Tips for sending Text and Graphics files to Net.Pet

Computer files come in two main types - straight text (ASCII or DOS) files and binary files. Binary files contain special control characters outside of the normal range of alphabetic and numeric characters. Examples of binary files include graphics, formatted text files, programs.

If you plan to e-mail text we need plain ASCII text files. If your files are formatted on a word processor or desktop publishing program you will need to export them using the "DOS" or "ASCII" options. Text files are easily sent via e-mail.

Picture files are the main binary file you may wish to send to Net.Pet.

• Binary files cannot be sent by normal e-mail. Your server may have a feature that allows binary files to be automatically specially encoded and sent attached to an e-mail message. Check with your server. If this is not possible then there are some programs that you can run to convert a binary file into an e-mailable format. One such program is called uuencode. Versions exist for most types of computers and can be down loaded from various sites where public domain programs are maintained such as wuarchive.
• If you use a Macintosh you should be aware of the following. Macintosh files have two components, a resource fork and a data fork. The resource fork is always a binary file and many Mac files cannot be successfully interpreted without the resource fork. The best way to e-mail a Mac file is to use the program Stuffit to compact the file and then use a menu option in Stuffit to turn the file into a Bin-Hex file. NetPet has Macintosh capabilities.
• Net.Pet can handle files in most graphic formats. GIFs, TIFFs, Amiga generated IFFs, etc. However Postscript and encapsulated Postscript (eps) files are primarily a printer format, not a computer graphic format. At this time we have not had much success with eps files and if you are incapable of generating graphic files in a computer graphic format we would like you to mail us actual hardcopy. We have scanner capabilities.
• When mailing hardcopy send return postage if you wish materials returned.

The web environment and graphics.

• The average web page image will be rendered at no more than 640 pixels wide by 400 high. A better impression is generally made by having the image 400 by 250. Web graphic space is generally 'landscape mode' that is a good web graphic is twice as wide as it is tall. Keep this in mind when designing logos. Square or tall logos result in a lot of unused space. Although many of your viewers will have Netscape up and running, not all will, we strive to design the pages so that they are attractive to as many viewers as possible.

About computer graphics on your web page.

• The average graphic should be 20K or less for speed of loading. Often size can be reduced without harming the graphics quality by reducing the number of colors in the image. In our experience severely jpegging a photograph usually results in a lot of loss of quality. The image may look better scaled down than it will look jpegged.
• Photos should be of good quality before being scanned. The old computer saying "garbage in, garbage out" (GIGO) definately applies to scanned photographs. Dark images remain dark, overexposed bleached out images remain washed out.
• Look at the photo overall. An uncluttered background is better than a cluttered background. Pick a pretty photo with the subject filling much of the image space.

About hardcopy graphics on your web page.

• Because of the limitations on resolution of the image displayed on the computer's screen we can get excellent images from a relatively small graphic. An image filling a 3 by 5 inch to 5 by 8 inch sheet of paper is fine. Larger images will not produce a better web page effect.
• If you have a logo which will have multiple flat colors in it we get the best results by scanning the parts of the logo from black and white - not halftoned - renderings and then adding the colors ourselves.
• Send us hardcopy of what the final logo should look like and also send us all of the parts which are different colors as separate black images. As an example say you want your company name in large pale letters with a phone number superimposed in dark numbers. You send us an example of the final logo but you also send the typeset phone number and the typeset company name as seperate printouts in black. We will scan them into the computer and then color the parts appropriately. Half toned images - such as the company name printed in the pale color - do not convert well into a computer graphic.
• There is a charge of $20 an hour for working with graphics after the first 1/2 hour of work with your materials. We can sit down with a half toned image and convert it into a decent computer graphic but we will have to bill you for this tedious process.

NetPet has an artist on staff and we can perform extensive modifications and manipulations of graphic images. There is a charge of $20/hour for these services.

It is against our company policy to alter images of the pets in any manner that would cover up or conceal faults or defects. We will manipulate an image so as to eliminate clutter in the background, place two or more animals in the same picture and even out errors of exposure but we will not alter the appearance of the animal in relation to the breed standard.