The PNG image file format is not new to the web. It originally developed in the mid-90s as a solution to the shortcomings of the traditional GIF image file format. However, because early browser applications offered only spotty support for the PNG's advanced features, web designers, developers were limited in its use.

One large hurdle in particular faced by PNG's was Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). Far and away the most popular browser, IE offered particularly poor support for the file format. However, with the release of IE 7 as well as several JavaScript hacks, this has all changed, and PNGs are more popular than ever.

But who cares!? And besides being one letter short of my favorite 1972 video game, what makes a PNG so great? Below, are three reasons why PNGs are the best image format since the Polaroid.

They’re See-Through! (Alpha Transparency):
As compared to the GIF, PNG offers a far less basic form of transparency. With GIFs, a particular color (or colors) is able to be saved as transparent, leaving colors either entirely opaque or transparent. There is no in-between.

PNGs have a distinct advantage in this area. The PNG file format supports "semi-transparent pixels," meaning a PNG can be saved with a soft drop shadow and floated over any background. It can be used as a watermark on a textured or gradiented background. It can even be smoothly faded from fully opaque to transparent, revealing the web page contents beneath.

Summerour.net features a logo which demonstrates this function. The homepage layout called for a logo with a soft drop shadow over a textured background of architectural sketches that regularly change. Using a GIF or JPG would be highly impractical, because every time the image changed, the logo is background would need to be edited. A PNG, however, is floated over the image with a faded drop shadow, making the task quick, simple and dynamic. PNGs make the look and feel of your page flexible.

They Look Great! (Lossless Compression ):
Every time a JPEG is saved and compressed, it loses some of the original file's information and the image quality degrades. The GIF file format offers lossless compression (so the file can be saved and resaved without losing image quality), but it only supports a limited 256 color palette, making it useless for full-color photography and other such complex images.

PNG offers the best of both worlds. It displays full color photographic images, like the JPEG, but it also supports a managed color palette, like the GIF format. While the PNG will typically have a larger file size than the JPEG for photographic images, it does have a distinct advantage: its compression is lossless, meaning images never degrade in quality or suffer from "compression artifacting" which affects many JPEG images.

The results are crisper, brighter images that will on your pages unlike ever before.

They âre Self Optimizing! (Gamma Correction ):
Adjusting the brightness and contrast of images to look correct on a wide variety of monitors and operating systems is a common problem facing web designers. This problem is primarily related to different monitor Gamma settings.

Gamma is a method monitors use to distribute their luminance evenly across the display. Unfortunately, different operating systems (in particular the Mac and Windows) use different Gamma settings. So an image that is color-corrected for the Macintosh operating system may look too dark on the Windows operating system and vice-versa.

About the Author:

Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips & hints, Points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques & insights pertaining to Web Designing, Do please browse for more information at our website :-
http://www.thedesignbuild.com
http://www.webdesign.reprintarticlesite.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Use Png Images Format in Your Web Designing

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7 steps - Architecture Driven Modernization, iCMG

The PNG image file format is not new to the web. It originally developed in the mid-90s as a solution to the shortcomings of the traditional GIF image file format. However, because early browser applications offered only spotty support for the PNG's advanced features, web designers, developers were limited in its use.

One large hurdle in particular faced by PNG's was Microsoft Internet Explorer (IE). Far and away the most popular browser, IE offered particularly poor support for the file format. However, with the release of IE 7 as well as several JavaScript hacks, this has all changed, and PNGs are more popular than ever.

But who cares!? And besides being one letter short of my favorite 1972 video game, what makes a PNG so great? Below, are three reasons why PNGs are the best image format since the Polaroid.

They’re See-Through! (Alpha Transparency):
As compared to the GIF, PNG offers a far less basic form of transparency. With GIFs, a particular color (or colors) is able to be saved as transparent, leaving colors either entirely opaque or transparent. There is no in-between.

PNGs have a distinct advantage in this area. The PNG file format supports "semi-transparent pixels," meaning a PNG can be saved with a soft drop shadow and floated over any background. It can be used as a watermark on a textured or gradiented background. It can even be smoothly faded from fully opaque to transparent, revealing the web page contents beneath.

Summerour.net features a logo which demonstrates this function. The homepage layout called for a logo with a soft drop shadow over a textured background of architectural sketches that regularly change. Using a GIF or JPG would be highly impractical, because every time the image changed, the logo is background would need to be edited. A PNG, however, is floated over the image with a faded drop shadow, making the task quick, simple and dynamic. PNGs make the look and feel of your page flexible.

They Look Great! (Lossless Compression ):
Every time a JPEG is saved and compressed, it loses some of the original file's information and the image quality degrades. The GIF file format offers lossless compression (so the file can be saved and resaved without losing image quality), but it only supports a limited 256 color palette, making it useless for full-color photography and other such complex images.

