//DTD HTML 4.0
The gray rectangles containing blue “Xs” indi- Transitional//EN”>
cate image locations. The first line of text toward <html>
the bottom will become the links used to navi- </html>
gate the web site. The bottom line of text serves
two purposes. First it establishes copyright The first tag identifies the document type and
information and second, it forms a visual “end of specifies the version of HTML the page is de-
page.” signed for. The next tag begins the HTML code
of the web page while the last, indicates the
112 Chapter 7
HTML

Browser Caching & Reloading

When a web server delivers content to

your computer, it is stored in a temporary
location referred to as “cache.” The cache
contains frequently accessed data includ-
ing images, HTML documents and other
web content you have viewed.

Figure 7.6 If you revisit a web page who’s data is

still stored in the cache the browser can
end. The area in between will be used to enter load the cached data rather than having to
download it again from the web server. This
the other tags and web content. Your Notepad saves time and Internet bandwidth.
window should now look like Figure 7.6. Note:
The problem for web developers is that if
the first tag wraps to a new line in the example you make changes to the web page, the
above but you do not need to wrap it in Notepad changes are not visible in the browser
unless the page is downloaded from the
(Figure 7.6) server again.

When you select the “Reload” icon, the

A carriage return (Enter key) has no significance page you are viewing is usually reloaded
in HTML. We place the tags on separate lines for from the cache unless changes to the origi-
nal content are detected. In which case the
clarity and consistency but they are not neces- updated content is downloaded from the
sary for the web page to function properly. server and displayed.

Following a number of these “reload”

3. Next save and name the file. We save our cycles, the cache and browser can get
bogged down and the new content is not
work regularly in case of a computer crash or downloaded or updated automatically.
other problem. We wouldn’t want to loose all our
To work around this problem, with most
work and have to start over should a problem browsers you can force a new download.
arise! Additionally, we want to check our work To do this, Internet Explorer will respond
to a Ctrl + F5 command or Ctrl + Refresh.
with a browser periodically. Firefox and Safari respond to a Shift +
Reload. These cause a new Internet down
load rather than loading the page from the
In Notepad, click “File>Save As.” Navigate to cache.
the web folder (F:\public_html) or other location
you have chosen for your web content. In the
Save As menu (referring to Figure 7.2), change
the “Save as type” dialog box to “All Files.”
If you neglect this step, the HTML file will be
saved as a text file and the browser will not
recognize it.
 Intro to the Internet 113
and Web Page Design
4. In the “File name” box enter the name carefully and try again.
“index.html” then select “Save.”
Minimize the browser but don’t close it. We will
Since this will be the first (and only) page of our be using it often to check our work as we go
web site, we save it using the name: along.
“index.html.” When you request a web page
from a specific URL, the default name of the first 6. Back in Notepad add the following tags
HTML page is often “index.html.” between the <html> and </html> tags already
entered:
Your server administrator can tell you if you
need to use a different name for the first page.

If the server does not find that file and another

valid document is not specified, it will return an
error message to the requesting computer.

5. Now we will use a browser to check your

Figure 7.7
work and see if this simple web page is available
on the web.
<head>
Open a browser and enter the URL. If you are
saving to the F:\public_html folder at SUU, </head>
the URL will be: “http://www.student.suu. <body>
edu/~login name/.” The login name is the user
name you use to log into your student account at </body>
SUU.
Your Notepad window should now look like
If you are not saving to the SUU F: drive, Figure 7. 7. Save the file. Click “File>Save” or
you can still access your file by selecting “CTRL + S.”
“File>Open” (CTRL + 0) in the browser and
navigating to the location of your web content. If you should need to interrupt your work and
come back later, you can reopen the file in Note-
pad. Just remember to change the file type to
If you have followed the previous steps correctly,
“All Files” so you can see it to open it.
when you open the index.html file the browser
should show you a blank white page. If you
The tags we have entered so far are sometimes
should get an error message, check your work
referred to as “skeletal tags” or “foundation tags”
114 Chapter 7
HTML
because they form the skeleton or framework of Now save the file again and reload the browser.
the web page.
This time, the title is added to the title bar at the
The <head> and </head> tags define the so- top of the browser application. The window con-
called “header” of the web page. The header tent is still a blank white screen (Figure 7.8).
generally contains information that is not visible
in the browser window. This information can in- 8. The next tag we will enter is also placed in the
clude comments, metadata, styles and scripting. header. It is called the <meta> tag. Meta tag attri-
butes define name/value pairs that associate the
Between the <body> and </body> tags is the document. We will use the tag to specify “key-
information that forms the visible portion of the words.” When encountered by a search engine
web page.

Now if you would like to, you can reopen your

browser and reload the page. If you do, you will
not see any change because we still have not en-
tered any body content (see sidebar on page 112
for information on reloading and caching).
Figure 7.8
7. Every web page should have a title applied. To
add the title to your web page, insert the follow- on the web, keywords are used to categorize the
ing tags immediately below the <head> tag. document for use in a search engine.

After adding the title tags in your Notepad win- Add the following tag directly below the title
dow, the content should appear as follows (The tag:
title tags are indented only for clarity):

<meta name=”keywords” content=”lakes,

<!doctype html public . . .
environment, nature, fishing, recreation, wa-
<html>
ter”>
<head>
<title>Lakes Effects, LLC</title>
(again ignore the text wrap in the example). Save
</head>
<body> the file. If you want to view it in the browser - go
ahead but you will not see any visible change.
</body>
</html> 9. Next, we add some body content that is vis-
ible.
 Intro to the Internet 115
and Web Page Design
Referring to our rough drawing, you see that the To force a new line in the browser window, We
title logo for the page is a graphic image. The use the Break (<br />) tag. The break tag forces
tag used to insert an image on the page is: <img the content following it onto a new line. The
src=”URL/name”>. If the image is located in <br /> does not show in the browser window but
the same folder as our web page, you only need its effect helps format the page.
to enter the name; otherwise you have to enter
the URL as well. In our case, the image is in the Add a <br /> tag at the end of the image tag line.
same folder as the HTML document so you don’t
need the URL. You add the image tag immedi- </head>
ately below the body tag as shown: <body>
<img src=”lake_logo.gif”><br />
</head> </body>
<body> </html>
<img src=”lake_logo.gif”>
11. Looking at the rough drawing, we see a block
</body> of text to the left of the main image. We are go-
Once again, the tag is indented for clarity only. ing to make that area of text using the <div> tag.
Note that in this case, there is no ending tag. Add these tags and text to the Notepad page fol-
Save the file and open, then reload the browser. lowing the <img src=”lake_logo.gif> as follows:

The Lake Effects logo graphic should now <img src=”lake_logo.gif”><br />
appear at the upper left corner of the browser
window (Figure 7.9). By default, the image is <!-- body text -->
Left aligned. <div class=”bodytext”>
<p>
10. As you remember, there is no carriage return Welcome to the Lake Effects Web site.<br />
Lake Effects is a non-profit organization<br
/>
dedicated to the preservation of natural<br />
waterways and their many uses for<br />
Figure 7.9 recreation and conservation.
</p>
or enter function in HTML. Therefore if you <p>
add additional items, the browser will attempt to Please take a few minutes to browse our<br />
display them on the same line as the logo graphic site and become involved in this rapidly<br />
unless you specify otherwise. growing movement.
116 Chapter 7
HTML
</p> Save the file and reload the browser. Your page
</div> should look like Figure 7.11 in a browser.

</body> 12. Now you need to add a tag to place the large
</html> image (see the rough drawing of the design). The
image tag is the same one used to insert the logo
with the exception of the image name.
Your Notepad page now looks like Figure 7.10

Add the second image tag to your HTML code

The <!-- text --> tag is for making comments to
and add the <br /> tag at the end of the image
ourselves that do not appear in the browser win- tag.
dow. You can place anything in the comment tag.
The HTML in Notepad should now look this:
The <div> and </div>tags create a division or re-
gion in the document. The division in this docu- <p>

Figure 7.10

Please take a few minutes to browse our<br />

ment contains the body text. The “class” attribute site and become involved in this rapidly<br />
creates an association that we will use later in growing movement.
styling the page. </p>
</div>
The <p> and </p> tags format a paragraph.
<img src=”lake.jpg” class=”Lake” bor-
Any text that is placed outside an HTML tag, is der=”0” alt=”Lake Photo”><br /><br />
displayed as text in the browser window.
 Intro to the Internet 117
and Web Page Design
</body>
</html>

The border=”0” attribute of the <img> tag

specifies that there will be no border around the
image. The alt=”Lake Photo” attribute sets the
alternate text for the image. The class attribute
creates a “class name” that we will use in the
style sheet later on.

Save the HTML file and reload the browser. The

web page now includes a photo of a lake directly
below the text (Figure 7.12). It does not look like
the rough drawing yet but it will when we add
the style sheets later.

13. Now you will add the text that will become
the various links used to navigate the rest of the
web site. The “|” character (formally called a

Figure 7.12

vertical bar or pipe) is entered by pressing the

shift and backslash keys (the key directly above
the Enter key).

On a new line directly below the lake image tag,

insert the following tags and text in Notepad:

<div class=”navbar”>
| Water | Fish | Pollution | Volunteering | Con-
tact Us|
</div>

Save the HTML file.

Figure 7.11
118 Chapter 7
HTML

Figure 7.13
Reload the browser and look at the resulting web
13. Before we look at the page in a browser
page. It should be similar to Figure 7.14
again, we are going to add the final line of text.

14. The next task is to form the links that will

Enter the following text below the last </div> tag
facilitate navigation of the web site.
(the “&copy;” causes the copyright symbol to be
displayed):
Hyper links are created with the “Anchor” tags
(<a attributes> and </a>). The text and/or im-
<div class=”footer”>
ages placed between these two tags become the
&copy; 2009 Lake Effects, LLC all rights
visible link on the web page. For this exercise,
reserved
we will using textual links though you could also
</div>
use images.

Save your work. Your Notepad screen should

In the Notepad window, locate the line of text
now look like Figure 7.13.
that says:
 Intro to the Internet 119
and Web Page Design
For example the code:
<a href=”http://www.lake.com/page2.html>

would cause the document “page2.html” to be

retrieved from the “www.lake.com” web site.

Save the HTML file and reload the browser. The

word “Water” should now be blue in color and
underlined indicating that it is a link.

15. Now repeat the process to create a link to the

“Fish” page.

| <a href=”water.html”>Water</a> | <a

Figure 7.14 href=”fish.html”>Fish </a>| Pollution |...

“| Water | Fish | Pollution | Volunteering | Con- As you add tags to the line, it will become quite
tact Us|.” long. If you want to shorten the line for clarity
by breaking it into two lines using the Enter/
Position the curser between the first vertical bar Return key, there is no effect on the HTML since
and the word “Water.” Add the following content the Enter/Return function is not an HTML com-
to the line: mand.

| <a href=”water.html”>Water</a> | Fish | ... Just for practice, add anchor tags to create links
for the rest of the words on the line following
Notice that the word “Water” is nested between the same procedure you have just completed for
the beginning <a> and ending </a> tags. This the “Pollution,” “Volunteering” and “Contact
makes the word into a link. The attribute of the Us” text. You can decide what you want to name
tag specifies that this anchor tag is a hyper-refer- the referenced pages. Save the file and reload the
ence and the web document “water.html” should browser.
be loaded if the link is selected. If the document
referred to in the link is not in the same folder All the words in the navigation bar should now
as the original HTML file, you must also specify be underlined and blue in color.
the complete URL or folder before the document
name. When you are ready to make the next page of the
web site, you can follow the same procedure we
120 Chapter 7
HTML
have just completed, using the appropriate con- erence section of the chapter for an explanation
tent for the new page. When saving the page in of color use in a web page. Our example shows
Notepad, give it the name you used in the anchor two rules combined. Since they both effect the
tag of the first page. For example “fish.html,” body of the document we can put them into one
“water.html,” etc. common rule.

STYLE SHEET In our example the word “body” is called a

“selector” which tells the browser what part
16. Now that we have the content of our page of the document is affected. The words “color”
in place, let’s see if we can use document-level and “background-color” are called “properties”
style sheets to put everything into the correct which specify what aspect of the layout is being
locations. set. The “#ff0000” and “#d8da3d” are the “val-
ues” of the property style.
The formatting information in a style sheet is
called a rule. The style sheet is placed in the Again Save the HTML file and then reload the
document header. In our page, we will place it browser. The page should now look like Figure
right after the <meta> tag. 7.15.

