Website with images

1

I am creating a website that is primarily composed of images; there are only one or two images per page and they are all jpgs. I need them to be big, sometimes 900x1200 pixels. What is a good maximum for the size of an image if I want the website to run reasonably smoothly? Right now the images range in size from .5MB to 3.5MB; I am thinking that 3.5 is way too much. Anything on this type of problem would be helpful.

Thanks

2

it really depends who your target audience is, are you aiming to get dial-up people (the smaller the better, maybe mostly text based)? or broadband people (your 3.5 mb probably wouldn’t be much of a problem)? or both (in which case you may want two versions)

3

3.5 MB is rather large, even for broadband people. You should be able to get the file size down considerably without reducing the dimensions by optimizing the jpg compression. Even then they will still be a lengthy download for anyone not on broadband.

One other thing to keep in mind. Just over half of all users are still running at 800x600. Another 40% are using 1024x768. That means that over 90% of all users would have to scroll both directions to see a 1200x900 image.

4

another thing that might help would be frames. if you have all your text laid out right in frames, the pics would only have to load once, just reload the frame stuff :wink:

a pic that is the main part of the site should probably be around 250 kb or less. of course, you would probably need a preloader on some sort of splash page if your images were fairly big.

5

on screen resolution:

800x600 (XGA): this accounts for ~45% of page accesses, down from 51% a year ago. Some users surely have old PCs, with little video memory; the rest likely have PCs whose resolutions are set lower because (a) many new PCs default to a lower resolution, and (b) many PCs have monitors too small for readable higher-resolution text. The percentage will likely decrease steadily as higher resolution displays grow more common, but will remain popular for many years.

and:

1024x768 and higher (SVGA): this accounts for ~51% of page accesses, up from 43% a year ago. Most new PCs have enough video memory for high resolution displays, but many are set to a lower resolution because (a) many new PCs default to a lower resolution, and (b) many PCs have monitors too small for readable higher-resolution text. The percentage of high resolution users will continue to grow steadily.

from http://www.upsdell.com/BrowserNews/stat_trends.htm

Rev