Why use background images?

[sch3dana]

Hi All,

I am looking for some good advice from people with more experience than myself. In this thread (and in many other places) I've read that bg images load last. But I am having problems with that.

I am working on a site, though I wouldn't call myself a web designer, so I may have more mistakes there than I realize. Problem is, the BG image is big and seems to load first when I test it in a 56k "modem emulator". It takes about 20 seconds to even see any text on the page! I never noticed before of course, bc I'm not on dial up. In IE 7 on a PC it's even worse- the whole page takes 40 seconds to load and then everything appears in one moment!

So, now I'm confused. Everything says BG images load last. Have I done something wrong or is the emulator wrong? I really don't want to lose the BG image, but I also don't want to lose all my readers who are on dial up.

Can anyone help? Please don't tell me to optimize the image- I can't go any smaller without losing obvious quality. What I really need is a way to make the images load last.

Here's the body css:

body {
color: #1B5975;
background-color: #503010;
font-size: 1em;
background-image: url(../images/bubbles-gradient.jpg);
background-repeat: repeat-x;
font-family: Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif;
}

[dreras]

sch3dana,

How big is your background image? in pixels. When your optimizing your photos in photoshop or whatever (when your about to save it out) you should see a small box in the bottom of the frame that says how long the graphic will take to download on a 56k modem.

If by chance it doesn't add up to 40 seconds I might say that you have a problem else where on the page that's causing the slow load time.

If it does say 40 seconds than double check to make sure your dealing with a 72 dpi photo. 300 dpi isn't going to do you any good on the web.

Can you give the url?