How To Create A Stunning Drop Capital Effect On Your Web Pages
Drop Capitals are frequently used in many newspapers, books and
magazines in the offline world. You will frequently see the
large capital letter sinking down into the first paragraph of
articles, stories and chapters in the majority of publications
you come across.
The drop capital gives the page a nice finishing touch, and
certainly adds a more professional looking feel.
Online, the drop capital looks just as good on web pages as it
does in print. The only drawback is that you can easily get the
whole effect wrong, and end up with a less than appealing result.
The wrong way...
When most people attempt to create a drop capital effect on a
web page, they usually just enlarge the first letter by a few
font sizes and make it bold.
If you do this on your own web page, you will notice that
instead of a 'drop' capital effect, you end up with an odd
looking letter which sticks up above the rest of the paragraph,
and just looks out of place.
The right way...
There are essentially, two parts to creating the drop capital
effect.
Step #1 -
You need to create a drop capital image using some graphic
software.
You can use any standard piece of graphic software like Paint
Shop Pro, Fireworks, or Photoshop.
The drop capital image should ideally be big enough to drop down
between 2-4 lines of text, depending on your preference.
You should ensure that the top of your drop capital image is
level with the top of the text next to it. The bottom of the
image should also be level with the bottom of the lowest text
next to it.
This is really the hardest part of creating a drop capital
effect. It can be very easy to make the image just a bit too
big, or a bit too small. You may find that it will take a bit of
trial and error to make it look just right. However, the extra
effort will pay off, as the end result will be worth waiting for.
One thing to note: As with any image, a drop capital image can
slow a web page if the file size is too big. To help reduce the
file size you should save it as a '.gif' image. For even better
results you should try to optimize the '.gif' image as well by
reducing the amount of colors being used.
Step #2
This step is the easiest bit…
Once you have created the drop capital image, all you have to do
now is to insert it into your web page. You just add the image
to the web page in the same way that you would with any other
image on your page.
When you place it at the beginning of the paragraph, make sure
you remember to delete the first letter of the normal text.
Otherwise you will end up starting the paragraph with two of the
same letter.
Align the image to the left
Initially, you will notice that the drop capital image just sits
on top of the first line, instead of dropping down into it. Not
for long!
All you have to do now, is align the image to the left, and you
will see it drop down instantly into the paragraph.
If you are using a web page editor to create your web pages like
Microsoft FrontPage or Macromedias Dreamweaver, aligning the
image to the left is pretty easy.
In FrontPage:
Select the drop capital image by left clicking it once. Then
click on the align to the left short cut icon in the top menu
bar. Alternatively, you can select Format, then Position from
the top menu. In the pop up window, select Align Left under
Wrapping Style.
In Dreamweaver:
Select the drop capital image by left clicking it once. Then in
the properties window, click on the arrow in the drop down menu
next to Align, then select Left
If you are using a different web page editor, you should have a
similar align option in the menu area. Alternatively, you edit
the HTML code directly yourself. Just add the following command
in between the brackets of the image tag:
align="left"
Thats literally all there is to it!
If you have multiple pages on your website, youll probably going
to need to create a number of different drop capital images for
each letter of the alphabet. The extra effort will be worthwhile
as you will end up with a much more professional looking website.
Copyright © 2004 Jason Lewis www.dropcapitals.com
About the author:
Jason Lewis provides ready-made professionally designed drop
capital images, as an instant solution for the busy website
owner. Each design is available for immediate download and can
be added to a website within a few minutes. To find out more
click here ==> http://www.dropcapitals.com/cmd.asp?ad=93481
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