Graphics often need a bit of a tweak before you add them to

your pages. Cropping, making the background transparent,

resizing, or just finding that picture that you **know**

you've got somewhere on your hard drive! Irfan View can

carry out all these tasks, and includes a great browser

which loads at the click of a key, and displays thumbnails

for you to choose from. It will also do screen captures.

Available from many freeware sites (see below), you can also

download from http://softwarecenter.net/irfanview/

GIF files can be "optimized" - have all the unnecessary

information cut out of them. This makes them quicker to load

on a web site, without affecting their quality. GifClean32

from http://members.tripod.com/~mharing/GifClean32.html will

do this, and is very easy to use. JpgCleaner from

http://rnbw.tsx.org does the same for JPG files.

NOTE: Some clipart creators ask you not to use these tools

on their graphics, as the programs can remove the copyright

info from the file. So check first!

Do you want an icon for your web site? Having a "favicon"

which displays in Internet Explorer address bar and

favorites list can make your site stand out. GoldIcon will

let you create 32x32 BMP icons. Get it from

http://www.goldshell.com To find out more about favicons and

how to use them, go to http://www.favicon.com/

Harm's Tile from http://www.users.uswest.net/~sharman1/ will

allow you to create seamless tiles for backgrounds, buttons,

etc. It has several effects that can be used alone or

combined together, such as ripple, fish-eye, buttonise and

more. It's fun to use, too!

UFX (Ultimate Effects) - http://www.ultimatepaint.com/ufx/

can apply special effects to your pictures. It's prime

purpose is for scanning and manipulating photos, but it can

be used on other graphics too. You can also use Adobe

Photoshop plug-ins with it. Use it for screen capture,

transparent gifs, special effects and other tasks too.

Some of my favourite freeware sites:

http://www.completelyfreesoftware.com/

http://www.webattack.com/

http://www.jumbo.com/

http://www.moochers.com/

Some of my favourite free graphics sites:

http://www.iconarchive.com

http://www.clipartcastle.com

http://www.clipart.com

http://www.free-backgrounds.com/

Dianne Reuby is co-author of the e-book "First Website

Builder", http://newbieclub.com/builder/?pramclub

Dianne created and runs the Free Site Builder web site and

ezine, dedicated to helping newbies create web sites with

free tools, services and resources.

Visit FSB at http://freesitebuilder.co.uk/

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