Map visible?

[FSTipster]

I recently changed the map in the interactive map link on my RTW site to bmp format.

I know it now takes an age to load in, but I need to verify that it does eventually display.

If you're on dial-up (as I am) you can expect a wait of over 3 minutes if you haven't opened the map link before.

If you could click the link in my sig and the interactive map link that appears when you get there, and let me know if it is visible,  I'd appreciate it. Thanks.

[ross607]

Hi John,

Yep.... the maps there and you're right does take an ages to load.... even with the ADSL connection I'm on at the moment!

Looks good though - when can we expect to see Leg 14?

Ross

[packercolinl]

It finally appeared! At least this time I didn't get a blank with a cross in the corner and it showed a loading message continually so I let it run. It appeared to reload once but after nearly 9mins. I had a map!!

[cbxmaint]

Yup, it's there  :) took me about 1 and 1/2 minutes but worth it.  ;D

[Cherokee_6]

Loaded up no problem...

Even with a T1 connection it took about 30 seconds...

[fisharno]

I see it. But, I'm on DSL.

HTML wasn't ment to display .bmp images. Usually site builders specify .jpg or .gif images only. It takes so long because the .bmp image is WAY huge. (1000x600).

Maybe try using a .jpg or .gif image instead. The clarity of the pic will be much clearer and the file size will be smaller, so it will load a lot faster. A Java applet would be cool to use there. You could write it so when your visitors click on a specific waypoint, they can read your report for that leg. Or whatever you want it to do.

[FSTipster]

I see it. But, I'm on DSL.

HTML wasn't ment to display .bmp images. Usually site builders specify .jpg or .gif images only. It takes so long because the .bmp image is WAY huge. (1000x600).

Maybe try using a .jpg or .gif image instead. The clarity of the pic will be much clearer and the file size will be smaller, so it will load a lot faster. A Java applet would be cool to use there. You could write it so when your visitors click on a specific waypoint, they can read your report for that leg. Or whatever you want it to do.

Thanks for the feedback everyone

The reason I'm using a .bmp file is that the map colours kept deteriorating with other formats and fisharno, click the red route lines - they take you to the relevant leg reports. (Or if they don't, there's something wrong there... )

[MattNW]

It's there. Just takes a while. Why don't you keep a master copy in .bmp format and when a leg is done you can paint in the relevant info and then save it under a different name in .jpg, move it to another folder and rename it back to the original before uploading. That should keep the quality OK (only ond generation copy) and be quick to load.

[FSTipster]

It's there. Just takes a while. Why don't you keep a master copy in .bmp format and when a leg is done you can paint in the relevant info and then save it under a different name in .jpg, move it to another folder and rename it back to the original before uploading. That should keep the quality OK (only ond generation copy) and be quick to load.

That's not a bad idea. The only problem is that the colours deteriorate on the first save (badly). I'm not entirely sure why this is. I know jpeg format was designed for photographs and doesn't handle standard colouring well, but I'm sure it shouldn't lose colour definition as rapidly as it does.

I've tried with 100% quality in the save options in PSP 7 and it still happens.

Any suggestions would be welcome - I know the size of the current bmp format file is ridiculous.

[MattNW]

Have you tried converting them with a different application. I had a photo editor that saved .jpg files horribly so I saved them in .bmp with that one and used IrfanView to convert them. It's a viewing and conversion only (not much editing function) program and seemed to handle it better. The quality was vastly improved. You shouldn't get much quality loss with a single conversion. It usually takes several to loose enough to really mess it up. I haven't worked with PSP 7 but it's a top quality program so it shouldn't cause that much problem.

[FSTipster]

I've got Photoshop 6 - I'll try it with that. Thanks for the help.

[MattNW]

If that doesn't work give IrfanView a try. I just experimented with I Photo and IrfanView and IrfanView converts with almost no visible degradation. It's a freebie too.