How To Build a Web Site with Free Stuff 2: Graphics

Alan Richmond

November 15, 1999

In Part 1 we overviewed the reasons why people would offer free stuff, and why you might want it. We also looked at some free tools for creating HTML. In this part, we extensively overview ways to obtain or create graphics, ranging from clip art sources, through online services that create graphics, to programs that you can download or build, for designing or generating graphics. "Graphics" refers to a wide range of images in digital form, such as arrows, buttons, bars, icons, animated GIFs, scanned artwork, and photographs.

Introduction

For many people, web design = graphics. But, this is no more than one half or one third of the story - for the rest, see Web Design - More than Meets the Eye. Nevertheless, good graphics and page design can grab the viewer's attention, and may well make the difference between being bookmarked, and being forgotten - even if your content is brilliant. Some of today's page designs are truly stunning; few of us have the talent to spontaneously produce such designs,but by studying the HTML code (View Source) we can learn the techniques that went into their construction.

Conditions of Usage

Since the earliest days of the web, people have made some of their graphics available for free - sometimes subject to certain restrictions, such as being only for personal, non-commercial sites, or in return for a link back. A large number of collections have been assembled, created from what was available at other sites on the net, plus perhaps a number of the site author's own creations.

You'll typically find a disclaimer at such sites, like this: "I collected these images from all over the net, and as far as I know, they are all freely available for your use. If you spot any that shouldn't be here, please let me know" . What this really means is that some of the images might not have been intended for copying; furthermore, some of these collections were assembled from other collections, and any conditions on the images' usage - if ever they were noticed - get diluted by each person's re-statement of the conditions of usage.

The end result is that you can't be sure if images found in collections are really available to use as you wish, unless they were created by the site owner and they offer a clear statement of usage conditions. A typical set of usage conditions is that the images are free for use on non-commercial sites in return for credit and/or a link back; a few sites allow commercial use also. Check for specific conditions.

How To Build a Web Site with Free Stuff 2: Graphics

Introduction

Conditions of Usage

Contents: