This section aims to show how web-based photo galleries are created, from initial image capture to generating the files for a web server.

First - Get your images...

 

Digital images can come from a number of sources. Conventional cameras can provide digital pictures via a negative scanner, or from a CD created whilst the film was being processed. Digital cameras can input their pictures directly into a PC, or a photo processor can create a CD from their memory cards. Digital images can also be generated from printed material using a flatbed scanner. The end result is pretty much the same - A digital image held in a computer file on a personal computer.

Next - Create the Gallery...

A web-based photo gallery typically has three components; Thumbnails, which are small pictures, a number of which are displayed on a single page that provide an index to a page displaying a single larger image, and a file or files that contain the HTML code that surrounds the images and makes it all work on the web server. Web gallery software as a minimum creates the HTML code, generates thumbnails, and usually resizes the original image to a suitable size and format for the web. Some packages do more, such as including a basic image editing facility, or can transfer the generated files from your PC directly to the web server. For practical examples of building real galleries, have a look at the How to make a gallery section.