First we will apply a color to the text and back- 17. We will now add some placement rules to
ground. Insert the following tags just below the our style sheet.
<meta> tag in the header:
<meta ...>
<meta ...>
<style>
<style> body {
body { position: relative;
color: #ff0000; color: #ff0000;
background-color: #d8da3d background-color: #d8da3d
} }
</style></head> </style>

The first line begins the style sheet. The second </head>
says that we are adding a style for the <body>
element. The third line (rule) changes the default The position rule specifies that the positioning of
text color to red (#ff0000). The fourth makes the body of the page is relative to the positioning of
background a greenish yellow color. See the ref- the other elements on the page.
 Intro to the Internet 121
and Web Page Design
position: absolute;
width: 19em;
top: 7em;
}
</style>

Since you are styling the <div> tag whose

“class” is bodytext you need only enter the class
name preceded by the period in the style sheet.
You could enter the rule as “div.bodytext” if you
chose but it is not necessary.

Save the HTML file and reload the browser.

There should not be a dramatic change in the
way the page looks since we just established
a location for the text that is very close to it’s
original location .

One em unit in HTML is equal to the width of

the text itself. So 19em is 19 times the width of
the text, etc. We used absolute positioning of the
Figure 7.15
text so as to force it to be at an exact location on
18. Next we add a rule to the first <div> tag - the the screen.
“bodytext” division (here is where the “class”
part of the tag you entered earlier comes into 19. Now we will move the Lake image to its ap-
play) like this: propriate position. Add the following rule to the
style sheet:
<meta ...>
<style>
<style> body {
body { position: relative;
position: relative; color: #ff0000;
color: #ff0000; background-color: #d8da3d
background-color: #d8da3d }
} .bodytext {
.bodytext { position: absolute;
122 Chapter 7
HTML
width: 19em;
top: 7em;
}
.lake {
position: relative;
left: 22em;
}
</style> Figure 7.16

Again, save the file and look at it in the reloaded

padding-left: 20em }
browser. The lake should now be positioned to
img {
the right of the body text (Figure 7.16)..
position: relative;
left: 10em;
By now you should be in the habit of saving and
}
reloading after each change just to make sure
</style>
you are still on the right track so we shouldn’t
need to keep reminding you, it should be auto-
The logo moves into position.
matic.

20. Add the following rules to the style sheet:

20. We are nearly finished. All that remains is to
move the navbar and footer into place and relo-
<<style>
cate the logo.
body {
position: relative
Add the following content to your style sheet:
color: #ff0000;
background-color: #d8da3d }
<style>
.bodytext {
body {
position: absolute;
position: relative
width: 19em;
color: #ff0000;
top: 7em;
background-color: #d8da3d }
}
.bodytext {
.lake {
position: absolute;
position: relative
width: 19em;
left: 22em;
top: 7em;
}
}
img {
.lake {
 Intro to the Internet 123
and Web Page Design
position: relative;
left: 10em:
}
.navbar {
position: relative
left: 8em;
}
.footer {
Figure 7.17
position: relative; BACKGROUND IMAGE
left: 9em;
} If it is not open, launch the Notepad application
</style> then navigate to your web folder and open the
index.html file.
Again save and reload. The web page is now
about complete (Figure 7.17). If you are using In the style sheet, change the body rule as fol-
Firefox to view the page, the positioning may be lows:
a little off. We will fix that later. Just for the fun
of it, try experimenting by changing the posi- <style>
tion values in the style sheet to see the effect in body {
the browser window. Return the values to their color: #ff0000;
original form when you have finished. position: relative;
background-image: url(bg5.jpg);
The complete HTML code is shown in Figure }
7.18. If you have had problems with any of the .bodytext {
steps so far, compare your Notepad HTML code position: absolute;
to Figure 7.18 and make any necessary correc- Save the file and open it in a browser. The back-
tions. ground should have changed from the original
greenish yellow color to the image you specified.
Additions
FONTS
Now that the web page is nearly finished, lets
experiment with the style sheet a little to see the You must be careful when applying fonts to
effect of applying different and additional styles your web pages. If the fonts you specify are not
and try an external style sheet to see how that installed on the computer viewing the web page,
works. you will get unexpected results. For this reason,
we usually will specify a number of acceptable
124 Chapter 7
HTML

Figure 7.18
 Intro to the Internet 125
and Web Page Design
fonts rather than just one. That way if the font You can add a background color to any style
you really want is not available, something else sheet rule. In our example, we will add a back-
that is acceptable can be used. ground color to the body text.

In current web design, we often use a sans serif <style>

font because they usually look better on the body {
newer LCD monitors. background-image: url(bg5.jpg);
color: #ff0000;
Add the following attributes to the body rule of position: relative;
your web page style sheet: font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif;
font-size: 10pt;
<style> .bodytext {
body { position: absolute;
position: relative; width: 19em;
color: #ff0000; top: 7em; position: absolute;
background-image: url(bg5.jpg); background-color: #cccc99;
font-family: Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif; margin: 0.0em 0;
font-size: 10pt; padding: 0.5em; }
} .lake {
.bodytext { position: relative
position: absolute;
width: 19em; This adds a tan color to the body text back-
top: 7em; ground with a .5em padding (space) around the
} text.

With a font and size specified, the text block in LINK COLOR
the browser window is re-sized and looks more
like what we intended. The elements look better We can change the appearance of links by adding
aligned as well. Be aware that when changing a rule like the following somewhere in the style
one rule, it can have an effect on other rules and sheet: The location is not critical.
the overall look of the page can be affected. So
after making a change, you may have to tweek <style>
the other values until you get the look you want. a:link {
color: #00ff00;
ADDING BACKGROUND COLOR TO THE }
BODY TEXT
126 Chapter 7
HTML
This example turns the links on our page green. 3. Next, replace the <style> and </style> tags
with the following <link> element:
External CSS
<link rel=”stylesheet” href=”mystyle.css”>
Now that we can consider our page complete,
lets look at putting our style sheet into a separate Re-save the file using the same name (index.
document. An external style sheet is especially html).
helpful if you want many web pages to share the
same styles. 4. In Notepad, select “File>New” or “CTRL +
N” to create a new file.
1. Make sure your index.html file is saved then
select everything that is inside the <style> ele- 5. In the new file’s window, select “CTRL + V”
ment. Do not copy the <style> or </style> tags, or “File>Paste.” The content you cut from the
just the content between them (Figure 7.19). index.html file is pasted into the Notepad win-
dow
2. Now cut the text using “File>Cut” or “Ctrl +
X” which removes the selected text from the file. 6. Save the new file in the same web folder that
you have been saving your index.html file.

Select File>Save As from the Notepad menu.

Change the Save as type dialog box to “All

Files”

Enter the name: mystyle.css as the file name and

save the file.

7. Now open a browser and from the

“File>Open File” or “CTRL + O” menu, navi-
gate to your web folder and select the “index.
html file.” If you have saved in your F:\pub-
lic_html folder, you can just enter your URL into
the browser’s navigation window and the page
should load.

Should your pages not be displaying correctly,

Figure 7.19
 Intro to the Internet 127
and Web Page Design
you will need to make changes to the style Remember it is alright to get ideas from other
sheets. Try changing the position rules and pad- people’s work but it is generally illegal to copy
ding to see what effect those changes have on content including text, images and other items
your page. The different browsers handle HTML without written permission.
tags differently so the look may not be the same
on every browser. Newer browsers are coming The last part of this chapter is a reference sec-
closer to the same standard but concerns about tion in which some of the more common HTML/
copyright infringement require the developers of XHTML tags along with their attributes will be
the programs to do things a little differently than presented. Some additional information on style
others to avoid legal problems. sheets will also be given. Finally, there will be
a brief discussion of color as it relates to web
If you have saved the style sheet correctly, the pages and how color can be safely and effective-
page will look exactly like it did before. Now ly applied to web content.
you can create additional web pages and link
them to the same external style sheet. Please note that when using style sheets it is very
important to view your finished content on more
It is also possible to have more than one style than one browser and on several different com-
sheet linked to a document, if necessary. You puters to assure that the pages display the way
would do this if you wanted a general over-all you want them to.
style for all your web pages but an additional
special style for only one or two of the pages.

Conclusion
The intent of this chapter has not been to give
you an in depth knowledge of HTML/XHTML
or style sheets but only to introduce you briefly
to them. As you learn more about web design,
spend time looking at the code as the content is
being created and entered so you can gain a bet-
ter understanding of how it all works.

You can also use your browser to look at the

code from other web sites to analyze how the
HTML is implemented in various ways to cre-
ate interesting and informative web content.
128 Chapter 7
HTML

Reference Section
HTML Tag Summary
The following is a brief summary of some of the more common HTML tag and their attributes. Tags
are not case sensitive but lower case is generally used for consistency. For a more detailed list of tags
and attributes refer to an HTML text or online resources.

Anchor tag
<a> ...</a> Designates start and destination of a hyperlink
<a href=”url”> ... </a> Creates a hyperlink using that ever is placed
between the tags
<a href=”#name”>...</a> Links to a target location on the current page
<a href=”url#name”>...</a> Links to a target location on a different page
<a name=”name”>...</a> Sets a target location on a web page
<a href=”mailto:e-mail”>...</a> Creates a link to an e-mail address

Body tag
<body>...</body> Contains the viewable portion of the document

Line Break tag

<br /> Creates a line break (similar to enter or return in a
word processor)

Division tag
<div> ... </div> Defines a division in the document

Text Heading Size tags

<h1> ... </h1> Enclosed text is a heading (size 1-6) 1 is the largest
<h2> ... </h2> 6 is the smallest

<h5> ... </h5>

<h6> ... </h6>

Document Heading tag

<head> ... </head> Defines the beginning and end of the document head

Horizontal Rule tag

<hr /> Creates a horizontal rule (line)
 Intro to the Internet 129
and Web Page Design
Image tag
<img /> Displays an image in the document at the tag location
<img src=”url” alt=”text”> Adds an image with an alternate text pop up
<img src=”url” alt=”text” height=”pixels”> Sets height of image
<img src=”url” alt=”text” width=”pixels”> Sets width of image

Ordered List tags

<ol> ... </ol> Creates an ordered (numbered or lettered) list

<li> ... </li> Item in the list

Paragraph tag
<p> ... </p> Designates the beginning and end of a paragraph

Unordered List tags

<ul> ... </ul> Creates an unordered (bulleted) list
<li> ... </li> Item in the list

Table Tags (note: some attributes may be depreciated)

<table> ... </table> Creates a table
<table ... border=”pixels” ...> ... </table> Sets cell border size
<table ... cellspacing=”pixels” ...> ... </table> Sets space between cells
<table ... cellpadding=”pixels” ...> ... </table> Sets space between cell border and content
<table ... height=”pixels” or “%”> ... </table> Sets height of table
<table ... width=”pixels” or “%”> ... </table> Sets width of table
<td> ... </td> Defines a table data cell (used between the table tags
<td colspan=”columns”> ... </td> Sets a cell to span columns
<td rowspan=”rows”> ... </td> Sets a cell to span rows
<td nowrap> ... </td> Prevents text lines in a cell from wrapping
<tr> ... </tr> Defines a table row
*Tables are used primarily for numerical and statistical data

Misc. Tags
<blockquote> ... </blockquote> Enclosed text is quoted (left and right indent)
<embed> ... </embed> Embeds an object into the page (multimedia)
<html> ... </html> Placed at the beginning and end of the document
<link> Creates a link to an external document (Style Sheet)
<meta> Provides additional information about the document
<object> ... </object> Places an object (multimedia) on a web page
<script> ... </script> Adds a script such as javascript to the page
<style> ... </style> Contains CSS information
<title> ... </title> Indicates the title usually appears in the top bar of
browser
<!-- text --> A comment not displayed in the browser window

Note: There are many other tags available. Some of them have been discontinued or deprecated. Refer to a
good, current HTML book or the W3C web site (www.w3.org) for a more complete summary and description.
130 Chapter 7
HTML
Web Colors

The following colors are considered web safe. Most browsers will recognize the name of these
sixteen colors as well as their hexadecimal code equivalent. When specifying these colors in a tag or
style sheet, you can use either the actual name of the color (red, green, blue, etc.) or the equivalent
hexadecimal code. Be aware that some browsers will not recognize color names so we usually just
use the code to avoid problems.

