A vague image at first with gets sharper and sharper

Images displayed vaguely when it starts loading

[Franky]

I wander how I get the following done:

I have a page with let's say 10 pictures. How can I display the images rather quickly but vaguely when the page starts loading? At the same I want the images getting sharper and sharper while the page is loading (the images) and perfectly sharp when it is completely loaded?

Thanx in advance,
Franky

[andreasfriedrich]

Google for interlaced gifs or interlaced pngs.

[Macguru]

Hi Franky,

This can also be a progressive jpg. Better suited than gifs for true color pictures. It add the picture a couple of bytes only.

What software do you use to optimise your images for web? We need to know to tell you how to do it.

[Franky]

Thankx andreasfriedrich for giving the name of the kind of image I am looking for. I suppose the search in Google will help me further!

Macguru, I don't really use software to OPTIMISE my images for the web. I get a CDRom with the scanned pictures from a photoshop in town. And I cut them in size with LViewPro.
I am curious about your 'progressive jpg'.

[Macguru]

I dont know anything about LViewPro.

>>I am curious about your 'progressive jpg'.

Most pictures from photographies that you see blurred and then sharpen progressively uses that format.

I think you have a good selection of software that will let you do a progressive jpg in this selection if LViewPro wont do.

[download.com.com...]

[ergophobe]

I get a CDRom with the scanned pictures from a photoshop in town. And I cut them in size with LViewPro.
I am curious about your 'progressive jpg'.

Franky, if you are doing anything other than posting photos for your very indulgent family, you must get some software that allows you to optimize images. I know Photoshop and Fireworks, but there are probably cheaper alternatives.

WHY? Because you should use the minimum jpeg quality necessary to get the image you want, thus speeding overall page loading.

HOW? Most image programs intended for web use (again Photoshop and Fireworks for sure) have export modes that allow you to preview the image as you save it, adjusting the quality as you do.

A variety of things affect jpeg size:
1. size in pixels - crop off anything extraneous
2. compression - use the lowest jpeg quality you can, usually somewhere between say 30 and 80 (or 3 and 8 if your software uses a scale of 10).
3. amount of smoothing - small effect
4. progressive or not - you have to try it. For some images, pjpeg will actually be smaller. For others, it will be slightly larger, but usually insignificantly so.

A decent program will let you set all of these parameters

Tom