How To Choose Images
Images are an important part of your website as well as social media pages. Not only are images content, they are a key way to help style your page and enforce your branding.
Size Matters
Before you even get into styling them, you need to put thought into what type of images are best. One of the easiest ways to slow down performance is to include lots of large, high-quality images. So there are two general things to consider when picking your images: what format and how large are they?
Formats
JPEG – Possibly the most common image format used on the web today. JPEG does a good job of compressing colorful, complex images into reasonable files sizes. JPEG is often used for photos because otherwise, photos can take a very long time to load.
PNG – Provides a higher quality image, but you pay for it with a larger file size. Unlike JPEG, PNGs can have transparent backgrounds, so you’ll often see them used for graphics as part of the page’s layout rather than content.
GIF – Supports moving images and transparent backgrounds. These can be especially large files so try to use sparingly! Save them for special effects like our home page banner.
Sizing
It’s important to format and size your image before uploading. While the site might resize it, in terms of width and height, the browser will download the full image even if you’ve chosen to display it smaller than it is.
Color Matters
If you do not plan out your images, they can end up looking very disruptive.
Anyone who has looked Instagram pages will know that a collection of images can look jarring. These kind of pages need to be curated – just as you would when placing a group of photos on your wall.
Placing images on backgrounds can help produce a “polaroid” affect with a padding of color. This will add a visual “space” between images. It is a good idea to prepare a series of backgrounds that complement your branding. Using them will give a curated appeal to be your page.
Remember, when preparing an image for social media, you are preparing an element of your branding! Not just any old image will do.