PNG offers the best of both worlds. It displays full color photographic images, like the JPEG, but it also supports a managed color palette, like the GIF format. While the PNG will typically have a larger file size than the JPEG for photographic images, it does have a distinct advantage: its compression is lossless, meaning images never degrade in quality or suffer from "compression artifacting" which affects many JPEG images.

The results are crisper, brighter images that will on your pages unlike ever before.

They âre Self Optimizing! (Gamma Correction ):
Adjusting the brightness and contrast of images to look correct on a wide variety of monitors and operating systems is a common problem facing web designers. This problem is primarily related to different monitor Gamma settings.

Gamma is a method monitors use to distribute their luminance evenly across the display. Unfortunately, different operating systems (in particular the Mac and Windows) use different Gamma settings. So an image that is color-corrected for the Macintosh operating system may look too dark on the Windows operating system and vice-versa.

About the Author:

Did you find this article useful? For more useful tips & hints, Points to ponder and keep in mind, techniques & insights pertaining to Web Designing, Do please browse for more information at our website :-
http://www.thedesignbuild.com
http://www.webdesign.reprintarticlesite.com

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - Use Png Images Format in Your Web Designing

CISA 3 Maurizio Seracini - Calit2 UCSD

New Englanders are proud of their region and of the abundance of attractions which highlight the history and culture unique to this area. But they do not just sit back and enjoy it. Museums and attractions are constantly working to enhance the visitor experience, continuing restoration work, adding exhibits or offering a tour with a new twist in a popular destination. Another thing New Englanders are passionate about is food. Lobster is the first thing that comes to mind when you think of New England's cuisine. But Maine potatoes have found their way out of the fryer and into premium vodka, and the sea breezes along the south coast of Rhode Island and Connecticut help produce award-winning wines. In New England, there is always something new!

Connecticut

Mystic Seaport, the Museum of America and the Sea, is the nations most important maritime museum, but its also the most delightful way to learn about our seafaring history-whaling, fishing, boat building and life in a 19th-century coastal village. Because Mystic Seaport is also a research center, your group has the opportunity to watch as important historic vessels undergo restoration. In 2007, the Charles W. Morgan, the last wooden whaling vessel from the great days of sail, will be put in dry dock on-site and visitors will still be able to visit the Morgan and observe this preservation project first-hand. A very popular special exhibit through 2006 is Black Hands, Blue Seas, which chronicles the maritime heritage of African-Americans. In 2007, a special exhibition on Tugboats and their influence on maritime history is being planned.

Rhode Island

The newest addition to the Ocean States attractions is the Majestic, a 149-passenger yacht-style vessel that just launched its first season on Narragansett Bay at the end of April. Your groups will be able to enjoy a one-hour narrated cruise of Newports scenic harbor, a lunch cruise or an elegant dinner cruise.

Massachusetts

Historic Tours of America is diligently acquiring artifacts regarding the Boston Tea Party for the new Boston Tea Party Ships and Museum when it opens in 2007. The museum will be dedicated to the preservation and interpretation of the event in Boston Harbor on December 16, 1773, which sparked the revolution. The recently acquired Robinson Tea Chest is one of only two known surviving crates from the event and will be a centerpiece of the new museum.

Other news for 2006 at Historic Tours of America is that your clients taking an Old Town Trolley tour will enjoy a walking tour of Beacon Hill with a costumed guide as part of their package. If your group is looking for something fun to do in the evening, they have introduced a Ghosts andGravestones tour. Half the tour is on Old Town Trolleys, but these trolleys are black with purple fluorescent lights. Guides use keys to let the group into the historic cemeteries where they are met by a gravedigger in costume.

At the western end of the state, the Berkshires offers an abundance of great sightseeing opportunities. At The Mount, the magnificent estate of the author Edith Wharton, groups can take a 45-minute guided tour of the house, including the recently restored formal areas. The freshly planted gardens are spectacular and can be combined with the tour of the house.

Tanglewood is the summer home of the Boston Symphony, but the Berkshires have an abundance of theatre and music. This summer, the newly restored Colonial Theatre in Pittsfield will reopen after a comprehensive restoration project to bring it back to its turn-of-the-century elegance. It is one of Americas finest theaters to have survived the years intact. Attend a performance if possible, but groups can book tours of the facility to see this architectural treasure.

Source: www.leisuregrouptravel.com

other links:

www.grouptravelblog.com

www.grouptraveldirectory.com

About the Author:

we are in travel business and wants to provide information about the different travel destinations of united states of america.

Article Source: ArticlesBase.com - New England Regional Travel Tips, by Alice Gregory

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