Making Web Layoutss Using Graphic Programs

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Yes, I've run Fireworks in winex. And no, I still believe it's primarily a program for editing graphics for the web.

Photoshop isn't. It produces big-ass files that weren't meant to be published, but it's way more capable than Fireworks.

See, even comparing Fireworks to Photoshop is impossible because they do two totally different things. Macromedia has no equivalent to Fireworks. ImageReady would be more comparable to Fireworks.

[blunt_on_tour]

Originally posted by haxor41789@9 April 2004 - 05:54

Photoshop isn't. It produces big-ass files that weren't meant to be published, but it's way more capable than Fireworks.

Is this why all my 'optimized' images are so huge compared to some people's with the same image quality, but a much smaller file? Quite often I'll make something I like in Photoshop, but as soon as I try to make it a managable size for web use it turns to shit.
I've got PS7, Fireworks MX, Flash MX and Imageready - which one is best at optimizing filesizes? Or is it just that I'm crap at using them?

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Use Fireworks... a good balance is JPEG (70% quality / 10% dither), GIF (128 colors / alpha transparency), or GIF (256 colors / index or no transparency).

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Originally posted by haxor41789@13 April 2004 - 05:35
Use Fireworks... a good balance is JPEG (70% quality / 10% dither), GIF (128 colors / alpha transparency), or GIF (256 colors / index or no transparency).

Thanks I'll try those settings tonight.

So Photoshop isn't good for optimizing images then? Thought as much - there aren't many options in between the original image size and the optimized size.

Sometimes you feel like you just need a small increase in quality, but there doesn't seem to be any way of doing it. It would be nice if you could put in the size you want the finished image to be and then alter it to get the best results.

[Canti]

I can't say that I have used THE GIMP, but I use photoshop primarily for its layers blending and really tricky image effects, but it's terrible at exporting, and even saving sometimes! There is one bug that wont allow a .gif extension in the filetype dropdown, but I dont use PS for saving anything other than .psd's anyway..

Photoshop 7 comes with ImageReady which seems to me what the copy of Fireworks (that I used a long time ago, so its probably changed a bit since then.) used to do. Animations, full page cutups, compression etc..

3rd party compressors can usually get you a better final crunch, so what I sometimes do is export large on the final jpg (i tweak gifs a bit differently) then crunch with a 3rd party prog..

A buddy sent me THE GIMP a while ago, maybe its time to download the latest version and give her the old try.....

[blunt_on_tour]

Originally posted by Canti@13 April 2004 - 17:00
I can't say that I have used THE GIMP, but I use photoshop primarily for its layers blending and really tricky image effects, but it's terrible at exporting, and even saving sometimes! There is one bug that wont allow a .gif extension in the filetype dropdown, but I dont use PS for saving anything other than .psd's anyway..

Photoshop 7 comes with ImageReady which seems to me what the copy of Fireworks (that I used a long time ago, so its probably changed a bit since then.) used to do. Animations, full page cutups, compression etc..

3rd party compressors can usually get you a better final crunch, so what I sometimes do is export large on the final jpg (i tweak gifs a bit differently) then crunch with a 3rd party prog..

A buddy sent me THE GIMP a while ago, maybe its time to download the latest version and give her the old try.....

Yeah, thanks. I had a look at the gimp site, with a view to downloading it, but it's up around 20mb, so it would probably take ages to d/l (I'm still on 56k). I'll try the setting you suggested first, and if that doesn't work I'll go get a copy of gimp.

Thanks again

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The GIMP is 6,878KB, GTK+ is 3,619KB, and LZW (which you won't find on the site, download it here ) is a whopping 38KB.

[blunt_on_tour]

Originally posted by haxor41789@15 April 2004 - 03:11
The GIMP is 6,878KB, GTK+ is 3,619KB, and LZW (which you won't find on the site, download it here ) is a whopping 38KB.

I must have read it wrong then Dunno where I got the idea it was 20 megs....