animations http://www.webupon.com/tags/animations New posts about animations Where to Find Affordable/free Imagery for Your Website http://www.webupon.com/Services/Where-to-Find-Affordablefree-Imagery-for-Your-Website.324329 Whether you're looking for photos about Easter or you need some Christmas illustrations for your Web site, these images can easily be found at low prices on microstock sites. And in some cases, they may cost you nothing.

Where to Buy -

There is quite a selection of microstock sites for you to choose from. However, the best can generally be summed up as the "big five." This list could change with time due to mergers or other reasons, but for now, this is how these sites are ranked. First there's iStockphoto, followed by Shutterstock, Dreamstime, Stockxpert, and Bigstockphoto (cheapest). A few less well known microstock companies you may be interested in are Fotolia, 123RF, and Featurepics.

Types of Imagery -

The types of imagery that you can purchase at these microstock agencies generally fall into two categories. Photography and illustrations. The illustrations often include a vector file format, which allows you to resize and tweak the graphics yourself. Of course, you'll need a vector illustration program like Illustrator to modify the files.

Out of these microstock companies, iStockphoto offers some additional incentives for shopping at their site. Not only does iStockphoto have photography and illustrations for you to purchase, they also offer other types of media. Videos, animations, and even audio can be purchased at this microstock site. None of this media is free, though. Just so you know, Shutterstock also offers videos on their website. And in the future, it is quite possible that all of these agencies will too.

Price -

The cost between these microstock agencies will vary slightly; however, you can expect to pay around five dollars for a medium sized image, and ten to twenty dollars for the largest of images. Thumbnail sized images can be bought for around a dollar or less. You will pay a higher price if you wish to print these images, and then the price will simply depend on how many images you wish to print out. Truly cheap images are for digital use only.

Also, most of these agencies offer subscription plans for their images. Subscription plans simply allow you to purchase a certain number of images for a set price, and then you can download those images at any size for around a credit or so. In the case of your subscription plan, one credit would equal one dollar. This is only a good idea if you want to download several dozen images; otherwise, it's not worth it. Please note that Shutterstock only offers subscription plans, so don't waste your time with them if you don't want to use subscriptions.

As for the other types of media (audio, animations; video), you'll find that videos generally cost a bit more than photos or illustrations. Some of the simple animations only cost around a dollar, and the more complicated ones will cost more. But it's still a great deal.

Dreamstime has a section of free photos and illustrations. Generally, these images are not as good as the ones that cost money. However, they're free so why complain? You can find the Dreamstime free section at this website address: http://www.dreamstime.com/free-photos

Locating holiday graphics for your Myspace page or website has never been easier, thanks to microstock agencies. Just remember to read the license agreement carefully, and be sure you pay the correct price if you want to print some of the images. But if you just want some affordable holiday graphics to use on your website, then you will not have any problems.

