Picture format

Choosing jpg, gif, or other

[extra]

I have seen in the Google SE news that some people have got problems with hits when doing picture search.
I wonder if there is any format that is is more positive to choose than others. Is it best to have a different format or should all picture be same kind (i.e. jpg or gif)?

Also it would be nice to know if there is any maximum numbers of pictures (or max numbers of kB) comparing with volume of text on pages.

[dlperry]

IMHO:

I think the old rule of thumb still applies:

Photographs, detailed illustrations, etc. = .jpg
Web graphics (banners, buttons, icons, etc.) = .gif

I have also seen .png and .tiff - though more as a 'file transport' format than in actual use on the web.

The number of images on any given webpage will depend a lot on the size of the images. If page load time is important, you'll want to keep files sizes as low as possible without sacrificing image quality. You might also pre-load images if possible to help shorten subsequent page load times.

I think another important consideration is page scroll. Again, IMHO, any page that requires more than one screen height in vertical scroll is a candidate for splitting into multiple pages.

--dlp

[extra]

Thanks for your help.
Most info is helpful for us newbees :-)

[wolfadeus]

Big no-no for .tiffs, that's used for print, non-compressed data storage and alike; go for .jpg for photographs with many colours, .gif or .png for graphics, escpecially with transparancy levels.

every book on basic webdesign will tell you more about this issue. good luck,

w.

[extra]

Thanks for your replay.

"every book on basic webdesign will tell you more about this issue. good luck,"

This was my next question. I've seen that there's probably som problems with my user interface. When looking at what people search for I can se they don't dig deep enough (some is 3 click deep) or they can't even see where to go.
This problem is based on my lack of knowledge for how to make the user interface.

What kind of phrases should I search for to find some good descriptions on what to do/not to do.

[andye]

The O'Reilly book on information architecture is pretty good, that might be some help to you.

Information Architecture for the World Wide Web: Designing Large-Scale Web Sites
(Paperback)
by Louis Rosenfeld, Peter Morville

hth, a.

[tedster]

Also, try these threads:

Information Architecture for the Small Site - part 1 [webmasterworld.com]
Information Architecture for the Small Site - part 2 [webmasterworld.com]
Putting information architecture into practice [webmasterworld.com]

[extra]

Thanks for all the info.

The problem is that each time I learn something new, I discover that there is at least 10 functions i did not think of. If this goes on I feel that I know less than ever before as there is so many areas i don't have enough knowledge about.
But i think my site becomes better and better every time, so in fact it can't be that bad. It just feels that way :-).

[tedster]

It always feels that way, I think. Never stop being a "newbie", it's bad for you if that happens.

[tedster]

I have also seen .png and .tiff - though more as a 'file transport' format than in actual use on the web.

That may be true for .tiff, but .png has definitely come into its own as a webpage image format. If you go into the Google Image Search "advanced" link, you will see all three image format types: gif, jpg, and png. And since png often gives smaller file sizes it's really worth considering.