Aqua – 00FFFF Gray- 999999 Navy – 009999 Silver – CCCCCC

Black – 000000 Green – 009900 Olive – 999900 Teal – 009999

Blue – 0000FF Lime – 00FF00 Purple – 990099 White – FFFFFF

Fuchsia – FF00FF Maroon – 990000 Red – FF0000 Yellow – FFFF00

Other colors may be specified but they must be specified using hexadecimal code rather than the
color’s name.

The colors displayed in a browser window are in the sRGB color mode meaning the colors are a
standard RGB (Red Green Blue) color scheme. Each of the three colors has a total of 256 levels.
Zero is the minimum (meaning no color) and 255 is the maximum (meaning completely saturated or
un-tinted color). So the total number of possible color combinations is well over 16 million (256 x
256 x 256).

To make the color specification easier for the computer, the levels of color are represented using the
hexadecimal rather than the standard decimal format.

In the decimal format, we have ten possible numbers (0-9) in each place. When a place value is full,
we move to the left with another place. We have place values of units, tens, hundreds, thousands,
etc. In the hexadecimal format, we have sixteen possible numbers in each place. These numbers
are represented by the numbers 0-9 and the letters A-F (representing the numbers 10-15). The place
values are units, sixteen, two-hunderd fifty-six, etc. So the number 255 in decimal is written as “FF”
in hexadecimal.

When specifying colors in hexadecimal we specify the amount of red, then green then blue. So the
 Intro to the Internet 131
and Web Page Design
hexadecimal number “FFFFFF” tells the computer to use the maximum amount (255) of red, green
and blue which yields the color “white.” FF0000 produces red, 00FF00 produces green and 0000FF
produces blue. 000000 would give us black since there is no color in either red, green or blue. Re-
member we are dealing with levels of light so no light in any of the three colors is black.

Different combinations of the hexadecimal code produce all the colors available. Here are some
possible colors with their hexadecimal equivalents that you could try. When placing a hexadecimal
code in an HTML tag or style, we proceed the code with the pound sign (#). An example might look
like this: ”#220033.”

Iceblue – FFFFFF Aquamarine – 66FFCC Bisque – FFFFCC

Brown – 993333 Chartreuse – 66FF00 Chocolate – 996600
Coral – FF6666 Cornsilk – FFFFCC Crimson – CC0033
Darkblue – 009999 Deepskyblue – 00CCFF Dimgray – 666666
Gold – FFCC00 Hotpink – FF66CC Khaki – FFCC99
Lemon – FFFFCC Limegreen – 33CC33 Magenta – FF00FF
Navy – 009999 Orange – FF9900 Orchid – CC66CC
Pink – FFCCC Salmon – FF9966 Seagreen – 339966
Sienna – 996633 Skyblue – 99CCFF Slateblue – 6666CC
Tan – CCCC99 Thistle – CCCCCC Tomato – FF6633
Turquoise – 33FFCC Violet – FF99FF Wheat – FFCCCC
Yellowgreen – 66CC33

Cascading Style Sheets

The current practice in web design is to make extensive use of cascading style sheets (CSS) to apply
various styles and attributes to elements on a web page. There are two ways to create style sheets,
by hand as we have done in this chapter or using a design tool such as Dreamweaver. Even if you
use Dreamweaver or a similar application to make the style sheets for you, you may want or need to
tweek them by hand so it is a good idea to learn a little about them.

Style sheets are rules that describe the stylistic attributes of one or more elements on a web page. A
simple CSS rule may look like this:

h3 { color: #0000ff }
132 Chapter 7
HTML
This rule would set the color of all level three headings in our web page to the color blue. The rule
has two basic parts the “selector” and the “declaration.” The selector is the part before the left curly
brace and the declaration is the part inside the braces.
h3 { color: #0000ff }

Selector Declaration

The selector specifies what element is affected by the declaration. The declaration specifies what the
effect will be. In this example only the h3 formatted text itself will be turned blue. There are other
properties that could affect the background color, borders, etc.

The above selector is based on what type of element is selected (h3 in the example) so it is referred
to as a “type selector.” Any HTML element can be used as a type selector.

h3 { color: #0000ff }

Property Value

The declaration has two parts, the “property” and the “value” as shown above. The property is the
quality or characteristic that something possesses. The Value is a precise specification of the prop-
erty.

In a rule, the curly braces ({ }) and colon ( : ) make it possible for the browser to distinguish between
the selector, property and value.

When CSS was created, brevity was the goal. The intent was to make it easy to write and edit style
sheets by hand and to make them load faster. So there are several ways to shorten the CSS including
grouping of selectors. For example, the following rules:

H1 { font-weight: bold }
H2 { font-weight: bold }
H3 { font-weight: bold }

All have the same declaration; they all set the font to be bold. Since they are all identical, they can be
grouped into a comma-separated list and we only have to write the declaration once:

H1, H2, H3, { font-style: bold }

 Intro to the Internet 133
and Web Page Design
Additionally, a selector may have more than one declaration such as the following example:

h1 { color: green }
h1 { text-align: center }

In this case all h1 text is set to be green and centered. But we can accomplish the same thing by
combining the selector and grouping the declarations like this:

h1 {
color: green;
text-align: center;
}

All declarations must be contained within the curly braces and are separated by a semicolon. It is
also suggested that each declaration be placed on its own line for clarity as in the example above.

For a style sheet to affect an HTML document, the two must be “glued” together or combined in
such a way as to be able to work together to present the document in the way we intended. There are
several ways of gluing but for brevity, only two will be discussed. The first is to apply a document-
wide style sheet such as was done in the example presented in the chapter. This is accomplished by
placing the rules between the <style< and </style> tags in the document header. The second is to
create an external style sheet and link to it using the <link> tag as we also did in the chapter.

CSS was designed so that even if a browser does not understand style sheet, the content is still vis-
ible although not formatted as we intended. If you are concerned that a browser is not CSS compat-
ible, you can still design with the style sheet and place the rules for the style sheet inside a comment
tag <!-- rules -->. That way older browsers ignore the content of the <style> tags and do not display
the rules in the browser window.

This basic discussion should help you to understand style sheets. It is not intended as an all-encom-
passing tutorial on the topic. If you need additional help on the subject there are many good books
and online tutorials on the subject. Here are just a few:

http://www. w3.org/Style/Examples/011/firstcss,
http://www.w3schools.com/
http://htmlhelp.com/
134 Chapter 7
HTML
Here is a list of a few style sheet rules:

{ color: value } - refer to the section on color

{ background: url(file name) } - the URL may be just the name of the file or it may be a
complete URL including the domain name
{ background-color: value } - refer to the section on color
{ font: 36pt serif } - specify font sizes in points or relative to other sizes
{ font: family: values } - specific font names, place in quotes if name is more than
one word
{ font-size: 36pt } - size in points
{ font-style: value } - bold, italic, etc.
{margin-top: 1em } - size in em units
{ margin-right: value } - size in em units
{ margin-bottom: value } - size in em units
{ margin-left: value } - size in em units
{ padding: value } - space around an object - amount in em units
{position: value} - position can be absolute, relative or fixed (see chapter exam-
ples) used with position locators (left: 20em, etc.)
{ text-decoration: underline } - or other treatment
{ text-indent: value } - in em units

Specific to Links

a:link { ... } - sets attributes for links

a:visited { ... } - sets attributes for visited links
a:hover { ... } - sets attributes for hovered links

There are many more rules - too many to include here. If you wish additional help and suggestions,
please refer to the web references noted previously or to texts specifically written to handle CSS is-
sues.
 Intro to the Internet 135
and Web Page Design

Chapter Quiz Application

1. What is HTML?
1. Try to apply your knowledge of HTML by de-
signing a few different web pages of your own.
2. What is a tag? Implement them using only HTML code you
write yourself.

3. In what form are the tags written?

2. Visit a variety of web sites. Using the brows-
er’s “View>Page Source” or equivalent menu,
look at the listing of HTML codes. See if you
4. What program is normally used to create HTML can figure out how the code was implemented to
documents?
create the pages.

5. What is a style sheet?

3. Do an online search for “HTML Code.”
Visit several of the web sites you found in your
search. Use the materials presented to increase
6. How are style sheets used? your knowledge of HTML programming.

4. Do an online search for Style Sheets or CSS.

7. What is meant by browser caching?
Continue to develop you knowledge of them.

8. Why is the first page of a web site usually

named “index.html?”

9. What is a link?

10. What is hexadecimal code and why is it used?

136 Chapter 7
HTML

References

CSS tutorial starting with HTML + CSS (2009). Retrieved on January 29, 2009, from http://www.
w3c.org/Style/Examples/011/firstcss.

Dekker, F. & St. John, D. (2003). Basic HTML tag guide. Retrieved on January 12, 2009, from
http://articles.techrepublic.com.com/5100-22_11-5074630.html

HTML Tags cheat sheet. Downloaded on January 9, 2009, from http://www.killersites.com/HTML_

CODES/index.jsp.

HTML Tags/Codes/Web page design. Downloaded on January 9, 2009, from http://www.web-source.

net/html_codes_chart.htm

Lee, J. (2007) A quick reference guide of HTML tags and their attributes. Retrieved on January 12,
2009, from http://i.t.com.com/i/tr/downloads/home/jlee_TR_builder_html_tag_ref.pdf

Lie, H.W. & Bos, B. (1999). Cascading style sheets, designing for the web (2nd ed.). Upper Saddle
River, NJ: Addison Wesley

Musciano, C. & Kennedy, B. (2000). HTML & XHTML: The definitive guide (4th ed.). Sebastopol,
CA: O’Reilly & Associates

Niederst, J. (2000). HTML pocket reference. Sebastopol, CA: O’Reilly & Associates

Patton, Tony (2008). Can you be a self-respecting web developer without knowing HTML? Re-
treived on September 23, 2008, from http://blogs.techrepublic.com.com/programming-and-
development.
Chapter 8

Web Design With

Photoshop
138 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop

Introduction Slicing

T here are several commercial and some

freeware applications that may be used to
create web documents. Among these applications
As you have already learned, every Photoshop
image must have at least one layer. In a like
manner, every image also has at least one slice.
we find Adobe Photoshop, which can be used not However, as you will see, one slice is rather use-
only to prepare images for the web, but can also less as far as web design is concerned. Slices can
be used to create web content and pages. be thought of as pieces of the whole image - just
as a jigsaw puzzle has its own number of pieces.
You should note that although web content can If one of the pieces is missing, the puzzle (or
be created entirely from within Photoshop, in web content in this case) is not complete.
practice, it is not done as often as it once was.
Web content generated by Photoshop makes Image slices must be rectangular in shape. When
extensive use of tables which in current practice you define a rectangular area in an image as a
are being replaced to a great extent with style slice, Photoshop writes the HTML code neces-
sheets (see chapter seven). The topic is presented sary to contain the image data and align the slice
here to give you additional tools in your web with its counterparts.
design arsenal.
After the slices are created, you can turn them
In this chapter you will lean how to use Photo- into buttons or hot areas and have them assigned
shop and a companion program, Adobe Bridge as as links to other web content. They can be used
web design tools. To begin, we will discuss the to cut a large, high resolution image into smaller
concept of slicing and from there, learn to use segments. The sliced image is then reassembled
Photoshop’s slicing and layers features to create in the browser window to be displayed. Although
links and fully functional web pages. Finally, we slicing an image, contrary to popular belief,
will use the Adobe Bridge to create a web based
photo gallery. Auto Slice

It is assumed that you already have a good Auto Slice

general knowledge of Photoshop. If you need User Slice

a refresher on layers, text and other Photoshop

topics, please take the time to do that before
proceeding with this chapter.

Auto Slice

Figure 8.1
 Intro to the Internet 139
and Web Page Design
does not reduce download time. Slices can also
be used as a security feature to help prevent theft
of your copyrighted images since they are cut
into pieces rather than being downloaded as a
whole.

