7: Adding Images in Java

Creation ANSI/AIM Code 39 in Java 7: Adding Images

Different logo styles offer different options Depending on the style that you choose, these options may set colors, determine whether text is engraved or raised, and so forth In this example, I m using the Alien Glow design 3 Type the text for your logo in the Logo Text text box You usually type your site or company name here, although you can type anything that you want If you need more than one line, you can put a new line symbol (\n) in the text, as in the following example: First Line\nSecond Line 4 Click the font name (in this example, Futura Poster), and then select a font category from the list that s presented Finally, select the name of a particular font You re returned automatically to the design page 5 Enter a font size in the Text Size text box 6 Click the Predefined Color picker (to the right of the color bar) for the Glow Color category and then select a glow color from the resulting color picker Web page (See Figure 7-6)

This Web page gives you a long list of named colors, with examples of each color Just decide which color you like and click it to return to CoolTextcom with that color selected You can specify a glow color either by entering numerical values in the R, G, and B text boxes to indicate the RGB (red, green, and blue) components, or by entering its hexadecimal value to the right 7 Repeat Step 6 for the other three color settings (Outer Text Color, Inner Text Color, and Background Color) 8 Click the current background image in the Background Image category (if one hasn t been chosen, click None), and then click one of the textures on the resulting Web page (See Figure 7-7) You re returned to CoolTextcom with that texture selected If you need more textures, click the links at the top of the textures page to view more pages 9 If you want to specify a file format, click the Edit button for the File Format category and then select one of the file formats in the resulting list

10 After you set all the options for your logo, click the Render Logo button Now, all you have to do is sit back and wait until your logo shows up If you like it, download it right away because it exists on CoolTextcom s server for only about an hour If you don t like it, back up and monkey with the settings until you get what you want While you re at CoolTextcom, check out the button generator, too You access it by clicking the Buttons link at the top of the page

There are plenty of times when you ll need to tweak an image to get it just so for your site All graphics programs give you some options for doing this sort of thing, and they all work pretty much the same way In this section, I show you how to use a handy little graphics editor called IrfanView (www irfanviewcom) to spiff up your Web graphics quickly and easily

Although you can make an image appear smaller on a Web page than it really is (see the Sizing images in HTML section, later in this chapter), it s usually best to set the size deliberately before the image ends up on your site This is a simple process, although there are a couple of caveats When you resize an image, your graphics program has to change the pixels the color dots that make up the image Obviously, a larger image will take more pixels and a smaller one will take fewer This means either adding pixels (interpolation) or subtracting pixels (resampling) Although graphics interpolation has come a long way, any image-resizing process still has to make some compromises Shrinking an image usually doesn t damage the capability to view the picture, but it always has to mean some loss of detail Enlarging an image can add areas of blockiness due to the additional pixels needed to fill the new space The best resizing is a minor resizing Open the image you want to resize in IrfanView, and then follow these steps: 1 Choose Image Resize/Resample from the menu In the Resize/Resample Image dialog box, shown in Figure 7-8, there are three methods of setting the new image size: To specify a particular physical size, in the Set New Size panel, select pixels, centimeters, or inches, and then enter the new width and height in the Width and Height text boxes If the Preserve Aspect Ratio check box is selected, you have to enter only one of the values; the other will be automatically entered To use a percentage, select the Set New Size as Percentage of Original radio button, and then enter the appropriate numbers in the Width and Height text boxes To use common sizes, click the appropriate button or select a radio button in the Some Standard Dimensions panel 2 Click the OK button 3 Save the image If you don t save the image after you make your changes, you ll lose it