Mastering Website Graphics: Problems And Solutions
Author: IanTraynor Total views: 17 Word Count: 765
As a professional webmaster, I am expected to carry out a very wide range of tasks in website design and maintenance. Actually, the term "webmaster" is a misnomer. It really should be "webjack", because I'm expected to be a "Jack of all trades"!
Here's Something I Struggle With..
Many webmasters such as myself find that the creation of website graphics is one of the hardest tasks to do well. Artistic ability is something you are born with, not something you can easily acquire. Yes, the best graphics software makes the job a little easier but software such as PhotoShop is both costly and not easy to master.
You only have to visit websites designed by amateurs to see how bad some people are at creating website graphics! Quite frankly, a badly presented website can destroy that site's credibility. If the site is selling something, would you want to pay someone who clearly is not a professional - or even a good business person? I think not!
The Importance Of Website Graphics
It is important for the content of a website to be easily read, and this can partially be achieved by breaking up the text with well-placed and appropriate images. This is as important on blogs and content-rich sites as it is with selling websites. People will soon leave if the site cannot be easily and quickly read.
Also, presenting an image of whatever is being sold on a site will increase the conversion rate. This applies equally to digital products such as eBooks and software.
Using A Professional Graphic Designer
If you need some really high-quality images, and you don't have good graphic design skills then you should use the services of a professional graphic designer. Yes, it could be expensive. And yes, you may have to wait a while for the work to be finished.
Finding a good graphic designer can be a challenge. You need to ensure that they have the skills to produce website graphics, not just off-line graphics. And look carefully at their style. Does it appeal to you. Every designer has their own style and you need to find one whose style you like. Check the sort of work that they have done. And check, also, that they can do the work in time for you. Some designers are very busy and they could end up delaying the launch of your product or site.
What About Ready-Made Website Graphics?
There is no shortage of freely available images on the web - such as buttons, bullets, headers, icons and photographs.
The trouble is that the same graphics get used time and again on different websites, and people will soon realise that you are a "cheapskate"! Not a good impression to make! Of course, you can use your graphics software to modify pre-made graphics. If you want to make certain that your website stands out, you need to have access to valuable content that is relatively unique. But again, changing graphics takes time and skill. Like many people, I am short of both of these!
There's also the problem of locating good sources of pre-made graphics. I've found that a lot of these collections of existing artwork are both repetitive and of poor quality.
What I Have Done To Tackle The Website Graphics Problem
I've been a professional webmaster since 1996, and so I've spent a lot of time tracking down good web-based sources of graphics. And in recent months, I've found web-based services which go a long way beyond just providing clip art and royalty-free photographs
These website graphics services are amazing! With no graphic design skills you can build banners, buttons, badges and icons. You can change the appearance of existing photos. You can use the online equivalent of high-end graphics programs to work on existing images. And I've been impressed with the sites which help you design, from scratch, both website and blog templates. Almost daily I come across a new website graphics service online, and they are becoming more and more powerful.
Best of all, they don't cost you anything!
For my own convenience, I took the best of these graphics services and wrapped them up in a bit of software which I can easily access. And the software can be updated easily, so that I can add new graphics services as I find them
Before long, my friends found out what I'd done and asked me if they could have a copy of this software. They said that it was amazing and why didn't I try to sell it. The rest, as they say, is history, and it's become one of the most popular pieces of software that I've produced in my "Webmasters CheatKit" range.
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About the Author
The author of this article, Ian Traynor, has spent years struggling with website graphics! He has made his "graphics in a box" software available at a low price from http://www.IanSays.com/WebmastersCheatKit/GraphicsWizard
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