There are five types of slices but we will worry

about only two, those you make (User Slices)
and those the computer makes (Auto Slices) to
complete the slicing of the image. Figure 8.1 is
Figure 8.2
an example of an image containing both user and
auto slices.

Auto slices are identified by the gray icon in the

upper left corner while user slices have a blue
icon.

When you create a user slice,the computer auto-

matically creates the other (auto) slices necessary
to cover the rest of the image area. All areas of
the image must be contained in either a user slice
or an auto slice. Figure 8.3

Now you will practice creating slices yourself. 3. Make sure Slices are visible. From the View
Menu select “Show>Slices.” You should now
1. In the Student Work Files folder, Chapter 8, see a small gray icon in the upper left corner of
locate and open the file “autumn.psd” in Photo- the image.
shop (Figure 8.2).
Photoshop automatically numbers the slices to
2. Select the Slice tool from the toolbox. In Pho- keep track of them. The first slice is an auto slice
toshop CS4, The Slice tool is hidden under the generated by the computer. The icon indicates
Crop tool. To access it, position the curser over the slice number and content (image content in
the Crop tool and hold the mouse button until the this case).
drop-down menu appears, then select the slice
tool. In earlier versions, the Crop tool is located 4. Make sure you still have the slice tool select-
by itself in the Toolbox. ed. Locate the orange colored tree in the center
140 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop
of the photo. Position the curser above and to the
left of the tree. Hold down the mouse button and
drag diagonally down and to the right until you
have enclosed the tree in the slice area. Release
the mouse button (Figure 8.3).

Figure 8.4
The bounding box around the slice has seven
handles, these can be used to adjust the size of tool.
the slice. The gold colored border indicates the
slice is selected. The blue icon indicates a user Position the curser inside the tree slice and click
generated image containing slice. the mouse button once. The slice is selected.

Notice that the computer has generated several Using the Slice Select tool, point to one of the
additional auto slices. They are numbered from adjustment handles along the edge of the slice.
top to bottom, left to right. Hold the mouse button down and drag the slice
border to adjust it. Continue to adjust the slice
5. In addition to creating slices manually, you borders until the visible portion of the tree is just
can create them from a layer. contained within the slice (other parts of the im-
age will be visible in the slice as well).
In the Layer Pallet, make sure Layer 1 is selected
(the layer containing the text). 7. Now that we have the image sliced, we need
to save it. The actual slices of the image are not
From the Layer menu, select “New Layer Based generated until you save it for the web.
Slice.” Photoshop generates the slice and adds
additional auto slices to your image (Figure 8.4). First save the image to your flash drive as a Pho-
toshop PDS file so you can reopen it and make
Note that the layer-based slice has no adjustment any necessary adjustments at a later time.
handles around the bounding box. Layer based
slices are not adjustable. Also notice the icon for Now choose “Save for Web & Devices” from
the layer based slice is different than the user the File menu.
based slice icon.
Notice that the Save for Web & Devices menu
6. Now lets make some adjustments to the slice also has a Slice Select tool (located along the up-
around the tree. In the Toolbox, hold the mouse per left side of the screen). Choose this tool then
button down on the slice tool. When the drop look at one of the optimized views.
down options appear, choose the “Slice Select”
 Intro to the Internet 141
and Web Page Design

Figure 8.5

Using the Slice Select tool click on one of the

slices. Remember that slicing cuts the image up
into pieces. Each slice can be optimized sepa-
rately. For this example, we chose to use JPEG
optimization for all the slices. Select each slice
and make sure the optimization is set to JPEG.

Once the slices are all optimized, click the Save Figure 8.6
button. Then in the save dialog box (Figure
8.5) navigate to the location you want the slices
saved (your flash drive or other appropriate loca-
tion). Then assign a name. Make sure “Images
Only (jpg)” is selected in the Save as Type box.
Leave the other setting as they are and select
save.
Figure 8.7

The image slices are saved to the location you

specified and are in a folder called “images” that
Photoshop generates to hold them.

8. Minimize the Photoshop application. Now us-

ing “Windows Explorer” or “My Computer,”
navigate to the location of the “images” folder
and look inside (Figure 8.6).

There you see a series of JPEG images numbered

consecutively. Open a few of the images and you
will see that they are just pieces (slices) of the
original photo.
Figure 8.8
142 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop
9. Without some way of reassembling the slices, code starting at the beginning of the first <table>
they are not very useful. So we are going to go tag and ending at the last </table> tag then paste
back into Photoshop’s “Save for Web & De- that code into the code of another web page in
vices” menu and change the way the slices are the location you want the image to be displayed.
saved. Close the view window.

Maximize Photoshop again then select In the browser’s main window, point to a part of
File>Save for Web & Devices. You should not the image and click the right mouse button. From
need to optimize again because Photoshop re- the menu that appears, select “View Image” or
members the original settings you chose. Select equivalent. The browser opens a new page and
“Save.” displays the slice you were pointing to.

Referring to Figure 8.7, this time change the If you slice an image in to fairly small parts, it
“Save as Type” to “HTML and images.” Leave is difficult for someone viewing it to copy the
the other settings as they are and select save. entire image, thus protecting your copyright. In
addition the slices - being small sections of the
When prompted to “Replace Files,” choose “Re- original image - will download over the web
place.” much more quickly enabling you to save band-
width.
10. Minimize or close Photoshop. Then navigate
to the location you saved your files. You should When you have finished exploring the file, close
see the original images folder and find a file the browser.
named “autumn.html.” Double click the file.
Photoshop Web Site
The default browser will open and you will see
the reassembled image in the browser window. As you have seen, Photoshop can be used to
create web content by making slices and writing
11. In the browser’s “View” menu, select “Page the HTML code necessary to display it in a web
Source” or equivalent (Figure 8.8) to look at the page.
HTML code Photoshop wrote to reconstruct the
image. You can see that the web page consists of The next logical step is to use Photoshop to cre-
a table containing all the image slices that you ate a fully functioning web site including links.
just made. To do this, we will be use a Photoshop file that
has already been prepared for you. You will cre-
If you wanted to use the sliced image in a dif- ate the slices necessary and learn how to name
ferent web page, you could just copy the HTML them and create links in the slice areas.
 Intro to the Internet 143
and Web Page Design
Photoshop is a very good tool for making an
image into a complete web page but as you will
see, there are some limitations as to what you
can do with it.

1. In the Student Work Files, locate the file

named “Photoshop Web Example.psd” in the
Chapter 8 folder. Open the file in Photoshop
(Figure 8.9). You may see a message indicating
Figure 8.9 “some of the layers may need to be updated for
vector based output.” If so, select “yes.”

2. Spend a little time looking over the image, pay

special attention the Layers palette (Figure 8.10).

Notice the layer group named “Buttons.” Click

on the twirl-down arrow to the right of the vis-
ibility icon. The layer group expands to reveal
four text layer subgroups. Each of these sub-
groups contains one of the navigation buttons
you see at the upper right of the image.

The hidden text layers allow you to have several

different versions of the image which are re-
vealed as you click on the visibility icons. Using
the four different versions will allow us to make
four different web pages that will all be linked to
each other fairly easily.

Select the “Rocks” layer. The opacity of the

“Rocks” layer is reduced to make that part of the
image more suitable for a background.

The text line toward the bottom of the image that

includes “Home, Info, Events and Contact,” will
Figure 8.10 be made into links to help meet ADA require-
144 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop
ments and make the page more easily navigated
by people with disabilities.

The image is 800 x 600 pixels in size and the

resolution is set to 72 ppi. This will make the
finished web page fit the monitor screen of most Figure 8.11
computers without any problem. On monitors
with higher resolution, the image will occupy
less of the total monitor screen area.

Slicing

3. For this web site, the links on all the pages

will be identical and in the same location so cre-
ating the links for one page will create them for
all the pages since all four pages are just varia-
tions of the same image. We will make the links
by slicing the image and assigning each slice a Figure 8.12
URL and Alt text.

From the toolbox, select the Slice tool. Then us-

ing the tool, create slices around the four naviga-
tion buttons located toward the upper right of the
image (Figure 8.11).

In a similar manner, create slices around the text

toward the bottom center. Make a slice for each
of the words “Home, Info, Events and Con-
tact.” These slices will be a little more difficult
to make because they are fairly small and some
of the auto slices may obscure the words (Figure
8.12). If you make a mistake, select CTRL +
Z, edit>undo or simply delete the slice and try
again.

Once you have succeeded in creating all the Figure 8.13

slices, save the file as a PSD image.
 Intro to the Internet 145
and Web Page Design
Making Links 5. Repeat the process for the Info, Events and
Contacts buttons.
4. Next we are going to select the button slices
one at a time and assign them a URL and Alter- Give the Info button the Name “index_5” or
nate text. what ever number the slice is using. Name the
URL “info.html” and the Alt Tag “Information
In the toolbox, choose the Slice Select tool. Page.”
Position the tool inside the slice containing the
Home button and double click. The Slice Op- Give the Events button the URL “events.html”
tions menu opens (Figure 8.13). and the Alt Tag “Events Page” and Name the
slice “index_7” or other number as appropriate
You will notice that the computer has named the
slice. The default name is the name of the file
Give the Contact button the Name “index_ 9”
followed by the slice number. Because this is a
or other number as appropriate, name the URL
user slice, we need to rename it or there could
“contact.html” and the Alt Tag “Contact Infor-
be problems with the page working properly.
mation.”
Change the name of this slice to “index_3” or
whatever number the computer has assigned to
that slice. Save the file.

In the next box, you will enter the URL of the 6. Repeat the Slice Options procedure for the
web document you want the link to point to. In small slices you created over the text at the bot-
our case, we want this link to return to our first tom of the image using the same URL and Alt
page which we will name “index.html.” There- Tag information you used on the buttons. Name
fore, enter “index.html” (without the quotes) the slices using the same pattern as the buttons
into the URL box. We don’t need to include the above.
domain information because all the pages will be
in the same folder. *Note: You do not need to rename the auto slic-
es. Photoshop will do that for you automatically.
Skip down to the Alt Tag box and enter “Home If you accidently select an auto slice (gray icon),
Page” in it. As you will remember the Alt at- Photoshop promotes it to a user slice (blue icon).
tribute causes a tip to open when someone using
If that happens, then you will need to rename it
Internet Explorer or a page reading application
but do not assign it a URL or Alt Text.
hovers a mouse pointer over the button.

Again Save the file.

Leave the other boxes as they are and click the
OK button.
Creating the First Web Page
146 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop
7. Now we are ready to start saving the image
as the pages of our web site. If you are working
in a student lab at SUU, you can save the pages
in your “F:\public_html” folder. If not, you can
save the pages to your flash drive or other web
folder you have made for the purpose.

Make sure any old web content is deleted from

your web folder so the folder is empty (if you
want to keep the old content, copy it to a flash Figure 8.14

drive).

In the image Layer pallet, look at the four text

layers at the top of the stack. Hide all but the
layer containing the text “For The Best Time...”
(Figure 8.14).

This is the look we want for the first page of our

web site. Save the image in this state because we
will be changing the slice names for the other
pages. Name it something like “First Page.psd.”
This will preserve the state in case you want to
Figure 8.15
come back to it later.

8. Select “File>Save for Web & Devices.”

Choose the Hand tool then click on the first Op-

timized View window. Make select JPEG as the
Optimization type.

With the Quality set at Medium or even Low,

the size of the entire image is less than the 100K
figure we are hoping to achieve for each page.

9. Click the Save button. In the Save menu,

Figure 8.16
navigate to the web folder (“F:\public_html” or
other location you have chosen).
 Intro to the Internet 147
and Web Page Design
In the File Name box enter “index.html” (with-
out the quotes).

Make sure the “Save as Type” box indicates

“HTML and Images (*.html).” Leave the Set-
tings and Slices boxes as they are (Figure 8.15)
and click Save.

Photoshop generates the slices and HTML code

and saves them in the location you chose.
Figure 8.17

Viewing the First Page

10. Using the Windows Explorer or My Com-

puter, navigate to the folder containing the files
and images.

Verify that the file “index.html” is there as well

as the “images” folder containing the image
slices (Figure 8.16).

11. If you have saved to the F:\public_html fold-

er, launch a browser and input your URL “http://
www.student.suu.edu/~username.” If not,
Figure 8.18
simply double click on the index.html file. In the
open browser window, you should see your first
web page displayed (Figure 8.17). If not, recheck
your steps and try again.

