EMU Graphics Standards

  • Keep all graphics for each site together in the images folder. The link paths in your site should be relative (i.e. "images/graphic.jpg" or "../images/graphic.gif," etc.).
  • Use good syntax for naming images: lowercase letters, no spaces or extraneous characters except the "_" character, short and descriptive file names.
  • Avoid flashing or "animated" gifs. With rare exceptions, these icons do not add to the professionalism of a web page/site.
  • Avoid using cute or whimsical "clip art." Graphics should be professionally produced and presented.
  • Pay attention to colors. Your colors should work well together, and should complement the site's images and content. While you are not required to use the web-safe color palette, we do recommend that you optimize your colors for the web. The web-safe palette provides a good way to do this.
  • Use .gif and .jpg images appropriately for the types of images on your site. We recommend that you save your high-resolution original images in an image editing program, and create 72 dpi JPGs or GIFs for web use. (A note on image formats: For the most effective use of the relative compression algorithms, JPG is usually used for photographic images, and GIF is usually used for graphics with larger areas of common color. It is important to note that JPG does not support transparency, so if you want a transparent image, it will need to be a GIF.)
  • Optimize your graphics for small file sizes. Full-featured image editing programs (such as Photoshop) provide tools for image optimization. Be careful that your selections for image optimization do not degrade image viewing quality.
  • Always use "alt tags" for images, as a component of accessibility.
  • All EMU logos, wordmarks and symbols are trademarked and copyrighted by EMU. Read more information and regulations governing the use of logos, workmarks and symbols.