Web graphics primarily consist of navigation bars and buttons, decorative elements such as background textures, bullets and headings, and perhaps some clip art and photos. Commercial Web sites may also require motion graphics and animation for advertisements. Web graphics need to be small and load quickly, so they generally also require optimization. There are also special types of Web graphics that combine image and code to make roll-overs, image maps, slide shows, and so on.
Any of the popular full-featured pixel-based and vector-based image editing software can be used to create Web graphics, but there are also many specialized tools for creating specific types of Web graphics, and for preparing graphics for use on the Web.
• Two Types of Graphics Software
Some of examples of popular general-purpose pixel-based editors used for Web graphics are:
Adobe Photoshop
Corel Paint Shop Pro
Corel PhotoPAINT
Ulead PhotoImpact
More Pixel-Based Editors
Some examples of popular general-purpose vector-based editors used for Web graphics are:
Adobe Illustrator
CorelDRAW
Xara Xtreme
More Vector-Based Editors
Then you have software that is specifically designed for creating Web graphics, and excludes many of the general-purpose image editing tools, such as:
Adobe Fireworks
Xara WebStyle
There are also many specialized categories of Web graphics software. The products in these categories are designed to perform one specific task relating to Web graphics, such as creating animations, generating photo galleries, optimizing images, creating image maps, and so on. Here are the categories for Specialized Web Tools on this site:
Compression and Optimization Software
GIF Animation Software
Type Effects Software for Headings and Logos
Texture and Pattern Generators
Web Photo Gallery Software
Assorted Web Graphics and Animation Software
Note that Web graphics software is not the same as Web design software and you should not use a graphics program for Web page layout, except for preliminary planning and conceptualizing.