Behind the scene

It was quick call from one of our client regarding issue that images are not being displayed on IE8 while checking their beta website. With my surprise, same site is rendering all images properly in Firefox 3.6, and Google Chrome. I tried once again with check back into the code and verified all the relevant IMG tags and it seems everything is fine.

Cause of Problem

The reason is Internet Explorer has issues displaying JPEG images that have been encoded using CMYK, rather than the default RGB encoding. Even Internet explorer does not supports other image formats like EPS, GIF created in CMYK mode.

Typically, JPG files are encoded in a three-channel RGB format.  It is possible, in some programs like Photoshop or Corel Draw, to create JPG files that are encoded in four- channel CMYK color format. Microsoft Internet Explorer is unable to display JPG files that are not in three-channel RGB color format.

Example of RGB vs CMYK images

Firefox 2.x and earlier version also doesn’t support images created in CMYK color format. You can refer below browser matrix that supports CMYK encoded images.

Solution

To resolve this problem, simply open the file in Image Editor i.e. Photoshop or GIMP, and re-encode it by copying the image, going to File > New, and making sure "Color Mode:" is set to "RGB" at "8-bit". Once the new canvas is open, paste the file, and save as a JPG.

Quick Solution for Photoshop users

Check the color mode of the image. In Photoshop, by clicking "Image," then "Mode," you can check it. If CMYK, change it to RGB before saving it for use on the web. To avoid JPG saving in CMYK, you can also use the "Save for Web" option in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, instead of choosing "Save As…" and choosing JPG. "Save for Web" will convert your image to RGB before saving.

Now Firefox 3.x supports CMYK JPG

Good news for Firefox users is… Firefox has resolve the CMYK Image rendering issue and now Firefox 3.x supports CMYK images. For further reference, see Mozilla Firefox CMYK Image rendering Bug Post in their Bugzilla system… https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=44781

Browser Matrix for RGB vs CMYK Image rendering support

Conclusion

CMYK format is universally accepted format for Print Media, while Web Designing always prefer to encode your images to RGB format to avoid CMYK image rendering issue in IE. If your website’s images are not displaying in IE8, check the image in Firefox 3.0 or greater. If it displays there, it’s likely to be in the CMYK color mode. Fix the problem by changing the color mode of the image, re saving it and then replacing in your website.

First, ask yourself why do you need a web design? It’s not a display of art to exhibit on net. You, of course, don’t aim to get visitors praising the fancy of it, but you want them for a purpose. Right? You want them to understand something about you which can be of your and maybe their benefit too. Thinking this, you are in the right direction. So, what will make a website a website of great value?

Find out who and why would come to your website. This is crucial. How informative your website is for your visitors would largely state how they would respond to it. Unless they are aimless web browsers, they would like to know your website from productivity point of view. Think what would be the specific target groups. Your information, for the most part, should be more appealing to them than any web wanderers. However, I cannot stop myself admitting that great websites do happen to be so thought provocative that all those who get engaged would have not essentially come by choice.

There should be a clearly defined purpose of a website. A clear idea of what is desired by it would ease up its designing. Selling, debating, thought sharing, or anything else – if you know it well, your website design will get a proper theme to match it.

Now, do you expect people to open and study your website first for it is too complex! You can’t be doing so. Hence, experienced developers would always structure or engineer a website to achieve a great degree of user-friendliness. You need to figure out the fewest number of pages that would possibly harbor the best information. Even the navigation, menu, sub-menu categories are to be so structured that it is simple to understand.

The combination of the functionality and layout will determine the look and feel of your website. You need to get absolutely convinced that when it rolls out visiting is going to be an eventful journey.

The problem: Images displaying in Firefox and other web browsers, but not in Internet Explorer 8 (IE8). This is something diagnosed as IE8 having dropped its support for JPG files saved in CMYK color mode. It’s not so common an issue as saving a JPG in CMYK color mode is a rare manner for saving JPGs; Picasa will not save in this manner, but pre press programs like Photoshop will do.

Solution: Check the color mode of the image. In Photoshop, by clicking "Image," then "Mode," you can check it. If CMYK, change it to RGB before saving it for use on the web. To avoid JPG saving in CMYK, you can also use the "Save for Web" option in Photoshop or Photoshop Elements, instead of choosing "Save As.." and choosing JPG. "Save for Web" will convert your image to RGB before saving.

