How and Why to Split Images (Image Splitting Basics)

By: Pamela Freedman

Splitting is the process of taking a whole picture and cutting it into pieces. These pieces are then aligned exactly how they appear in the original picture, which creates the appearance that the original picture had. To the untrained eye, nothing is noticeably different. To those who know what has been done, they look for telltale signs that it was done well.

Splitting an image will allow you to take the various splits and create a table. This table will allow you to create various links to different web pages from the original image. This can also allow you to reduce the size of a picture and optimize the image so that it loads much faster on the site.

Not everyone splits an image for the same reason. Some split for faster load times, others split to allow some parts of a picture to be animated, while others are splitting images for the sheer purpose of creating a menu for a website. No one reason is better than the other is, but they each have their own advantages and draw backs.

Image Cut - split site template

The best way to split an image properly is by using image-splitting software that is designed specifically for this purpose. It will allow you to have much more professional results. Varying opinions exist on whether splitting an image will really allow the page to load faster but the correct answer is there is no true answer.

While it is very true you want your web pages to load quickly, some servers are able to respond faster and handle larger pictures easier. In the invention of high-speed internet, this also helps to speed up the process of loading web pages, but not everyone has high-speed internet. Many are still on dial-up which makes pages take much longer to load. To help these users out, you want to reduce the sizes of your web pages as much as possible, and by optimizing the splitted images that is one way you can help.

Image Cut - splitting images for HTML Typically, a good way to split images involves using GIF format for solid colors and even animations. A JPEG is very good for typical images that is not animated and has several colors included. It is even possible to make a split of an image with no color at all, so it has blank fields. When using an image-splitting program it is very easy to make the perfect splits with very little trouble and have very professional results.

Many people who are advanced at splitting have learned how to use programs such as Photoshop to help split an image as well. This can be very difficult for a beginner to learn; however, there is always hope for those learning. Programs such as Image Cut are very simple to use and make the task of splitting an image much easier to do without errors. You can read more about Image Cut from its site.

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