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Making The Transition From Print To Web


cookieredd

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Hello everyone!

 

I am a print designer trying to learn more about web design. I am currently taking a course on it (some things are still fuzzy, but I'm sure I'll sort through it) but I wanted to see what advice you guys had for starting this transition. What are some common mistakes that are made when beginning web design? Where do you go for design inspiration? Do you have any tips/tricks that a beginner may find useful when making this transition?

 

Thanks so much!

c.

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Well now:

 

I am a relatively newbie myself, but here are some thoughts:

 

1) Typography is quite different; Points (pt) or picas are not very meaningful in web work because the user's personal computer may be set to render type in a personally selected size. Use (em) or percentages instead.

 

2) Type faces are very limited: Times New Roman, Verdana, Arial are about it! Unless you incorporate additional software into your coding to allow the use of more sophisticated fonts.

 

3) Color is much more limited for the web. Although millions of colors are available, there is relatively little control over how those colors are rendered on a user's computer, again depending on the settings of the user's computer. Generally, in my experience, use highly contrasting colors for material that needs to stand out as in type over a background color.

 

4) The use of photographs in a layout is much less of a problem than it used to be a few years ago. In the days of dial-up modems photos would often slow down the loading time beyond the patience of many viewers. Although this is not usually the case any more because of broad-band internet connections, it is still useful to be careful of the pixel "weight" of photos used. A resolution of 72ppi is quite adequate for the majority of monitors in use today. ( As opposed to 200 to 1000 ppi you have been used to employ in print media.) Also limit the size of images. Pixel use increases with the square of the linear dimensions! A one inch square picture at 72dpi is 5184 pixels. A two-inch square is 20,736 pixels! In other words, avoid using a single photo as the background of your layout. (There is an easy way with CSS to "tesselate" a background with a small picture to repeat.)

 

Hope I have provided some useful stuff for you. Look for more in-depth info from some of the more senior members in this forum.

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Hello everyone!

 

I am a print designer trying to learn more about web design. I am currently taking a course on it (some things are still fuzzy, but I'm sure I'll sort through it) but I wanted to see what advice you guys had for starting this transition. What are some common mistakes that are made when beginning web design? Where do you go for design inspiration? Do you have any tips/tricks that a beginner may find useful when making this transition?

 

Thanks so much!

c.

 

 

Don’t get trapped buying lots of learning materials; stick with one that works for you.

Easy to understand and have practical application. Practice, practice & practice. :)

 

-Herbert

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