Getting Started
{Design:}
{Content:}
{Images:}
First, a couple of general notes concerning images...
File Size: Often the images taken with a digital camera or imported with a scanner are too large to send via email. You might get away with one or two, but many internet service providers have imposed limits on the total byte-size of email transmissions which severely reduce the content that can be attached successfully, so you'll need to open them in a photo-editing application and reduce their size. Please don't reduce the photo's quality, though, and avoid optimizing them too. When scanning images, use the setting that's appropriate for the image, then reduce the image size in your photo editing program. Try not to exceed 1 Mb per image - that's big enough for me to work with and small enough to send several in one email. It's better to send large numbers of images by attaching to multiple emails than to cause your image quality to suffer. Of course, you can burn all your images to a CD/DVD and send them to me. Make sure they are all displaying properly from the disc before you fire off your package! Though it takes more time, this option will let you submit your raw images without having to work with them first.
Image Quality: There is always a certain amount of work I'll have to do to prepare images for insertion into your pages, and I've allowed for a certain amount of this in my pricing. Some digital images can have funny-looking angles and other optical distortions which usually don't take long to correct. They absolutely do not have to be professional quality! I'll do everything I can to make a troubled image presentable. Just keep in mind that although I'll always be as lenient as possible, the more time I have to spend on these tasks, the less I can spend on your site's design and greater your chances of incurring extra charges.
File Names: The file names for your pictures MUST be in all lowercase, with no spaces or punctuation marks. Underscores to indicate a space may be used, but sparingly. Using numbers to indicate a sequence for a slideshow are fine. Many slideshows will not play if your filenames include one or more of these forbidden characteristics, so they will have to be renamed. Renaming large numbers of image files can be VERY time-consuming, so if you need me to do it for you, this could result in extra charges.
{Page Background:}
Using an image for the page's background is attractive, but can be tricky and time-consuming. They can also add quite a bit of download time to your page, so be careful when considering this option. Doing something impressionistic like Butterfly Jewelry and Treasures can be truly beautiful; something more representational like West Gold Mining's goes a long way toward creating the atmosphere you desire.
When considering a background image, we must make sure it won't interfere with your visitors ability to read your text. However, background images can add a lot of flair, as in butterflyjewelryandtreasures.com...
and reinforce your site's theme, like seasidewomen.org
and westgoldmining.com
{Illustrations:}
It's almost a given that you'll need images to illustrate the points you make in your text. . Think about each page's intent and choose images that will increase its effectiveness. Would you like a picture of yourself? Your store, studio or office? Take another look at my clients' sites to see what others have done.
{Galleries and Stores:}
Here's where we'll present images of the products you are using your website to promote. Included in my base price is a simple Flash gallery or a PicLens gallery with up to 10 images, or a static gallery/store.
{Flash Gallery:}
Slideshows built in Flash are stylish and effective elements that will benefit almost any site. They look great, most people already have the Flash player installed on their computer, and the images can be protected from download. These are embedded in a webpage where you can add text that gives ordering instructions to your customers. Blue Mind Designs' gallery of the flamework glass jewelry and objects d'art Lauren creates is a good example of the simple Flash gallery I'll include in a starter site.
Need more than this? You can add extra images, and the gallery can be enhanced and customized with different features, as seen at Hummingbird Arts, and explained on my Options page.
{PicLens Gallery:}
PicLens Galleries are another really cool way to show off your images. These immersive galleries offer several viewing options to your visitors - they begin as a static gallery where viewers can look thumbnails of your images over as the immersive gallery loads. Moments later, they can click the "play" button on any image to enter a "hall" of images which allows visitors to review the entire collection in greater depth. There they can click on individual images to enlarge them, "sweep" (using a click and drag of the mouse) through numbers of images to view different groupings of images, or start a slideshow that displays the individual images at maximum size. An effective way to handle larger collections of images which also protects them from download. See mine here or click the thumbnail below. Play with it a little to see how all the viewing options work.
{Static Gallery/Store:}
This is a simple, effective store where you can display thumbnails of your work and offer them for sale using an online payment system like Paypal or by asking your customers to email you for a price total, invoice and payment options. Jannie chose this option for two pages at her site and has sold several pieces of jewelry and received a generous commission for a 3-panel custom stained glass window, too. She chose the Paypal option for the jewelry store; because of the difficulty of pricing the shipping for her larger stained glass pieces, she chose to have her visitors email her for quotes in the stained glass store. The thumbnails below are linked to the actual pages so you can check out the live pages.
Some people will find that their work is best sold using a "price card" type page rather than a store, like Jennifer Winters Photography. A neat table of packages and pricing options, either standalone or in conjunction with a gallery, can be appealing and informative - resulting in a clean, undistracted page that's easy for your customers to review and choose from.
If you teach classes, this type of page will be essential for you, as in Janet's Mandala Classes page:
There is also the option of creating an affiliate store. Janet chose to register with Amazon.com's affiliate network to make is easier for her students to order required books for mandala classes (as seen in her class page above), then decided to add a page of her favorite reads so others could purchase them too.
The ladies of Seaside Women had the same idea, making a store page with required reading for certain study groups and adding other titles for the sisters to enjoy.
{Online Sales:}
If you intend to offer your visitors the opportunity to purchase products or services directly from your site, we can integrate secure online credit/debit card transaction capability into your site using PayPal, the industry leader in secure online payment processing solutions. This can add the benefit of accessibility to your products by visitors from other countries as Paypal can receive foreign funds and convert them according to the current exchange rate. If you already have a personal PayPal account, you'll need to upgrade to or add a business account; additional benefits include free electronic transfers to your bank account and the opportunity to apply for a debit card drawn on your online account, giving you immediate access to cash and 1% cash back on purchases. If you already have a credit card merchant account, it may still be worth investigating PayPal's services, as their rates are much better than most credit card processing banks. You can find more information and open/upgrade to a business account by clicking on the banner at the bottom of this page. If you decide you want to do this but have some trouble with the process you can contact me and I'll be able to set you up with one phone call.
{Next: Options}