Software Review:
NetGraphics Studio
Part 3
By Scott Clark
"But I don't want to size it, I want to Optimize it!"
Now we get to the tool that most of us are actually interested in, the Optimizer. If you're like me, you've created you own graphics, and they look professional, but--here it comes--they're too large in dimension and file size. Not only that, you want to turn them into progressive JPEGs so visitors can see them as they download.
Figure 2: The NetGraphics Optimizer
The Optimizer (See Figure 2) is a small utility which loads fast, takes up little screen architecture, and takes care of several tasks at once. You can select an image to edit by clicking on the "Open" button in the Optimizer window, or you can drag-and-drop images from other applications into the Optimizer. Conversely, when you're done editing your image, you can drag-and-drop it into your browser window to see how it will look within the browser.
The tool is designed to work like a "Wizard," easing you through the optimization process step-by-step. If anything, it's too easy to use...but don't be fooled by its ease of use; this tool is extremely useful. The Resize process (See Figure 3) enables you to simply grab and drag your image to size it--without a loss of clarity.
Figure 3: The NetGraphics Optimizer Resizing Method
The Optimizer recommends the format in which you should save your graphic, but it allows you to make the final choice. It enables you to visually inspect the graphic as you use a slidebar to change the compression ratio and number of colors in the image.
Additionally, you can instantly see how long it would take to download the image in its current state by selecting transmission speeds from 14.4 all the way up to a 10Mb Intranet. The next step gives you the choice of using a progressive image, and again shows you modem download speed for the current state of the image. You then save the image, and start the process over for the next image.
The NetGraphics Optimizer is simple to use, fast and very effective. It doesn't have a ton of extraneous features to confuse you, and it will enable you to use your time developing Web sites, not fiddling with graphics.
While the NetGraphics Gallery tool could come in handy for hobbiests and those building personal Web sites, it's the least attractive part of the NetGraphics Studio for professional developers. If Hemera ever offers the Optimizer as a stand-alone tool, they'll probably make a fortune, hint, hint.
If you'd like to give NetGraphics Studio a try, you can download a demo version and check it out for yourself.
This article first appeared in March, 1998.
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