Creating Thumbnails for Visitor Choice
The best way to display a large image on your website is to first
make a smaller version of it (called a thumbnail image) and use
the thumbnail as a link to another page that has the larger image
on it. By showing a small version of your picture first, a reader
has the choice of clicking on it or not, instead of being forced
to wait for the large version to download. Include some instructions
that will let the user know they can click on the image for a larger
version. Also include information on the size of the larger image
so they can decide if they are willing to wait for such a large
image to load.
Thumbnail Sample:
Click for larger image (35k)
Creating a thumbnail takes a bit of extra work, but it's the only
way to correctly show a large image without forcing people to wait.
Here are the basic steps involved:
1. Create two versions of your picture: a small one that is about
10 to15k in file size and anywhere from 100 to 200 pixels in dimension,
and a large one that is about 40 k in file size and about 300
to 500 pixels in dimension.
2. Create a new webpage.
3. Insert your large image on this new page and label it.
4. Add some text below your large image saying something like
"Back".
5. Link the text to the page the thumbnail will be on.
6. Add the thumbnail (smaller) image to the webpage.
7. Below it type something like "click for a larger image".
8. Link the thumbnail image and the text to the page with the
larger image.
9. Test your links.
Tip: There is a quick, free and easy way to generate
large numbers of webpages that have navigation links and thumbnail
pictures. Use Web Album Generator at http://www.ornj.net/software/webalbum.
You can also customize the pages it generates in Dreamweaver.
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