Properties inspector shows the image properties. 2. From the Edit tools, click the Sharpen icon (a blue cone). A dialog box appears, indicating that your change is made to the original file. 3. Click OK. The Sharpen dialog box appears. 4. Adjust the sharpness of the image with the slider. Make sure you select the Preview check box if you want to see how the changes affect the image as you move the slider. Chapter 5: Adding Graphics 141 5. Click OK. The image is sharpened and changes are made permanently when you save changes to the page. Using the Transparent GIF Trick You may find it strange that I suggest you place an invisible image on a Web page, but thats exactly what I show you how to do in this section. A small, transparent GIF is a powerful element in Web page design because you can use it to control the exact position of other elements on a page. Youll notice that some other programs, such as Fireworks, also utilize transparent GIFs to force page elements into place more precisely. In Fireworks, transparent GIFs are automatically generated, and you can often recognize them because they use names such as transparent.gif, clear.gif, or spacer.gif. Regardless of the name, they all perform the same function. To create your own transparent GIF, simply create a new document in any image editor with the background set to Transparent. Then dont add anything to the image before saving it as a GIF with the Transparent option selected. The result is an image that is invisible, but very useful for spacing purposes. If you dont want to create your own transparent GIF or you just want to practice the following steps, you can download a free transparent GIF from my Web site at www.DigitalFamily.com/free (just look at the bottom of the page for the image that doesnt appear to be there, but is displayed under the Transparent GIFs headline and outlined so you can find it). Some Web designers recommend that you create a single-pixel graphic for this purpose, but I find that a 10 x 10-pixel image works best because its easier to select after you place it on your page in Dreamweaver. Remember, even if the clear GIF is 10 x 10 pixels, you change the height and width to any size because HTML enables you to specify any height and width for an image regardless of its actual size. Thus, you can alter the image attributes for height and width to adjust your transparent GIF to be larger or smaller depending on how much space you want between other visible elements on your page. Dreamweaver makes using the transparent GIF trick easy because you have easy access to the height and width attributes in the Properties inspector. You may also need to specify the alignment of the image to achieve the desired effect. 142 Part II: Looking Like a Million (Even on a Budget) To use a transparent GIF between images, text, or other elements on a page, follow these steps: 1. Click to insert your cursor wherever you want the transparent GIF on your page - between two images or within a block of text, for example. 2. Choose File?Insert and browse to select your transparent GIF. 3. Click OK. The transparent GIF is inserted on your page and automatically selected. 4. With your transparent GIF still selected, alter the height and width