You can make your own gallery as well as making one in FW or PS
(compare this page to Galleries instruction page)
see my sample gallery made from scratch. Also see the samples of a PS gallery and a FW gallery
advantages of ready-made galleries using FW or PS:
- They are very quick
- They will make the thumbnails and images the size you want
- They will set up an index page for your gallery using the thumbnails
- They will make the separate pages for each image and make all the links and put everything in appropriate folders.
disadvantages of using FW or PS galleries:
- They are not very flexible as to layout
- If you want to change the headings, layout, font, colours etc you need to change each page
- You have to decide the order of the images at the start, numbering the names if necessary, as the thumbnails will be displayed in file order.
- It is difficult to add in or take out single images to or from the gallery
Making your own gallery overcomes these difficulties and is fun and quick if you like:
- using tables
- using templates
- optimising your own images
I suggest you look at galleries in other web sites to see how other people have made their layouts.
To make your own gallery
First select your images
First you need to select your images and perhaps keep a folder of the originals within your web site.
Now make a folder for your gallery within your web site and inside the gallery folder make another three called images, thumbnails and pages.
Optimise your images
Then you should optimise two sets of these images using FW or PS: for thumbnails and for the individual pages. Always consider the loading time when optimising. (see optimising instructions page)
The thumbnails should be all the same width - 100 pixels is a good place to start. Save them in the thumbnails folder.
The page images will also look better on their own pages if they are approximately the same width - but this is not so crucial. Around 350 pixels width is likely to be all right for most images, bigger ones will take longer to load. Save them in the images folder.
Remember you can use automated actions in PS: these is a brief explanation of this on my PS Repetitions page.
Make Gallery home page
Now set up your gallery home page. (FW and PS call this page index but you can choose another name if you want.)
I did this using a new page from template so as to keep the overall appearance the same as my other pages, or you can start with a blank. This page will have the thumbnails on it that lead to the separate pages. It is easy to put them in a table once you have them in a folder. Consider the number of images if you are going to have a table with rows and columns, rather than a single row or column. The table will look better if it has all the cells filled.
(For example 26 images do not fit in a 6 x 4 table nor a 5 x 5 one, only 2 x 13.)
You can add titles or other words under each thumbnail if you wish.
On your gallery home page you will have your thumbnails, a heading and some links (put the links in later)
Make your image pages
Next set up your separate pages for each image - it is probably best to make a new template to do this.
You can put a table in the template - put an editable region inside the required cells. Format the font, colours, background etc. and make editable regions for the headings, information/description, images and links.
If you do not want the table borders to show make them the same colour as the background (in Properties Inspector)
see template instructions page
Note: these image pages are not the same as opening an image in a new browser window: this does not allow you to layout the page or add written information though they are a quick way of showing larger images.
(see open browser window page)
Once you have your template start a new page from template for each image and complete the editable regions.
Put in all the links
When the pages are ready, add the links: Decide if you want links to the next and previous images or just back to the gallery home page.
You can cut and paste the links words to every page but have to put in the actual links if you are having next and previous as they will all be different - note the order of the thumbnails and link accordingly.
Then put in the links to the pages from the gallery home page thumbnails. If you make images into links DW will put a blue border round them. If you want to remove this border, select the image and put a zero in the border box on the Properties Inspector bar.
Check everything works in Browser
Modifying your gallery
The best part about making your own gallery is the ease with which you can change the images and pages, including the order. It is easy to add or delete images in your gallery by deleting the thumbnails or page files and/or adding new ones. Change the overall look of the pages by changing the pages template. Do not forget to change the links if you change the pages or the order of the images.
Note January 2010:
I have recently made from scratch a 45-image gallery for my art web site. This was very time consuming and perhaps not worth the time! You can see it here:sandrasmithgordon.com