A thumbnail is a small version of a picture that represents the full-size version of the picture. Using thumbnails of graphics on your Web page can reduce download time for visitors to the page. (Because modem speeds vary, downloading large, full-size graphics can take a lot of time.) Visitors can still see the full-size graphic if you want them to; you can link a thumbnail to the full-size graphic. When the visitor clicks the thumbnail, the full-size version of the graphic is opened into their browser.

Because thumbnails are about one inch square, they are usually less than 5 KB in size. However, the size and dimensions will vary depending on the program you use to create your thumbnail and the size of the original graphic.

Typically, thumbnails are linked to the graphics they represent. Sometimes, though, static (non-linked) thumbnails are used; for example, if you are a professional photographer selling your work on the Internet, you might want to let people see a contact sheet of your work but not download it.

You can easily create thumbnails in both Microsoft FrontPage and Microsoft PhotoDraw. In FrontPage, you make the thumbnail after you insert a picture into your Web page. In PhotoDraw, you save a copy of the picture for use as a thumbnail.

Create a thumbnail in FrontPage

Before you create a thumbnail of a graphic in FrontPage, you can set preferences for the thumbnail. For example, you might want to add a beveled edge around the thumbnail. To change the preferences, on the Tools menu, click Page Options, and then click the AutoThumbnail tab.

1. Insert the graphic into your Web page.
2. In Page view, click the graphic.
3. On the Pictures toolbar, click Auto Thumbnail.

The graphic is automatically replaced by a thumbnail linked to the full-size graphic.

Create a thumbnail in PhotoDraw

In PhotoDraw, you can send a thumbnail of a graphic directly to a Web page created in FrontPage. You can also create a thumbnail and add it to your Web page using any Web page editor.

Send a thumbnail to FrontPage

1. If you want to place the thumbnail into an existing Web page, open the Web page in FrontPage.
2. In PhotoDraw, open the graphic for which you want to make a thumbnail.
3. On the Save Send menu, click Send to Microsoft FrontPage.
4. In the Send PhotoDraw picture list, select the destination for the thumbnail.
5. Select the Send image as thumbnail check box, and then click OK.

The thumbnail is sent to FrontPage (starting FrontPage if it is not running) and is placed on the appropriate Web page. The thumbnail is linked to the original graphic automatically.

Create a thumbnail to place on a Web page

1. Open the graphic for which you want to make a thumbnail.
2. On the Save Send menu, click Save for Use In.
3. Click On the Web, and then click Next.
4. Click As a thumbnail, and then click Next.
5. The Save for Use In Wizard will ask you some additional questions. Follow the remaining steps to save the graphic as a thumbnail.

When you have saved the thumbnail, you can insert it into your Web page using any editor and then link the thumbnail to the full-size graphic. Refer to the Web page editor Help for information about how to link thumbnails to graphics.

More information

To find more information about creating thumbnails, type create thumbnails in the Office Assistant or on the Answer Wizard tab in the FrontPage and PhotoDraw Help windows, and then click Search.