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 Once I settle on a graphic, I’ll then try to downsize the
memory while giving up as little as possible in quality. On the splash page of a site, quality wins over memory needed to load the graphic. You want your graphics to look good, but they must
also load fairly quickly. Otherwise, no one will ever see them! Here’s the process:
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 The original GIF 256 Colors: 62k
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I took the original through Ulead‘s SmartSaver Pro. Graphic was cropped and then saved in various formats below. Since this a large graphic on the splash page I’m willing to spend some memory for a great look.
Check the examples below to see the tradeoffs:
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GIF optimized to 32 colors: 28k
no real noticeable differences and half the size
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GIF optimized to 16 colors: 19k
this is my WINNER!
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JPG version at 90% quality: 23k
not too bad - we lose texture
and shadow (though nice) is a bit “washed”
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JPG version at 80% quality: 13k
texture and text are losing clarity
a 6k tradeoff is not worth it from above
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