Hi..
A quick overview of my situation. Have recently completed a $100 online web design course. In a fit of impulsive over confidence, I purchased the C.C. super pak ( convinced i was a web master).

But the reality quickly descended upon me and I now realize I'm not a web master...I'm much closer to Forest Gump in terms of everything "web"...even worse...I can't run as far as he did.

Learning to drive wha'ts in the super pak is a bit daunting, but am making headway...this forum seems like thyere's some good people with sympathetic natures!

Firstly...I am planning to buy a landscape shot from istock...was going to use it as a home page, with a navigation menu on 1 side, a heading graphic, and an "enter" button embedded in the photo.

The shot comes in 3 sizes...572 x 839...1144 x 1678...2498 x 3668. Price aside, is there a rule of thumb when buying shots. Is it best to buy big and size down?

And if the shot is going to take up most of the page, I guess I'll have insert it in sections so the load time isn't extended?. (chapter 2 page 3 of the course..haha)

There's another million things I could ask but I'll start with this and hope you can get me started.

Thankyou.

Welcome to the forum, "Forest"
Here's some good info and advice for using large backgrounds:
http://www.webdesignerdepot.com/2008/11 … ckgrounds/

If you're using VSD (Visual Site Designer), you can choose to use an image as a page background (under Page Properties), under Standard Settings, Background Properties, you also have the options to continue your page background so it fills the browser screen or choose a different fill, color or image to display in the browser.
VSD will automatically repeat the image if necessary to fill either the page or the screen.

It would help to see an example of how you want this to look, since it might take a little extra code to make it work just right in VSD. If you go with one large image for your background, get the largest size so you'll have options. Scaling up usually pixelates an image, but you can always go smaller.

Tmicky you have made the most sensible discovery one could make. Once you assess your actual knowledge and position you have the most stable of a starting place. That course will never be a waste it will surface when you need it. Now before going out to buy someone else's image If you have a digital camera I think you could come up with something that is you. With the super pack you have all you need.

I would advise to start with VSD if that was included and just play with it. You can use the free S_Drive account you should now have and create pages and find out how to upload them to S_Drive. Everybody has to start somewhere and if you have time there are a ton of free tutorials on the net.

The best webmaster is an ordinary guy who has gradually learned his tricks. People on this forum have been creating sites for years. Start with a sketch of what you would like your front page to look like then try to match it using the tools you have. Start with one application and really just play with it see what makes it tick. Have a question just ask.

If you create a design you like using VSD, made up of pictures and text, starting of with a plain oblong object (either single colour or single image) with everything else pasted infront, once you like what you see, do a preview, and do save as from the preview, you should now have the whole design as a single large image

in photoshop or similar, CC web image studio do save for web, and this can be now used as the entire background image on every page.

Play with VSD it does more than you can imagine.

Thanks Guys...

The advice is much appreciated...I was a little nervous about posting that as I've never been on any type of forum and there's always that fear of the..."go away you D**K HEAD" reply that can happen to novices in any field.

Looks like I need to get up to speed on VSD for a start and play with that.

Seems like a big learning curve ahead, so you'll hear from me again for sure.

Also...tried to get a photo on my profile...ended up with that black shadow thing as my computer screen saver...Forest Gump strikes again!!!

haha been there, done that, and I'm sure many of us have when we first started using forums so no worries tmickey.

You should see a menu at the right side of the forums at the top area that has your Profile link on it. If you click that you should see your profile page which has a box in the top right for you to change your profile with.

The image needs to be on your computer and the size need to be no larger than 150px X 150px. Click the Browse button under the image that you see as your profile right now and it will open a box to navigate your computer. Navigate to the image you want to use and then scroll to the bottom and click the Update My Account button and as long as the image is the right size it should work fine. Any image usually works with the extensions of .jpg, .png, .gif so give it another shot and let us know if you need more assistance on it

You have us all frothing to see your first site, not to criticise but give you our spin on what we think. Remember it is your site your choices, do not treat it as a chore. Have fun with it do silly things with it. There is always time to get serious and really have fun.

Looking forward to your link.

Thank you so much, I'm really impressed and quite touched really that you go out of your way to help out a "complete stranger".

So my immeadiate goal is to update my profile with a photo...( a journey of 1000 miles begins etc etc)

Then launch myself into this project I have in mind...well "launch" after I learn how to drive the space ship first!

Thanks again.