12. In the open browser window, point to the

Home button. The curser should change to a
hand indicating that the area is a link. Click the
mouse button. Nothing happens because the link
is pointing to the page you are currently viewing.

Point to another button and click. You get a Figure 8.19

148 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop
“page not found” or similar error because you “HTML and Images (*.html).” Click Save. If
have not yet saved any other pages. you get a Replace Files menu, it means there are
some slices already saved with the same name
Close the browser. as the new ones will have. It is usually fine to re-
place spacer files (spacer.gif, spacer.jpg, etc.). If
Making Additional Pages these are the only files you see, choose replace.
Otherwise choose Cancel, go back to the im-
With the first page successfully completed, we age and rename the slices as necessary. Then try
will now make the other web pages from varia- again. The new page is saved.
tions of the same image.
16. Now repeat the process for the Events Page.
13. Return to the open image in Photoshop. In In the Photoshop layer pallet, hide “Rocks-Are-
us...” layer and show the “Thanksgiving...” layer.
the Layer Pallet, hide the “For The Best...” text
layer and show the “Rocks-Are-Us...” layer
17. Rename the button and text slices
(Figures 8.18 - 8.19).
“events_3,” “events_5,” etc.

14. Open the options menu for each of the but-

18. Save the file as web page 3.psd. Select Save
tons and text links by double clicking the slices
for Web & Devices. Repeat the optimization
with the Slice Select tool and change the names
procedure then select Save.
of the slices to “info_3,” “info_5,” “info_7,” etc.
as appropriate. 19. Name this file “events.html.” Leave the
other settings as for the previous two pages and
Save the file as web page 2.psd or choose an- select Save.
other name that is unique.
20. Finally, in the Layer pallet, hide the “Thanks-
15. Select Save for Web & Devices. Optimize giving...” layer and show the “Pres: Rocky ...”
the image as you did for the first page. When you layer.
are satisfied, select Save.
Select each button and text slice. Rename them
In the Save menu, make sure you are still saving “contact_3,” “contact_5,” etc.
in the web folder. Give the file the name “info.
html.” The name you give the file must be iden- Save the file as “web page 4.psd.” Select Save
tical to the name you used for the URL of the for Web & Devices. After optimizing, save the
Info button in step five earlier. file using the name “contact.html” while leaving
the other parameters unchanged from the previ-
ous pages.
Be sure the Save as Type box still indicates
 Intro to the Internet 149
and Web Page Design
21. Now for the final test, reopen the browser size, as already noted, which can be a disadvan-
and navigate to the URL or file location. tage. Also making links using slices limits you
to rectangular areas which can be hard to work
With the “index.html” page open in the browser, with. Text-based links are not possible nor are
click on the buttons and text links to verify that elliptical or polygonal areas. You also cannot
the other pages will load and display correctly. easily embed multimedia into the page without
If you get some unusual or unexpected content additional editing in Dreamweaver or other web
authoring application. In addition if you need to
it is probably because you didn’t rename a slice
update the page, you have to completely redo it
properly.
rather than just changing a few minor items. For
these reasons and others that may occur to you,
If you are viewing the page on a monitor with
using Photoshop to create complete web pages is
greater than 800 x 600 ppi resolution, the image
becoming less common.
will appear in the upper left corner of the brows-
er window and will be surrounded by white
Image Gallery
space along the right side and the bottom.

For our final task in this chapter, we will use

We could have accomplished the same task by
Adobe Bridge as a tool to automatically gener-
making four separate pages in Photoshop, slic-
ate a web based Photo Gallery.
ing them and saving them in our web folder. This
would have allowed us to change the background
Unlike making web pages with slices, Adobe
image and location of the links on each page but
Bridge created image galleries make extensive
the continuity between pages would be affected.
use of Javascript. Without a program to write
Although the techniques we have covered in this the code for us this task would be far beyond the
section can create fully functional web content, scope of an introductory text.
You can also copy the HTML code from the
documents generated by Photoshop and paste The photo gallery is especially useful when you
it into other pages created in Dreamweaver or have a series of photographs that you want to
similar applications. If you do this, be sure you display from within a web page. For this project
also copy the content of the images folder into we will be using a small collection of photos
the correct location or the slices will not display already prepared for the purpose. In practice, the
correctly. web photo gallery will work best if you prepare
all the photos before hand and place them in
Limitations a common folder. For best results, the photos
should all be the same size, orientation and reso-
Creating web content with Photoshop in this lution.
way is fairly easy but you are limited to a fixed
150 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop
If Photoshop is not open, navigate to the loca-
tion of the Adobe applications on your computer
and select Adobe Bridge CS4. For example
Figure 8.20 Bridge icon
Start>Adobe Design Premium CS4>Adobe
Bridge CS4.
The Adobe Bridge application is a separate ap-
plication that you can access from within Photo-
shop or you may run it by itself. If you have not used the Bridge application be-
fore, take a minute to explore it and familiarize
1. If you already have Photoshop CS4 running, yourself with the interface (Figure 20.21).
locate and click the “Bridge” icon located along
the top of the Photoshop interface (Figure 8.20). The Bridge is a place where you can organize
Alternatively, you can select File>Browse in and keep track of the files and folders you use in
Bridge.
the Adobe Creative Suit.

Note: In older versions of Photoshop, you can

2. Click the Folders tab on the lift side of the
make the Photo Gallery directly from within
Photoshop by choosing “File>Automate>Web Bridge window. Navigate to the Student work
Photo Gallery.” Files. Open the Chapter 8>Pics folder.

Figure 8.21
 Intro to the Internet 151
and Web Page Design
The photos in the folder are of a worker on a
radio tower and his view of the ground. We want
these photos to be shown on a web page photo
gallery.

The controls at the bottom right of the Bridge,

allow you to change the way the images are dis-
played. Use the slider to increase the size of the
images so you can see them more clearly.
Figure 8.22

Our purpose is to prepare the photo gallery

rather than to familiarize you extensively with
the Bridge application. Therefore we will only
introduce the menus necessary to complete our
photo gallery. Just be aware that there are many
additional things you can accomplish in the
Bridge including batch renaming of files, editing
the image metadata, rotating images, processing
Camera Raw images, etc.

3. Since you are creating a Web Photo Gallery,

the first thing is to select all the photos you
want included in the gallery. Click on one of the Figure 8.23
photos. Then holding down the Shift key, click
on the remaining photos until all are selected.
Alternately, you can choose File>Select All.

4. Choose Window>Workspace>Output.
Bridge displays the output panel at the right side
of the window. The Folders panel remains visible
on the left side (Figure 8.22).

5. At the top of the Output panel, select Web

Gallery.

Choose a Galley type from the Template menu Figure 8.24

152 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop
and a Thumbnail size from the Style menu (Fig-
ure 8.23).

6. Make sure all the photos are still selected then

click Refresh Preview to see the gallery in the
Output Preview panel.

The Output Preview panel will display up to ten

files.

7. Experiment with different Templates and

Styles selecting Refresh Preview each time until
you find the look you want to use (Figure 8.24).

8. You will now want to customize the gallery

Figure 8.25
by entering the Title, Descriptions etc. in the
Site Info, Color Palette and Appearance areas button and navigate to the location you have
of the Output panel. Select Refresh Preview to chosen to save your gallery.
update the preview information.
Click Save. Bridge creates the gallery in the
9. Once you are ready to publish the Photo Gal- location you specified. The gallery is contained
lery, scroll to the bottom of the Output panel. within a folder with the name you chose in the
There you will see the Create Gallery section previous step.
(Figure 8.25).
Using Explorer or My Computer, navigate to
There are two ways you can publish your photo the location you specified for saving the gallery.
gallery. The first is to use the Create Gallery In the gallery folder, you will see an HTML file
menu to “FTP” the material to the appropriate named “index.html” and a folder containing
web server. Simply enter the FTP Server’s URL, all the images and other resources necessary
to make the gallery function. Double click the
your username and password and the Folder for
index.html file and it will open in the default
your content. When ready, select Upload.
browser.

For our purposes, we will save the gallery to a

Check to make sure it looks like you want it to
disk. Select the Save to Disk radio button.
and everything functions correctly. If not, go
back to Bridge, change some output settings and
Enter a name for the Gallery. Click the Browse re-save.
 Intro to the Internet 153
and Web Page Design
You can use the photo gallery as a web site by depend to a great extent on what you are trying
itself or link to it from another page on your web to accomplish. Which-ever tool you choose, try
site. At SUU, you would save the gallery to your to use the most current practices so your content
F:\public_html folder. Then create the link from will be functional and adhere to current stan-
another web page using foldername/index.html dards for web design and HTML coding.
or other appropriate URL.
In the concluding chapter, you will learn the ba-
Conclusion sics of the Adobe Dreamweaver application.

The HTML code created by any of the proce-

dures covered in this chapter can be opened in
Dreamweaver, Notepad and a number of other
editing applications allowing you the flexibility
of tweaking or fine-tuning the HTML code and
incorporating the content thusly created into
other web documents.

For example, you may want to open a page cre-

ated in Photoshop with Notepad to add a title,
style sheet, etc.

Although not covered in this chapter, you can

also make a Photoshop animation in part of your
image, add slices, and make a page that includes
both animation and links within Photoshop.

As we have seen, Photoshop is an additional tool

that can be used not only for image editing but
also for creating web content. The Adobe Bridge
is also very useful as a web design tool especial-
ly for organizing images and making web photo
galleries.

As you contemplate the design of web docu-

ments, you have many tools at your disposal.
Which one you use for the task at hand will
154 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop

Chapter Quiz Application

1. What are slices?
1. Collect a number of photographs of your own
2. What is the difference between a user slice - such as from a family outing, etc. and make
and an auto slice? them into a web photo gallery.

2. Use Photoshop to layout a complete web page

3. What shape can a slice be?
including navigation buttons and possibly some
animation. Slice the buttons to make links and
4. Can there be areas in an image that are not save the image as a complete web page.
contained within a slice?
3. Use Photoshop to slice an image, copy the
HTML code and paste it into another web docu-
5. What kind of optional information can you as-
sign to a slice? ment.

6. How are slices saved?

7. What are some of the limitations to making

web content with Photoshop?

8. What is a web photo gallery?

9. Which applications can be used to create such

a web photo gallery?
 Intro to the Internet 155
and Web Page Design

References

Adobe Bridge Help (2009). Retrieved on January 30, 2009, from http://help.adobe.com/en_US/
Bridge/3.0/WSCF044571-2772-4d28-9EBD-2C9F46AF008A.html

Abobe Photoshop CS3: Classroom in a book (2007). San Jose, CA: Adobe Press

Poyssick, G. (2006). Essentials for Design: Adobe Photoshop CS2 level one. Upper Saddle River,
NJ: Prentice Hall
156 Chapter 8
Web Design With Photoshop

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Chapter 9

Adobe Dreamweaver
158 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver

Introduction you no longer need, delete them so you don’t

clutter the folder with unused files.

A dobe Dreamweaver CS4 is (arguably) one

of the best tools currently available for
most web design projects. With Dreamweaver
1. Click Start>All Programs>Adobe Design
Premium CS4 (or other location where your
you can create very effective web content. application is located) and select Adobe Dream-
Dreamweaver can be used to create a single web weaver CS4 (you can complete the work in this
page or manage a complex web site contain- chapter with CS3 if you remember that the pan-
ing many individual pages. You can also create els and commands may be slightly different in
separate Cascading Style Sheets and a number of the older version). As the application opens, you
other types of web content. will see a screen resembling Figure 9.1.

