Large website background images

Mark M · 27 Oct 2011 at 12:21

Im considering using a large background image for a small website I have but wondering where I can get any from? Is it just the usual stock image places or is there somewhere better?

I dont entirely know what Im after but dont really want a photograph image but something with an arty feel to it.

Thanks.

GravyMonster · 27 Oct 2011 at 12:28

Try having a look through Flickr. If you contact the tog who took the image most would be willing to let you use it for a credit on your site.

Be wary that you dont use images with too high contrast though, as it'll hurt the readability of the text.

Chanc3 · 27 Oct 2011 at 12:41

Also filesize. If its big it'll affect page load speed and could effect your google ranking (if this is important). You'll also find that the background may not work that well on different resolutions unless you use a script to adjust the dimension accordingly.

Mark M · 27 Oct 2011 at 14:49

Hmmm maybe I should reconsider my idea as I dont want it affecting my google ranking.

gord · 27 Oct 2011 at 14:59

Mark M said:
Hmmm maybe I should reconsider my idea as I dont want it affecting my google ranking.

It depends on the size. There's nothing wrong with using a large image as long as it is properly optimised.

lookitsjonno · 27 Oct 2011 at 15:01

Make sure the image is big enough to fit larger resolutions, save as jpeg and optimise the image in photoshop to the lowest quality that does not effect the image clarity too much. As long as the image is not 500k+ then it wont effect search engines or load time.

another idea is to fade the background in once the page has loaded using javascript, this means the image will download as the user is using the site and wont count towards your page loading time.

GravyMonster · 27 Oct 2011 at 15:07

If you want to use a large image as a background, make sure you compress it a lot. JPEGMini is very good. It's much better than the 'Save for web' option in PS. IIRC it cut down the 2560x1920 image in the background of my site (which I really should get round to finishing - link in sig) to just over 230k from over 500k.

Also, I know Google included page speed into their ranking algorithm, but I don't believe it carries a lot of weight, unless load speed is rediculously slow ie. > 10 seconds, so you should be fine.

Mark M · 27 Oct 2011 at 15:47

I'll have a look into it and see if it does affect the load time much.

Out of interest Spunkey, where did you get that image from? Its along the same lines of what I want, just something a bit darker.

GravyMonster · 27 Oct 2011 at 15:52

It was a free download somewhere I can't remember, I just added the gradient. Have a google for 'bokeh background' and you should find some good links.