Graphics can take a lot of time to download, especially for site visitors with slow Internet connections. Here are ways you can make pages with graphics easier for site visitors to download:
You can resize a graphic by changing its height and width properties, or you can resize it directly on the page.
Resizing a graphic changes the HTML tags that tell a Web browser how to display the graphic; the actual graphic file is not changed. If you only resize the graphic, it will be displayed in a smaller area on a site visitor's screen, but its file size and the download time are unchanged.
To decrease the file size of a graphic and its download time, you will need to resample the graphic after resizing it.
Resample the graphic
Resampling a graphic changes its pixel size to match its current display size. When you resample the graphic, the file size is reduced to match the smaller size.
As you lower this setting, file compression is increased and the file size is decreased.
If you have a high-resolution graphic, make a copy of the graphic and lower its resolution by using a graphics program (such as Microsoft PhotoDraw).
In a graphics program, create a low-resolution version of a graphic, video, or animated GIF. To do this, open your graphic in a graphics program — such as Microsoft PhotoDraw — and reduce the color depth (number of colors) in the graphic. The fewer colors you specify for the low-resolution version of the graphic, the faster it will be displayed in a Web browser. Because the low-resolution graphic is intended as a placeholder for the high-resolution graphic, you should not change the height or width of the graphic.
Then, set Microsoft FrontPage to display this low-resolution version of your graphic while the original is being downloaded. Although this option does not reduce the amount of time the graphic takes to download, it does give the site visitor something to look at.
A thumbnail is a small version of the graphic that downloads quickly. By looking at the thumbnail, site visitors can determine whether they want to download the full-size version of the graphic. Use the AutoThumbnail feature, which automatically creates a thumbnail with a hyperlink to your original graphic.
Alternative text or ALT text text is text that is displayed in place of a graphic while it is downloading and lets site visitors know what they are waiting to see.
Move your mouse pointer over this graphic to see its ALT text.