Dreamweaver will allow you to create elements

such as text, tables and interactive buttons or you
may import them from other programs. Using
Dreamweaver, you will undoubtedly want to
create XHTML which is considered the current
standard language of web pages. But the appli-
cation will allow you to open, edit and convert
HTML into XHTML as well.
Figure 9.1
Like other Adobe applications, learning to use
Dreamweaver can be a fairly lengthy process This is the Dreamweaver interface. Notice the
because the application is so versatile. For our panels on the right side in a location similar to
purposes, we will only be covering a few of the other Adobe applications. The welcome screen
basics. The intent is to just familiarize you with under the green banner at the center of the
the application. screen allows you to get started right away by
opening a recent item, creating a new item or
First Look watching a tutorial about Dreamweaver on vari-
ous topics. For now we will ignore it.
You will begin learning about Dreamweaver by
getting acquainted with the interface. Before do- 2. From the File menu, choose New.
ing so, open your Student Work Files>Chapter
9 folder and copy the photos to your web folder; 3. In the New Document dialog box, choose the
you do not need to copy the RTF document. If Blank Page category if necessary. In the Page
you previously saved files in the web folder that Type column, select HTML. In the Layout
 Intro to the Internet 159
and Web Page Design
column, select 2 column elastic, left side bar, site. The items you see on the page you just cre-
header & footer. On the right side of the menu, ated are “placeholders” used until you enter the
make sure the “Doc Type” is set to XHTML 1.0 actual content in the various areas of your page.
Transitional. We also want our CSS to be placed
in the page header so verify that the “CSS Lay- While you are learning Dreamweaver, you may
out” is set to Add to Head. Then click Create want to use the templates whenever possible.
(Figure 9.2). The elastic property of this page Once you have more experience, you can create
will allow it to shrink or grow as we edit the con- your own layouts.
tent and as it displays on a computer monitor.
4. Now that you have a new page created, you
need to save it. Select File>Save navigate to
your flash drive or web folder. Name the file
index.html and select Save. If you have previ-
ously saved a file with that name in the selected
folder, it will be over-written.

5. Select the Code view (Figure 9.3) and scroll

to the top of the page if necessary. As you can
Figure 9.2
see, Dreamweaver has made a document-level
style sheet for the page (Figure 9.4). The CSS is
If you are creating an entire web site, you may more complex than the one we made in chapter
want the CSS to be in a separate file so all the seven but the basic idea is still the same. The
pages you make can utilize it. information between the /* and */ marks in the
style sheet contain comments to the program-
Dreamweaver creates a new web page based mer that do not effect the style or show in the
on the template you selected. If necessary, click
Design to switch to the Design view rather than
the Code or Split Views (Figure 9.3).

Figure 9.3

You can use Dreamweaver to make a single page

Figure 9.4
as we have done here or make a complete web
160 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver
browser. In Dreamweaver, these comments can
give you clues and suggestions about designing
and using the style sheets more effectively.

You can work in the Design view (Figure 9.5), Figure 9.6
the Code view or the Split view that allows you press Enter (Figure 9.6).
to see both the code and the design. You can
make changes in any of the views and Dream- 2. Double click the placeholder text “Header”
weaver will update the others for you. and replace it with the following phrase: Your
dream vacation starts here... (Figure 9.6).
Re-select the Design view before proceeding.
In Dreamweaver, you can select text in a number
of ways. The process is similar to working in a
word processor.

3. Put the curser in front of the placeholder text

“Main Content.” Drag the curser across the text
to select it. Then enter the phrase “Old West
Ranch” (Figure 9.7). Save the file

Figure 9.5

Next Steps
Figure 9.7

4. Select and delete the remaining placeholder

Now that you have the basic template created text in the main content area. Temporarily mini-
and ready to use, we will begin to form a web mize Dreamweaver.
page for a fictitious dude ranch we will call “The
Old West Ranch.” 5. From Student Work Files folder, open the Old
West Ranch.rtf document. Select the entire
1. In the Title field of the Document tool bar, text and copy it to the clipboard by using Ctrl
select the placeholder text, “Untitled Document,” + C, Edit>Copy or other appropriate procedure
and delete it. Enter The Old West Ranch and depending on your computer.
 Intro to the Internet 161
and Web Page Design
6. Return to Dreamweaver and paste the text Your page should look similar to Figure 9.9.
into the main content area where you previously
deleted the placeholder text using Ctrl + V or Placing Images
Edit>Paste. Save the file.
Now that you have all the text for the web page
7. Select and delete all the text in the left sidebar. in place, you are going to add some images and
Then enter the following: “ The windmill at the links.
Old West Ranch is a landmark suggesting to
visitors and guests alike the fun that awaits 1. Look in the main content area of the page.
them.” Look in the Properties panel at the bot- Place your curser before the second paragraph
tom of the window and, if necessary, change the that begins “Our guests...” If the spacing is not
Format to Paragraph (Figure 9.8). Save the file. correct for a new paragraph, press the Enter key
to space the new paragraph correctly.

2. If the Insert panel is not visible on the right

side of the screen, select Window>Insert or
Ctrl + F2.
Figure 9.8
3. Verify that the curser is still in front of the
8. Now you need to format the footer of the words “Our guests” in the second paragraph.
page. Select the Footer placeholder text and re- Then in the Insert panel, select Images: Image.
place it with: “Reservations | Contact Us” then The Select Image Source menu appears.
again save the file.
4. Navigate to your web folder. Locate and select
the “cow.jpg” photo then click OK.

5. In the resulting Image Tag Accessibility

Attributes menu, enter “Photo of cow” in the
“Alternate Text” dialog box then click OK. The
picture of a cow is added to the Main Content
area.

6. With the photo still selected, look in the Prop-

erties panel and change the Align from Default
to Right (Figure 9.10).
Figure 9.9
162 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver

Figure 9.10

The photo should now be located to the right of

the paragraph. If the text appears to be covering
the photo, press the F4 key twice. Save the file

F4 is a shortcut for View>Hide Panels and al-

lows you to view your page without the panels in
the way. Selecting it again restores the panels.
Figure 9.11

7. Position the curser before the text in the left web page assumes that the page referred to in the
side panel. Be careful not to select it or it will be link is located in the same folder as the originat-
replaced. ing page.

8. In the Insert panel, once again choose Im- 10. Select the “Contact Us” text in the footer.
age: Images. From your web folder choose the Now in the Link dialog box of the Properties
windmill.jpg photo and click OK. Add the word panel, enter the following for the URL:
Windmill as the Alternate text and click OK. The http://www.oldwestranch.com/contact.html.
Windmill photo is now added to the sidebar and
your page should look like Figure 9.11. When you link to a web document that is not in
the same folder as the originating page, you must
9. Next we will use the text in the footer to make provide more information for the server to find the
links. Select the entire word “Reservations.” document. If the referred content is on a different
Then look in the Properties panel and locate server, the compete URL must be given.
the Link dialog box. It is currently empty. Add
the name of the web page that would be viewed You have now finished adding the content to
if someone were to select the link. In our case your page - save it once more. In the next sec-
name the link “reservations.html.” Click away tion, we will make some changes to the font
from the text. The link turns blue with a blue and background. To do so, we will edit the style
underline. sheet.

Making a link that contains only the name of a When you place images in a web page, it is best
to size them correctly in Photoshop or other
 Intro to the Internet 163
and Web Page Design
image editing program first. When photos are
placed into a web page using Dreamweaver, it
is possible to change the display size by drag-
ging the photo’s container to make it larger or
smaller. But remember in doing so, you are not
changing the physical size of the image, only its
display size (zoom factor) is changed. Good de-
sign practice is to not re-size a photo more than
±10% or quality will be lost.

CSS Changes

Now that the page is basically laid out, we want

to change the background color of the entire
page body. Rather that doing this in the XHTML
code, we will edit the style sheet.

1. If the CSS Styles panel is not already

open on the right side of the screen, choose Figure 9.12
Window>CSS Styles.
menu opens, look in the category column and be
sure “Background” is highlighted (Figure 9.13).
2. In the CSS Style panel, if necessary, click
“All” to switch from the current mode. This al-
6. Referring to Figure 9.13 locate the “Back-
lows you to see all the styles associated with the
ground-color:” swatch and click it. Now using
page (Figure 9.12).
the eyedropper, click on a color from the color

3. If necessary, click the plus (+) to the left of the

<style> tag in the All Rules window to expand
it. Now you can see all the styles that are associ-
ated with the page.

4. Select The “body” style then click on the Edit

Rule icon at the bottom of the panel (looks like a
pencil).

5. When the “CSS Rule definition for body” Figure 9.13

164 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver
picker. The color picker will immediately close
after you select a color.

7. Now click “Apply.” The color of the body

background area will change to reflect your color
choice.

If you don’t like the color, click the color swatch

Figure 9.14
again and repeat the process until you find a
color or shade of gray you like (we used white).

8. Click OK then save the file.

When you are making changes to the CSS, it is

helpful to save after each successful change. If
you make a mistake on a subsequent change and
can’t figure out how to undo it, you can always
go back to the previously saved version and try
again.

Press F4 to view the page without the panels.

When you are finished looking, press F4 again to
restore them.

9. Now lets insert a background photo behind the

Header text. Click the mouse anywhere in the
header text (Your Dream...).

10. Locate the “Tag selector” at the bottom of

the document window (Figure 9.14). Then click
“<div#header>.” This points to the <div> tag
Figure 9.15
that formats this section (the header) of the page
and has the ID of #header.

11. Return to the CSS Styles panel (Figure 9.15).

Click Current to switch to the current mode.
 Intro to the Internet 165
and Web Page Design
In the Summary for Selection window, select
Background. Then in the Rules window, select
“.twoColElsLtHdr #header.”

In order to see the complete names of the rules, it

may be necessary for you to re-size the columns
in the rule window. To do so, point to the column
divider line. When you see the double headed ar-
row, hold the mouse button down and drag to the
right to re-size the columns.
Figure 9.16

12. Click the Edit Rule icon (pencil icon) at the

17. Click the drop down arrow associated with
bottom of the CSS Styles panel.
the Font-family: specification and select
“Georgia, Times New Roman, Times, serif”
13. The CSS Rule definition for
then click Apply again. The new font is applied
.twoColElsLtHdr #Header opens. In the Cat-
to the text.
egory column, make sure Background is se-
lected. Click the Browse button at the end of the 18. Still working in the Type category, locate the
Background-Image: field. swatch next to the Color: specification and click
it. Use the eyedropper to select “white” in the
14. Navigate to your web folder and select the color picker. Click Apply one more time.
photo “clouds.jpg” then click OK.
The text color changes to white. If you are not
15. Back in the CSS Rules definition menu, click happy with the color, make changes as you
Apply. Do not close the menu. Move it out of desire. When you are satisfied with your choices,
the way if necessary so you can see the back- click OK. The save the file.
ground image applied to the header area.
19. We will make one last change to the text.
Now you see that the text looks too dark because This time we will edit the text specification for
of the background. We will change that along the Main Content division.
with the font in the next steps.
Click the mouse anywhere in the text of the
main content container (with the cow photo).
16. In the CSS Rule definition menu, select
Then in the Tag Selector (Figure 9.14), click the
Type in the Category column. You will now see
<div#mainContent> tag. All the text in the con-
a place to make changes to the type specification
tainer should be selected and the other containers
rule for the Header container (Figure 9.16).
grayed out.
166 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver
20. In the CSS Styles panel make sure the 25. In the Rule Definition menu, select 9 px for
Current tab is still selected. Then in the Rules the Font-Size: and change the Font-family: to
window, find and select the “.twoColElsLtHdr “Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif.” Click OK then
#mainContent” rule. save the file.

21. Now click the Edit Rule (pencil) icon. Congratulations, you have completed your first
Dreamweaver XHTML web page.
Select Type in the Category column. From the
Font-Size: list choose 14. Leave the measure- Before you close the application, lets look at
ment set to pixels. In Line-Height: enter 20. your work in a browser to verify that it all works.
Then click Apply.
Choose File>Preview in Browser. Then in the
22. You may notice the text in the main container sub-menu, select a browser from the list. Your
slightly crowding the left sidebar container. We page is opened and displayed in the browser
will fix that next. In the Category column, select window.
Box. The look in the Margin area. Change the
Left: specification to 15. Leave the measurement If you have been saving your work in your F:\
units specification set to “em.” Click OK. The public_html folder at SUU, open a browser
text moves away from the container margin and and enter your URL (http://www.student.suu.
the CS Rule definition menu closes. Now save edu/~username) to verify that the page is actu-
the file again. ally published and available on the web.