So, if any of your website image is not displaying in IE8, check the image in Firefox. If it displays there, it’s likely to be in the CMYK color mode. Fix the problem by changing the color mode of the image, re saving it and then replacing in your website.

What graphics can do, text can’t do and what multimedia can do, plain graphics can’t! How a multimedia tool can glamorize the skin of your website? Flash web design is the answer! Flash designs do quick communication for your website which is your advantage if many of your visitors don’t indulge in reading of the website stuff. It’s obvious that flash design would appeal to anyone viewing your site without having to concentrate on any other part of your website. The magic of graphics, animation, and sound can place people under a spell with their eyes following the moving objects without a blink until they know what they are for. It may more effectively communicate the message that you want to convey than the whole text of your website.

Captivating creativity for your website, the flash designers integrate elements like color, animation, light, and sound. The combined impact of this can have the potential to create a long-lasting visual impression to mesmerize and invite for re-visits. Your website actually becomes vibrant, dynamic, and interactive. A simple HTML webpage gets rejuvenated with the upbeat flash elements like moving pictures, tattoos etc. And you can draw instant attention of the viewers to your products, services, vision/mission, or portfolio. Advertising and animated games have a wide application of these flash designs.

Coming to the misconceptions, however, with inclusion of flash design, it is believed that the flash designs are a hindrance to SEO optimization of the site and thereby affect search engine rankings. Though this has some truth, but this is something that can be dealt with technically. Instead of whole flash web design, a hybrid concept wherein a flash animated intro/header lies at the top of the HTML website template will not mess your site’s SEO friendliness. Here again, it’s impractical going for a full fledged flash web design as nobody would be pleased to find his viewers in frustration waiting for the page to get loaded. The flash designers need to work it out in such a way that the enhancements show up with minimum possible loading time. They really have this difficult task at their hands that would require them to have immense technical sense to cope up with the issues that arise with flash designs.

No matter how much flash websites are criticized, the fact is not going to change, and that is “flash designs are complete enhancers, it’s just that their wholesomeness needs to be utilized in the best possible way to produce an exceptional output.”

Continuing on the professional logo theme of my previous blog, there’s something more in the logo stuff for the readers to gain insight into. Today’s cut-throat competition takes companies to have strong brand recognition elements for creating their influential, reliable, and memorable identity. A customized logo design is an effective branding tool that’s not just a small piece of artwork but is the way the company wants others to perceive it.

Don’t think that logo design is everybody’s cup of tea. Many organizations try and cut costs by designing logo on their own or by hiring some freelance graphic designer instead of an expert logo designer. You should seek services of a professional logo design company for this job. Here also many organizations go wrong as their choice falls on designers making cheap and cheerful logos. Their art is not in logo designing but in fooling you with providing so craftily manipulated default or existing designs that you approve instantly. Highly unfortunately, you realize it too late that the logo that you have for your organization is full of flaws and it’s a meretricious or flamboyant piece of work that you have stuck your organization to.

A good custom logo design company will charge you high, but it’s all for the pumping up of creative minds working there to bring something unique out of the depth of the sea and make it of brand value. Your online search for a good custom logo design company at the end of it will flood you with a flock of them. This is the time for you to survey and check reviews. The real good ones have their work speak for them. Your sorted ones would be ready with their portfolio and samples not to please you but it’s the way they work. How the best ones work out the best for you is that they involve you right from the scratch to understand your business attitude, brand perception, objectives, vision, future positioning and apply a dozens of other criteria in a painstakingly meticulous process to create and re-create and revise and re-revise with “n” number of sittings with your professionals. You have to take your brain to task evaluating your business from several such angles to ensure that you are going to create a right corporate identity for your organization and they need you to pull the strings at these right places. If you have selected the best one you can be assured that the custom logo design made as per their directions is in your favor. Too much fuss or interference from your side thinking that you know what’s the best can produce a logo that can spoil the image of the organization in the clients’ eyes. You have to take it that a professional job is best left in the hands of a professional.

Experienced web designers come up with several permutations and combinations of unique graphics, fonts, and color schemes to create a logo design that’s highly aesthetically paired with your business philosophy and is scalable to prove effective on whatever surface or dimension you choose to put it on. A custom logo design company is, indeed, your resort if you are planning to have a professional logo to identify, establish, and promote your brand 24x7 365 days a year without any recurring cost.