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SteveWR
Posts: 277
Joined: 3/27/2002
From: Essex, UK
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Nasty GIFs - 12/9/2003 19:23:04
Hi,
When I look at other peoples sites and also templates I have used there is a reasonable use of gifs for backgrounds and menu wording and fillers as you would expect.
However when i make gifs they always come out really nasty and grainy when back in the browser, whilst the stuff other people have done is really pin sharp.
I end up creating the same image in jpg just to get the quality even for backgrounds. I have got a pentium 4 2gig with 512k ddr so the laptop should be able to "do it" ok I would have thought.
Where am I going wrong?
< Message edited by SteveWR -- 12/9/2003 7:25:08 PM >
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Nancy
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From: Nebraska
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 12/9/2003 20:35:09
Probably a more important question than what your laptop is would be what graphics program you are using, and how you are saving the gif files - what options you have available and what you are choosing from them.
Nancy
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Gotzhaus
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 12/10/2003 3:33:41
I use paintshop pro for my images. After I have decided that I am complete with the image, I will copy it, open animation, paste the image and then save the file.
This will result in a cleaner image being saved. You may also want to try saving as a .png, it has less fuzzy area's when saved.
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Giomanach
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From: England
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 12/10/2003 3:41:43
Hi Steve
PSP7 when saving gifs tends to make the background fuzzy etc. The easy way round this ine is save it as a jpg, then open it in paint and then save it as a gif, never fails.
PSP8 however tends to add more colour to the files so that file size is bigger, but you also get a better quality picture, but it all depends on what you want. If your using black background etc, I suggest using Photoshop, the colours don't fade and it keeps the picture clean
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SteveWR
Posts: 277
Joined: 3/27/2002
From: Essex, UK
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 12/11/2003 16:57:51
Nancy, I use PSP7 mostly, I do also have Photoshop Elements and will from time to time still use Image Composer.
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Nancy
Posts: 3626
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From: Nebraska
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 12/12/2003 3:43:23
I don't know of any reason, using PSP7, that you should continually have problems ending up with gif images taht are fuzzy.
I happen to disagree with Giomanach that should have to save them as a jpg first and open them into a different program. PSP7 has a built in gif optimizer (that in my opinion works quite well) that should allow you to make various choices to get your image to look just as you want. File>Export>Gif Optimizer. You can adjust the number of colors used in the image, if you want it to have transparency, as well as other choices.
If you images are looking grainy, it sounds like you might need to adjust the dithering. The other thing that might cause something to look grainy would be if there are more than 256 colors in your image, and PSP tries to reduce it and has to toss aside some of the colors. If there are a lot of color changes, then jpg would likely be a better format to use.
Gradients can be a little tricky with gif images - obviously what makes the gradient are the subtle color changes, and a gif image might have a little trouble with that. Sometimes you can apply a very small percentage of noise to the image - 1-2% - and it seems to help when exporting the image. I can't tell you exactly why, but I read that years ago as a tip, and it does work.
If you need a little more help. you might post a screenshot of what you are working on, and a brief explanation of the steps you usually use, and possibly we can make PSP a little more useful for you.
I have PS Elements, but have not really ever used it, so I don't think I can help a lot. If I remember correctly it has a File>Save for Web option that would also give you some options to try. And my answer for Image Composer is the same - I have it, but it has been so long since I even opened it I would consider my knowledge with it as less than zero. *S*
Basically though, any of the three programs should make a decent, non-fuzzy/grainy simple gif image without having to do any additional work in any other program, if the right steps are followed. It is just a matter of knowing what those steps are.
Nancy
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Peppergal
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 12/12/2003 14:33:31
The PSP gif optimizer has three "colors" options. One is "web safe" and it will only be the 256 colors...smallest file size and the most grainy.
Optimized Octree and Optimized Median Cut offer more options for keeping gif quality high, but also has higher file size. I've been able to maintain the integrity of my gifs using octree or median, but sometimes a jpeg has a smaller file size. So, if the jpeg looks just as good, only smaller file, I use jpeg.
I've never had to resave them in paint or anything. I've never had them lose colors or anything when using Octree or Median Cut.
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Nigel
Posts: 383
Joined: 7/24/2002
From: Wirral - UK
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 12/13/2003 12:41:22
Hi Steve,
A few of these answers come close to your problem but hoprfully this will help.
As a general rule of thumb Gif's are used on the web for images with a limited number of colours like for example a map or a logo. Jpg's are for photographs.
The way you save the Gif depends on the number of colours in the image and most of the better graphics programs give you the following options for number of colours:
8,16,32,64,128,256
The benefits of choosing less colours are smaller file sizes but if your unsure always go for 256 - it doesn't make a huge difference in file size if the image has less colours but it does make a huge difference to quality if you choose less and the image has more.
The other option you will get is:
perceptive,selective,web and adpative (there may be more and they may be phrased differently - this is photoshops choices)
Choose adaptive and you should get the quality you want. Adpative will adapt to the colour pallete of the browser and choose the nearest option.
Leave all the other options at there default - just set to 256 colours and adpative then let us know how you get on.
One final thought. The quality of the Gif will depend on the quality of the original image.
Nigel
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toniallen
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 12/15/2003 15:25:57
Also, if you are saving transperant gifs, make sure you select the "matte" or "matting" color to be the same color as the background you are placing the transperant image on top of. :)
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treetopsranch
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From: Cottage Grove, OR, USA
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RE: Nasty GIFs - 9/29/2009 8:48:20
I wouldn't use gifs for those. Use JPG's
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