23. The last thing we are going to do is change As you have seen, designing with Dreamweaver
the size of the text in the sidebar to be more ap- is much easier than writing the XHTML code
propriate for a caption. yourself. However there are times when we need
to edit the code or a style sheet for a specific pur-
Click somewhere in the text under the windmill pose so knowing a little XHTML and style sheet
photo in the left sidebar. Then in the Tag selector, terminology is still desirable. In the next section
click on the <p> tag. you will gain additional experience designing
with XHTML and CSS in Dreamweaver.
24. Now once again in the CSS Styles menu,
make sure Current is still selected then in the
Rules area, verify that “.twoColElsLtHdr
#Sidebar 1 h3” is selected. Then click the Edit
Rule icon.
 Intro to the Internet 167
and Web Page Design

External CSS & Site out CSS dialog box, select “Create New File.”
Building Then click the Create button (Figure 9.17).

Now that you are somewhat familiar with 3. In the resulting Save Style Sheet File As dia-
Dreamweaver, we are going to apply what you log box, navigate to your flash drive’s Web_Site
have learned to set up a web site using external folder. Enter the name “main.css” as the name
CSS. For our examples we will be working with for your style sheet (you can use any name you
the templates and not adding content other than like). Select the Save button (Figure 9.18).
links since you already know how to do that. Our
objective is to discover how to use a CSS to for- Dreamweaver saves the CSS and creates the
mat multiple pages and to set up and link several page (Figure 9.19).
pages on your web site.
For consistency, you will use the same layout for
Since you will be mainly experimenting with the other pages in your mock web site and will
templates and CSS, we suggest you not work in link those pages to the same CSS. But first we
your F:\public_html folder because you do not want to make a few changes to the current page
intend for this material to be available on the and modify the style sheet.
web.
4. Make the following changes to the current
1. Create a folder on your flash drive to contain page.
the web documents you will be working with in
this section. Navigate to your flash drive using • Change the Title to “Home Page”
My Computer or Windows Explorer. Click the • Change the Header to “First Page”
right mouse button in an open area away from • Change the footer to “Page 2 | Page 3”
other content. Select New>Folder from the
menu. Name the folder Web_Site. In the footer, select the text “Page 2.” In the
Properties Menu, add the following to the Link
2. If it is not already open, launch the Dream- box: “page_2.html” (without the quotes).
weaver application. Select File>New. Now select the text “Page 3” and add the Link
“page_3.html” to the properties menu. Click in a
In the New Document dialog box, select different area of the page to deselect the text.
“Blank Page.” In the Page Type column select
“HTML.” In the Layout column, scroll to the 5. Select File>Save As. Make sure you are sav-
bottom of the list and select “3 column liq- ing to the Web_Site folder, then name the file
uid, header and footer.” For Doc Type, select index.html and click Save.
“XHTML 1.0 Transitional.” Finally in the Lay-
168 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver

Figure 9.17

Figure 9.19

Figure 9.18
 Intro to the Internet 169
and Web Page Design
6. Now you will make a few changes to the style 10. Click somewhere in the body text of the first
sheet and later will see how these changes ap- paragraph in the center container (under Main
ply to the other pages on your web site. As you Content). In the Tag Selector, click on the <p>
proceed with these changes, refer to the previous tag.
sections if you have trouble.
11. In the CSS Styles panel, make sure the Cur-
First we will change the background color to rent tab is still selected. We want to edit the
white. In the CSS Styles panel, select the All content of the paragraph rather that the entire
button. In the All Rules window, click the (+) in container so we need to add a new rule that per-
front of main.css to expand the list. tains only to the selected paragraph.

Select the “body” rule from the expanded list At the bottom of the panel to the left of the Edit
and click the Edit Rule (pencil) icon. Rule (pencil) icon is the New Rule icon (Figure
9.20). Click the New Rule icon.
7. In the CSS Rule menu, select the Background-
Color swatch. Choose White from the color pick-
er, then click OK. The background color changes
to white. Figure 9.20 New Rule

8. Click somewhere in the text “First Page.” Lo- The “New CSS Rule” menu appears. For this
cate and select the <div#header> tag in the Tag example, the default settings are fine so just click
Selector at the bottom of the document window. OK.

In the CSS Styles panel, change to the Current The Rule Definition menu now opens. Select
view. Locate and select the “.thrColLiqHdr the Type Category. Change the font to “Georgia,
#header” rule then click the Edit Rule icon. Times New Roman...” and the size to 16 px
then click OK. Verify that the change applied
9. Choose the Type category, change the font to only to the body text in the container.
“Tahoma, Geneva, sans-serif.” Change the type
color to Red. 12. Now you need to save the changes. Select
“File>Save All.” Click OK if you get a second-
In the Background category change the color to ary menu.
a medium blue (#09F or something you prefer).
Click OK. The header text should now be red 13. With the first page template now ready and
with a blue (or other color) background. changes made to the CSS, we can proceed to
make the other pages of your web site.
170 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver
Select File>New. Use the same settings you Back in the Attach External Style Sheet menu,
used for the first page except in the Layout CSS select OK.
dialog box. Change the CSS Layout to “Link to
Existing File” (Figure 9.21). This returns you the New Document menu.
Locate and select the Create button. The new
document is created and displayed in the docu-
ment window.

You will notice that you now have two docu-

ments open. You can switch between them by
selecting the appropriate tab at the top of the
document window.

15. Save and name the new page.

Figure 9.21
Make sure the new page is displayed. Change
Select the Attach Style Sheet icon (looks like a both the Title and Header to Page 2 then select
chain link) right below the Layout CSS dialog File>Save As. Verify that you are saving to the
box. Web_Site folder. Enter “page_2.html” as the
page name then save.
14. In the resulting Attach External Style Sheet
menu (Figure 9.22), select the Browse button. It is important that you name this page the same
as the name you used in the link of the index.html
(first) page. If you don’t, the link will not work
correctly.

16. Next we need to place links in the footer of

the new page to facilitate navigation to the home
page and the third page.
Figure 9.22
Select the word “Footer” in the footer of the
Navigate to your Web_Site folder and select the new page. Replace it with the text:
main.css file. Click OK. If you receive a prompt “Home | Page 3.”
that the file should be saved first, just click OK
to the message. Select the word “Home.” then look in the Prop-
erties panel. To the right of the Link dialog box
 Intro to the Internet 171
and Web Page Design
you see the Browse for Folder icon that resem- tab above the document window, then select
bles a file folder (Figure 9.23) select it. “File>Preview in Browser.” Select the browser
you want from the list.

22. Once the browser opens the first page, click

on the links to be sure the other pages load cor-
rectly. Verify that the changes you made to the
Figure 9.23 Browse for Folders style sheet are reflected in each of the document
pages. When you have finished looking chose the
In the Select File menu, choose index.html then browser.
click OK. This creates a link to the home page.
23. Back in Dreamweaver, select the Code view
17. Select the Page 3 text and enter page_3.html (Figure 9.24).
in the Link dialog box. Save the file (File>Save).

18. Now repeat the process of making a new

page one more time. To do this, repeat steps 13
and 14.

19. Change the Title and Header of this page to

Page 3 . Save and name the document “page_3.
html.” The the links on the other two pages that
refer to this page will now function. Figure 9.24

20. Make the links for this page. Replace the You see no style sheets. But you do see a <link>
Footer text with “Home | Page 2.” tag pointing to the main.css file.

Select the word Home. Repeat the creation of In practice, there may be several style sheets
the Home link from step 16. associated with a web page. One may format the
entire site while others may contain styles for the
Select “Page 2.” Click the Browse for Folders current page only. It is also becoming common
icon in the Link dialog. Choose “page_2.html” to have separate style sheets that format a page
from the Web_Site folder content list. Click OK for the web, print and handheld devices.
then save the file.
Now that you have the web site templates all
21. Return to the first page by clicking on its created, you can return to each page individually
172 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver
and add the content that you need for each page. Now that you have finished this book, you
should have a basic understanding of what the
You do not have to use the same template for all Internet is and a beginning knowledge of how to
the pages but you should strive for some degree design and implement web pages. The purpose
of consistency so your web site is easier to navi- of the book has not been to make you an expert
gate. Also remember to try designing to promote web designer or completely knowledgeable
accessibility by handicapped individuals. about any of the software applications. We have
only attempted to introduce you to the concepts
Save all your photos and multi-media in the of the Internet and web design. As a result of
Web_Site folder and place them into your web your studies, should you desire to explore the
pages as appropriate. Test the pages in a browser topics in greater detail, there are many excellent
occasionally to be sure they look the way you texts and courses available. Good luck in your
want. Once you have the web site function- future plans to become an expert at web design.
ing correctly, you can copy the contents of the
Web_site folder to your F:\public_html folder to
publish the web site at SUU. If you are publish-
ing to a remote server, you can use FTP or other
appropriate software to publish your site.

Conclusion

In this chapter you have learned some of the

basics of using the Adobe Dreamweaver applica-
tion to design and create web content.

As already stated, the intent of the chapter

was not to give you an in-depth knowledge of
Dreamweaver but to whet your appetite a little
so you will want to explore more about the ap-
plication and web design on your own.

The placement of multi-media and creation of

forms and other interactive contend is also be-
yond the scope of the book but certainly within
the capabilities of the Dreamweaver application.
 Intro to the Internet 173
and Web Page Design

Chapter Quiz Application

1. What type of web content can you make with 1. Use Dreamweaver to open the file you created
Dreamweaver? in chapter seven or another file created with CSS.
Examine the page to see how the CSS is handled.
Try your hand at editing the CSS in Dreamweav-
er to see if you can successfully add rules and
2. How are Dreamweaver templates helpful? make other changes.

2. Create several different pages from the avail-

able templates. Experiment with editing photos
3. Can you work with CSS in Dreamweaver? in Photoshop that are the correct size and orien-
How? tation for the pages. Assemble the content add-
ing your own text to make three or four different
pages. Try your hand at linking them together.
Test the outcome in a browser to see if every-
4. How is text entry in Dreamweaver like using a thing works like you expected.
word processor?
3. Use Dreamweaver to make a simple web site
using external CSS. Modify the style sheet and
see how it affects all the pages linked to it.
5. How do you place a photo on a web page with
Dreamweaver?

6. Can Dreamweaver be used to create and man-

age a complete web site?
174 Chapter 9
Adobe Dreamweaver

References

Adobe Systems (2007). Adobe Dreamweaver CS3: Classroom in a book. Berkeley, CA: Peachpit

Bishop, S., Shuman, J., & Waxer, B.M. (2006) The web collection revealed. Boston, MA: Thomson
Course Technology.

Mohler, J.L., & Bowen, K. (2007). Exploring Dreamweaver 8. Clifton Park, NY: Delmar Learning
 Intro to the Internet 175
and Web Page Design
 Lance D. Jackson
Communication Technology Engineer
Department of Communication
Southern Utah University

351 West University Boulevard Phone: 4 35-586-7867

Centrum 211H Fax: 435-865-8352
Cedar City, Utah 84720 E-mail: [email protected]

EDUCATION

M.A. Southern Utah University (anticipated May 2009)

Professional Communication (emphasis in Mass Communication)

Jackson, L.D. (2009). Introduction to the internet and web page design. Master’s
project, Southern Utah University, Cedar City, Utah
Project Director: Jon Smith

B.S. Southern Utah University, 1975 (Graduated with high academic honors)
Industrial Technology (emphasis in Electronics Technology)

PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE

Communication Technology Engineer, Southern Utah University, 1978-Present

Broadcast Engineer/Electronics Technician, Southern Utah University, 1975-1978

COURSES TAUGHT

COMM 156 Radio Lab (I taught the class and supervised the students who operated the
university owned radio station – no longer offered)

COMM 307 Technical Broadcasting (I created, and developed this course – no longer
offered)

COMM 3070 Communication Graphics (Course emphasizes the use of the Adobe Cre-
ative Suite)

UNIVERSITY SERVICE

Served on Communication Department Goals Revision committee 2008.

Served as a member of the SUU Teaching, Learning and Technology Roundtable (TLTR)
from its inception through 2001.
 vita continued

Served as a member of the Southern Utah University Academic Computer User’s Com-
mittee (ACUC) from the inception of the committee though 1997.

Developed and currently help maintain the SUU Communication Department web site
and the Masters of Professional Communication web site (http://www.suu.edu/hss/
comm).

Help install and maintain hardware and software for the SUU radio and television facili-
ties.

Principal writer of and filed the applications with the FCC that permit the SUU radio sta-
tion to operate at its current frequency and power.

Assisted with the formation of EDNET, the Utah Educational Network including contrib-
uting to the writing of the first statewide NTIA grant proposal.

HONORS/AWARDS

Elected to Golden Key International Honor Society, 2008

Nominated as SUU Outstanding Staff Employee for 2008

Listed in 2005-2006 Empire Who’s Who

Nominated to Who’s Who of Engineering Professionals three times

PROFESSIONAL LICENSES AND CERTIFICATIONS

CompTIA, A+ Computer Certification (2003)

FCC General Radiotelephone Operators Permit

Currently preparing for Adobe ACE certifications

OTHER

Experienced in Adobe Creative Suite Design Premium Software - Photoshop, InDesign,

Illustrator & Dreamweaver

FCC Amateur Extra Class Amateur Radio License

Completed additional course work in Novell Network Administration, Cisco Networking

Systems, Computer Programming, Computer Hardware and Teacher Education at SUU
 APPENDIX

to

Introduction to the Internet

and Web Page Design

A Master’s Degree Project

by

Lance D. Jackson
 Introduction and History

This project was first started several years ago when I realized that although there are many

good text books available for Web page design and some that cover the layout and design theory.

There were relatively few if any that covered both topics. At that time, I began writing a paper to

hand out to the members of the Communication Graphics class at Southern Utah University, which I

teach.

The original pager was only a few pages long but over the course of years, it grew into a 63

page document covering several different topics. The idea of turning the work into an undergraduate

text book has occurred to me but I had never felt like I had the time to devote to the task.

With the opportunity to work on a master’s degree came the necessity of selecting a project

or thesis topic. Since I am an Amateur Radio Operator (Ham) , my first desire was to do a video

documentary on the history of Amateur radio in Southern Utah. This seemed natural because the

topic had never been addressed and because the father of television, Philo Farnsworth, was born and

raised in Beaver - just a few miles north and some of his descendents still live in the area. However

after considering the matter, I came to the realization that this was just the opportunity I was looking

for to turn my web design paper into the text book that I have desired to do.

Eventually, I presented the idea of the text book to Dr. Jon Smith, Chair of the SUU Com-

munication Department and chair of my Master’s committee. With his support, I selected committee

members based on their expertise in mass communication, advertising and web design. The commit-

tee consisted of Dr. Smith, Dr. Lionel Grady, Dr. Arthur Challis and Mr. Mark Walton, Director of

Web Development at SUU.

 The committee first met on April 24, 2008 at which time the project was formally proposed

and approved. Actual work did not begin in earnest until mid August when permission was obtained

from the Adobe Corporation to use screen shots from their products in the text. I had initially hoped

to complete the project by the end of December 2008, but as that date approached, I realized that it

had been a gross underestimate on my part as to the amount of time the project would require.

Toward the end of Fall Semester, I had completed enough of the work to use in the Graph-

ics Class (the first four chapters) and to conduct a pilot study to see if the work was able to fill my

expectations and to ascertain whether the students would find it useful and functional. A copy of the

survey and results is included.

Writing continued throughout most of Spring 2009 Semester and the rough draft was pre-

sented to Dr. Smith for review and comments on March 30, 2009. The project defense is scheduled

for April 16, 2009.

The attached brief diary documents the work on the project which I estimate will have taken

somewhere in the vicinity of 550 to 700 hours to compete.

 Master’s Degree Project Diary

April 24, 2008 – Today the project proposal was presented to the committee consisting of Jon Smith
(Chair), Art Challis (member), Lionel Grady (member) and Mark Walton (ex-officio member). The
project is to be a web design text (workbook) that will be used in the Comm Graphics class. Sug-
gestions concerning the format were discussed. Concerns about copyright were discussed. Dr. Smith
recommended that the committee be given updates on the progress of the work regularly.

The Microsoft and Adobe websites were searched retrieving copyright and permissions documents
from both. These will be studied to determine what, if any, written permissions need to be obtained
in order to use screen shots from specific applications in the book.

August 18, 2008 – Today I received permission from Adobe to use screen shots and partial screen
shots from their applications in the project.

August 25, 2008 – Spent time looking at where I am and deciding on the next logical steps. Began
research for the first chapter (history of the Internet).

September 2, 2008 – Began formatting the text using Adobe InDesign. Decided upon a format and
layout for the design. Created several graphics for the text.

September 3, 2008 – Submitted design layout and formatting example to the committee for their
comment and suggestions. Continued to develop graphics and write text.

September 4, 2008 – Continued working on text and graphics.

September 19, 2008 – Finished and submitted full rough draft of chapter to committee. Estimated
time -70 hours to complete.

October 2, 2008 – Finished the second chapter and sent it to the committee.
Estimated time - 40 hours to complete.

November 14, 2008 – Have finished chapter 4 and sent it to the committee. Have completed part of
chapter 5 and will meet with the committee today to report on progress and receive further direction.
Estimate of time spent so far 200 hrs.

Follow-up: the committee approved the direction the project is taking and gave the go ahead to con-
tinue.

December 12, 2008 – Finished and submitted chapter 6 to the committee. It is anticipated that no
more work will be done on the project until after the holidays.

January 9, 2009 – Have completed the instructional portion of chapter 7. Need to finish the reference
section. Should be finished with it by next weekend. Set goal of finishing entire work by the end
of February. Review, rewriting, introduction and index finished by end of March. Defense in early
April. Estimated time so far 300 hrs.

February 6, 2009 – Chapter 7 rough was rejected by Mark Walton due to omission of CSS topic.
Revision underway. Chapter 8 completed and submitted to committee. Estimated time 400 hours.

February 13, 2009 - Chapter 7 revision finished and submitted to committee. Estimated time 420
hrs.

March 5, 2009 - Finished Chapter 9 and sent to committee. Estimated time 475 hours.

March 28, 2009 – Finished Submission documents. Estimated time 500 hours.

April 2, 2009 – Began working on the appendix to the project which will include an introduction and
history along with supporting documents including permissions forms, survey of students who used
the work, etc.
 Introduction to the Internet and Web Page Design E-Book Survey

Introduction & Instructions

This survey concerns the E-Book “Introduction to the Internet and Web Page Design.” Once completed, it is
intended that the book will become an integral part of the Communication Graphics class offered at SUU.

Please respond as honestly and completely as you can to the following questions. If you elect not to answer
any question or if you decline participation in the survey, you may do so with no penalty. Do not put your
name or any other personally identifying marks on the survey paper.

Please log in to the student computer system and navigate to the G:>Classes>Jackson folder. There you will
find a PDF document named “Intro to Web Design.pdf.” Please open this document and refer to it as neces-
sary during the survey. The survey concerns only the portion of the book that is finished. Please disregard any
information or content from previous versions you may have seen that follow chapter six. The E-Book is a
work in progress and your responses will help to make it better for future classes. If necessary please feel free
to look at the book and become familiar with it, if you have not already done so, as you complete the survey.
Place a check mark by your response to the following questions.

1. Were you aware of the existence of the E-Book before beginning this survey?

yes___ no___

2. If you were aware of the existence of the book prior to this survey, have you referred to it before?

yes___ no___ (if no then skip to question 7)

3. How many times would you estimate you have referred to the E-Book?

Once___ 2-4 times___ 5-7 times 8 or more times___

4. How thoroughly did you read the book?

Just skimmed it___ Read parts completely___ Read the entire book___

5. What is the main reason you read the book?

Thought it was required___ To get help with a class assignment___ Other___

6. How helpful did you find the book?

Not very helpful___ Somewhat helpful___ Very helpful___

7. The book is intended to provide theory, explanations and exercises to help you grasp the concepts
presented. In this regard over-all, how effective do you think the book is?

Not Very Effective___ Somewhat Effective___ Very Effective___

8. How helpful are the figures and illustrations in the book in clarifying the content?

Not very helpful___ Somewhat helpful___ Very helpful___

9. Regarding the figures and illustrations, there are enough to clarify the meaning of the text.

Disagree___ Neither agree or disagree___ Agree___

10. Chapters one through three contain introductory and explanatory material along with some basic
design theory. In your opinion, is the material . . .

Too technical___ Too simplistic___ Just right___

11. Chapters beyond the first three also contain step-by-step instructions for completion of various
projects. How effective do you feel this instruction is?

Not very effective___ Somewhat effective___ Very effective___

12. With regard to the previous question, how clear do you feel the instruction given is?

Not very clear___ Somewhat clear___ Very clear___

13. Would you prefer to have the book available in printed or electronic format?

Printed___ Electronic___ Both___ No preference___

14. If you had the competed book, how likely would you be to keep it as a reference for future needs?

Not likely___ Somewhat likely___ Very likely___

15. Please take time to discuss your comments and suggestions about the book below.
 Discussion on Survey Results

The majority of the respondents reported that the book was very helpful for them to learn the

concepts covered. The main negative comment was that the first few chapters were a little too techni-

cal.

I did not attempt to run a complete statistical analysis of the survey because I am aware that

the results are not generalizable due to the limited size of the sample. The work was also in a non-

competed state at the time and I did not feel that a scientific analysis would result in any significant

revelation that an informal review could disclose. Further the purpose of the survey was not to create

a detailed and thorough analysis but rather to ascertain a few student’s reactions to the work.

Attached at the end of the appendix are copies of the survey results for the committee or

interested parties to review.

 Permission to Use Letter and Request

From: Joyce Fowler <[email protected]>

To: Lance Jackson <[email protected]>
Date: 8/18/2008 2:16 PM
Subject: RE: Permission to use request

Hello Lance, thank you for your request. This constitutes the addendum to the full terms set form in
the Permissions and trademark guidelines referenced below for reproduction of partial screen shots.
Permission to use specific portions of a screen shot.
You must first review and accept the terms of the Permissions and trademark guidelines found at
http://www.adobe.com/misc/agreement.html and review and agree to the specific guidelines for
Screen Shots.
Your use may not include screen shots from any other third party material so there is no confusion as
to which screen shots belong to Adobe vs. any other third party.
You must include the following copyright attribution statement: “Adobe product screen shot(s) re-
printed with permission from Adobe Systems Incorporated.”

If your use includes references to an Adobe product, the full name of the product must be referenced
at the first and most prominent mention (Adobe(r) Photoshop(r)). When referencing any Adobe
trademarks, please mark with a (tm) or (r) as indicated in the Adobe trademark database for general
distribution<http://www.adobe.com/misc/linking.html>. If you are distributing materials exclusively
in Japan, please contact Adobe<mailto:[email protected]> for a copy of the appropriate
Adobe Trademark information for Japan.

If your use includes references to any Adobe trademarks, you should include the following trade-
mark attribution statement: “[List of marks used, with “Adobe” first, if used, followed by other
Adobe marks used, in alphabetical order] are either registered trademarks or trademarks of Adobe
Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or other countries.” If relevant, please also review
“Use of Adobe trademarks in titles of books.”
We sincerely appreciate and thank you for your support of Adobe products. Please let me know if
you have further questions. Sincerely, Joyce

----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
From: Lance Jackson [mailto:[email protected]]
Sent: Friday, August 15, 2008 1:36 PM
To: [email protected]
Subject: Permission to use request

Attached is a Permission to Use Form and example image.

I am a graduate student, Communication Technology Engineer and Adjunct Instructor of Communi-

cation Graphics at Southern Utah University. For my graduate thesis (project) I plan to write a text
on web design and introduction to the Internet. This text will include both design theory and practi-
cal applications to assist a beginning graphics design student in becoming familiar with the Internet
and the design of basic (static) web pages and animated images. The text will include a section on
the history of the Internet, basic design considerations, HTML, Adobe Dreamweaver and the use
of Adobe Photoshop Extended to create simple animated GIF images and web content. It will also
include information specific to the university as far as publishing web content is concerned.

I anticipate that the text will be published only for the students of Southern Utah University and
to fulfill the thesis requirement for the graduate degree. Should you have questions concerning the
intended use that are not answered by the application, please contact me.

Thank you for reviewing my request and responding as quickly as possible.

Lance Jackson
Comm Tech Engineer
Dept of Communication
Southern Utah University
351 W. University Blvd.
Cedar City, UT 84720

phone: 435 586 7867

fax: 435 865 8352