]]> Sat, 01 Nov 2008 09:11:17 PST Red Alert: Web Design Disasters About to Eat You Up http://www.webupon.com/Web-Design/Red-Alert-Web-Design-Disasters-About-to-Eat-You-Up.233621
  • Guys, I have seen tons of web sites that need brain surgery. Web-sites are to be made to look more professional, confident and inviting to rake in more sales. Since this is your store, your advertisement, your salesman, your brochure- you must put more energy into creating it to show professionalism and personality.
  • If your home page is nothing but pretty logo, with a sign “click here to enter”, then you are wasting the guest's valuable time. Nothing infuriates more than knocking on a door, and waiting forever before being attended to. Your home page must be precise, provide the useful information at once, no beating about the bush. Your competitor may just be a click away.
  • Let all links on your site be well defined so avoid using pictures as links. Don't assume everyone knows that pictures are links, as people interpret things differently. Using pictures makes the page look very ambiguous and unprofessional.
  • Similarly, don't assume just any visitor to your site will know what FAQ denotes. Make it distinct- “Frequently Asked Questions”. Depending on your target audience, avoid using slang.
  • Avoid laughable animations like plaque. They are distracting and irritating, making it uneasy to read what is offered. Don't distract your readers from your primary ambition -selling them your products.
  • If making profitable sales is your ambition, then make a link to your ordering page and home page on all pages. It's a disaster making it hard for visitors to find how to buy what they crave for.
  • Avoid jerky backgrounds, designing is good, but over-designing is a disaster! Make it simple, black text on white background. Columns can be used to enhance your web pages left and right, but leave the actual body black and white.
  • If your web site is nothing but offering links to other people's products, put in more effort by giving more details about the products you link to, the successes and how the prospective client will love to use them. Build people's confidence because no one will spend their hard earned money on products they can't trust.
  • Integrate the products you offer in an organized fashion so it makes sense. I have evaluated many sites and have found that the best way to design a web page for sales is to give priority to the top selling products and then offer the rest from visible links. People tend to get confused when you give them too many choices.
  • Most importantly, watch and be mindful of the sites you are linking to. For instance, will Facebook have a link to a porno site at the bottom of their web page? Your prospective customers will check you on everything. Only make links to the web sites you will be proud of.
    • ]]>     Fri, 29 Aug 2008 03:06:00 PST     Top Sites for MySpace Graphics Codes http://www.webupon.com/Social-Networks/Top-Sites-for-MySpace-Graphics-Codes.157919 There are loads of sites online offering free graphics codes for MySpace, Hi5 and Friendster. Find lots of cool pictures, messages and happy holiday wishes to send to your friends on these web pages.

    MySpaceJunks

    MyspaceJunks provides users with a wide selection of images and animations, ranging from cute and funny to apologies and condolences. You can find holiday and greetings messages such as “Happy 4th of July” or “Happy Birthday” in different styles and fonts.

    PimpMyProfile

    PimpMyProfile has become a popular source for html graphics codes, Myspace and Friendster layouts and provides creative options for contact tables and flash MP3 players to embed on your profile. They also offer options for pimping your phone, band marketing and finding free music.

    GraphicsDB

    GraphicsDB (database) have a huge picture gallery to choose from, as well as Myspace backgrounds, layouts, avatars and surveys. The website offers codes for hiding various sections of your Myspace profile, such as “Hide Online Now Icon”, “Hide Navigation Bar” and “Hide Extended Network Text”.

    There are also some cute options for generating a personalized love note or love letter to send to a friend, boyfriend, girlfriend or Valentine.

    MySpacePictureCodes

    This site adds new content daily, and offers Myspace backgrounds, layouts, cursors, graphics codes and comments. Their graphics categories include videos, cartoons, fireworks, playboy bunny glitters, bling graphics and celebrity graphics. It's a very busy site, with tons of content to choose from.

    MySpaceGeeks

    MyspaceGeeks have some cool options such as Myspace tweaks and effects, and web games like tetris, air hockey and battleships. However, the site is a bit messy, and finding cool stuff can be difficult.

    BlingCheese

    BlingCheese has some awesome comment graphics options, ranging from congratulations, seasonal and holiday messages to religious and fun comments. For sports fans, the site boasts a selection of team name graphics codes and for music fans, a selection of rap artists, pop artists and music bands. You can also find plenty of celebrity pictures from movies and television productions.

    WishAFriend

    WishAFriend graphics categories include Love, Friendship, America, Zodiac and Girly options. The site offers code for Friendster, Hi5 and Myspace profile layouts and some fun options such as clocks, quizzes and quotes.

    GraphicsHunt

    GraphicsHunt has an attractive opening page that allows you to search by keyword for graphics. Simple keywords such as “Merry Christmas” or “Thanksgiving” leads to graphics focused specifically on your search choice. User friendly.

    Thanks to these sites and others like them, you can now send your friends all sorts of messages for holidays like Halloween, Easter, Valentines Day and Christmas, 4th of July or New Years. There are many comments surrounding genres such as Goth, Emo, Rock and Pop. Many of these sites offer sweet glitter messages, and message generators to send personalized graphics to friends.

    Happy hunting!

    ]]>     Sat, 05 Jul 2008 08:21:18 PST