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Dante
07-15-2004, 05:21 PM
Hi there,

I've just downloaded a freeware photo editor called photofiltre and am trying to make backgrounds for a website design but i'm having problems. I'm wondering how you people go about making background images for different columns/headers etc.

For instance : I've been trying to make a header design but i'm finding that it's not fitting. If the size for the CSS width property is 85% does that mean that i just take fifteen percent off 800 pixels? Or is it less, because when i sized it, made a design (yeah i really am a beginner here!) and then put it in it didn't fit!

Sooo, when you say 85% in css for the width, what would that convert to in pixels?

Finally, when i look at some of the sites on the net they have things like borders coming off the edges of the columns and going into the backgrounds with all types of blur effects or whatever it is, and yeah, hopefully i'll pick this all up but when they do this how do they adjust it if it's part of the background and more content has been added? Its hard to explain what i mean really and i can't get photoshop at the moment so i'm having to use a freeware program, but to finish off, do you know of any sites that i could learn how to make effects for columns/headers/footers/backgrounds etc that a beginner can learn from?

I guess it's just a case of messing with stuff and learning how it works, but i just got a bit stuck when i realized i couldn't convert CSS width percentages into pixels, so i thought i'd post and see if anyone had any advice.

Hopefully in a year or so i'll be able to help others out who are new to this, but at the moment i'm going through a wierd patch where i know some CSS and HTML but i need to be able to add effects to make my websites look anything above average, it's annoying!

(but i'll try and chill, perhaps i should have a smoke and take a few deep breaths. :p )

Thanks if you got to the end of this mini rant!

Dante
07-15-2004, 05:24 PM
Woops.

Sorry mods, i've just spotted that there's a graphics forum, i guess i've got the wrong one here.

mindlessLemming
07-15-2004, 05:45 PM
Sooo, when you say 85% in css for the width, what would that convert to in pixels?


Umm.. it doesn't. :p
85% of 800x600 doesn't mean much to me, as one of my monitors is 1024x768 and the other 1280x1024. Niether can be changeed as they're LCD's. And if you get someone using a widescreen mac(1440xsomethin') you're really up the creek!
If you're using a percentage width (great accessibility practice, btw :thumbsup: ), then you need to use a repeatable background or a really wide image that still looks good when a large portion is chopped off the right side...
Doesn't leave much, I know, but solving problems is what we get paid for ;)

Dante
07-16-2004, 01:59 AM
That sounds like hard work. Thanks anyway, so do you know what i should be doing as a next step if i want to learn how to do web design?

rswyatt
07-21-2004, 07:50 PM
If it is a solid color background - make it something really small like 10x10 or something and then make it repeatable like mindlessleming said... That is the best way for constant backgrounds... for multi-color and those with multiple themes - that doesn't work so nice.

oracleguy
07-21-2004, 07:52 PM
If it is a solid color background - make it something really small like 10x10 or something and then make it repeatable like mindlessleming said... That is the best way for constant backgrounds... for multi-color and those with multiple themes - that doesn't work so nice.

If it is a solid color, you wouldn't even have to do that. Just specify the hex number for the color using CSS.

rswyatt
07-22-2004, 12:04 AM
Sorry - misworded - if it is a non-solid color - like has little patterns or a checkered type pattern - my suggestion would work.

Otherwise - yes, just specify in the bgcolor..

Graft-Creative
08-24-2004, 03:25 PM
That sounds like hard work. Thanks anyway, so do you know what i should be doing as a next step if i want to learn how to do web design?

Sounds like you are already going about it the right way mate
:thumbsup:

These forums ('specially this one) are a great way of picking up knowledge, from people who are more than happy to help.

The more questions you ask and the more you immerse yourelf in it all, then you'll learn, often things just sink in by osmosis.

Best place to start is www.w3schools.com imo

Good luck mate, and post some work on here for peer review when you can, that will really help you out!