What's a Background?
Web pages are built with many different pieces, technologies, and languages. They are much trickier to construct than printed pieces and sometimes what's possible on paper just isn't possible (or at least not practical) for online use. One of the tools web designers utilize to make designs work is the Background.
One way to think of a web site is like a Russian doll. Boxes inside of boxes inside of boxes. For this discussion, we will use the outermost box - which we will call <body>. The outermost box, or <body> is the available space of your web browser. Whether you use FireFox, Safari, Opera, Chrome, or (shudder) IE..., the principle is the same. When you scale your browser window, <body> scales with it.
Remember, <body> is the OUTER MOST box. So, conceptually, it's safe to say that the rest of your web site sits on top of <body>. For arguments sake, we will call the rest of your web site <table>. Where <body> is essentially the size of the browser window, <table> can be whatever size you specify. Say we set <table> to be 800 pixels wide and we have our browser window scaled to 1200 pixels wide. That leaves 400 pixels of empty space. Should it just be white? Maybe blue? Or - perhaps you want it to be a checkerboard? These are all types of backgrounds.
Background Types
Color: The easiest and most widely used Background is a solid color.
Single Image: Single images can also be used as backgrounds. Your programmer can specify where the image is placed, how opaque it is, and whether or not it is scales or tiles. Example:
Tile: A background tile is a very popular choice. A tile is usually a small image that TILES to fit your browser window. So, if you have a 200 pixel wide by 200 pixel tall image set as your <body> background, and your browser window is opened to 1000 pixels wide by 1000 pixels tall, your tile will duplicate itself and tile from left to right 5 times and top to bottom 5 times to fill the browser window. Here is an example:
You can now see why tiling background images can take so long to create. Not only does the image have to be beautiful, but its left side has to match its right side exactly - as does its top and bottom!
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