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Graphics > Scanning : File Format : Linework : Photos : Image Manipulation : Filesize : Transparency : Animation : Banners : Buttons : Backgrounds : Protecting Your Artwork

banners

A standard banner is 468 x 60 pixels. They can be animated - as advertising, I'm assured that works much better but it annoys the hell out of me so I try to avoid it unless required. I also prefer smaller ads, but again, they're not supposed to be as effective. So if you have to do the full-sized animated banner thang, you may as well do it well.

I've already covered animation, so you know the basic principles. If you want people to USE your banners, you'll need to keep them under about 25kb, so keep the colours and/or number of frames to a minimum. Here are a couple of mine, and a few of my favourites from other people's sites.

Banner exchange programs may sound like a good idea, but I've never really heard of anyone getting traffic from them - and it means that you're stuck with any ugly banner they decide to exchange on your site. After a year of supporting my entertainment sites with banner-ads I know just how cringeworthy many of them are. I especially hate those "You have urgent mail!" trick-the-newbie type ones.

Sure, making some banners to stick on your site for fans to use is a great idea. After all, any publicity is good publicity and if you make it pretty enough, someone may be willing to give you 468x60 precious pixels on their own page for decorative value alone.