Slice it like it is Hot!

Hot Sliced Images

A sliced image is actually a single image sliced or divided into multiple images. Each piece of the sliced image is called an image slice. Each image slice is an independent image file and can, therefore, have links, rollovers, and/or animations applied to it.

How is a sliced image different from an image map?

An image map is one image with multiple hot spots, whereas a sliced image is actually broken into two or more individual images, which allows for more flexibility and the ability to animate and/or swap individual image slices without changing the entire image. Unlike image maps, each image slice in a sliced image can utilize a different optimization setting, allowing for better overall image optimization. However, don't get fooled by this; although image slices may optimize more efficiently, downloading a sliced image means that multiple images must be downloaded. This process can take as long or longer than downloading one large image map. As a general rule of thumb, do not slice an image into more slices than is absolutely required for the desired effect.

Image slices can be created and edited in Photoshop or ImageReady; however, ImageReady provides more slicing options. Regardless of the application used, there are three types of image slices:

• User slices — User slices are created by using the Slice tool.
• Layer-based slices — Layer-based slices are created from layers.
• Auto slices — Auto slices are created based on what is left over after user slices and/or layer slices have been applied.

Nurse, the scalpel please.