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In the last
activity, you saw how easy it is to add graphics from clipart collections
and other websites to your webpages.
In this
next activity, you will create your own web graphics.
Mac users
can use the AppleWorks Paint Application. You will also want
to check your computer applications for other graphics tools or photo
editors which may also work (PhotoShop, GraphicsConverter, etc.).
Creating
Web Graphics Using AppleWorks
- Open
AppleWorks.
- Click
on Paint and the application will open on the screen.
- First
you will want to set size of the image you will create.
- Click
on the Format menu and select Document.
- A dialog
box will appear allowing you to set the Pixels Across: and Pixels
Down: settings.
- Remember
that the larger the image is, the longer it will take to appear on
the screen. You might want to start with a 300 pixel by 300
pixel size. As reference point, remember that the typical size
of a webpage is 640 pixels by 480 pixels or 800 pixels
by 600 pixels so you will want to create images that are
smaller than those dimensions to allow room for the webpage text.
- The
Tool Buttons on the left side of the screen will allow you
to select the Paint tool you want to use. Notice that if you hold
the cursor over the tool for a few seconds, a little caption will
pop up telling you what the tool can do.
- Begin
by experimenting with the Pencil, Brush and Airbrush
Tools which will allow you to draw lines and shapes on the
palette.
- Clicking
on the Color Chips on the right side of the screen will allow
you to change the color displayed on the screen.
- The
Line and Curve tools allow you to draw straight lines
and string-like curves on the screen.
- The
Shape Tools on the lower left side of the Tools bar
allow you to create geometric objects.
- The
Eraser Tool allows you to correct mistakes.
- The
Paint Bucket Tool will fill closed shapes with a selected color.
- Clicking
on the Text Tool will allow you to draw a text box and add
text to the image.
- Hold
down the mouse button while you draw a text box on the
screen.
- When
you release the mouse button, a box will appear allowing you to type
the text. Select the text and click on the Text menu to chage the
Font, Size, Style and Color of the text.
- Spend
some time creating your personal web graphic.
- You
will find the Help files useful if you need more information on how
to use the tools.
- If you
want to begin again, just select New from the File menu.
- When
you are satisfied with your digital image you will want to save it
so you can insert it into your webpage.
- You
will want to be very careful in this next step since web browsers
can not display the .pict images that Paint uses as
the default save as option.
- Follow
these steps to save your graphic in a format that can be displayed.
- Select
Save As from the File menu.
- When
the dialog box appears, select the folder where you saved the
default.html webpage.
- Now,
click the arrows to the right of File Format and click
on JPEG (Note: jpg files can be displayed by all web browsers
and are the best choice for your personal web graphics).
- Change
the file name from untitled to image.jpg
Important Note: You can substitute a different name (8 letters or
less with no spaces!) instead of image but you must add the
.jpg suffix or the image will not work when you add it to your
webpage.
- Click
on Save.
- Open
your default.html webpage with Netscape Composer and
insert your image following the steps you used earlier.
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