Slicing Images
It is technique of cutting a large graphic into several smaller images that will be joined together seamlessly like a jigsaw puzzle. You can do the slicing in either Photoshop or Image Ready but Image Ready has more robust features such as allowing you to add a link to your slices etc.
Slicing is a crafty technique commonly used by web designers, wherein you cut a large graphic into a several smaller images that will join seamlessly. You may want to slice an image for several reasons such as:
- To make a slice clickable to move to another part of the webpage.
- To optimize each slice differently.
- To add special features, such as rollovers and animations, to the slices.
- To use slices to help your web page load faster.
How does this work?
Produce your graphic in Photoshop and launch Image ready without closing the document. Image ready interface will load inside the Photoshop and construct an HTML page with an invisible table with a cell for each slice. The images are placed inside each cell so that they are all flush with one another and only one image is seen and not separate images.
To Slice an image separate important areas of detail versus nonessential portions of the image and keep the slices to the minimum. To slice select the slice tool and position the Mouse Pointer at one of the corners of the desired slice. Click and drag the mouse to define the slice in the same way that you would draw with the Marquee tool. Release the mouse button and a numbered slice will appear.
Photoshop automatically slices the rest of the image to accommodate your slice. Whenever you create a slice Image ready assigns it a number. This helps you track the slices later on.
You can modify, combine, split, hide and add links to these slices.
