subject: Importing Images In Dreamweaver Cs5 [print this page] When adding images to a web page in Adobe Dreamweaver, you can choose between three basic methods. The standard method is to use the menu command Insert - Image or to click on the equivalent icon from the Insert Panel. However, Dreamweaver offers two convenient alternatives: firstly, the Files Panel and, secondly, the Assets panel.
The standard way of importing an image is to position the cursor in the required location and choose Insert - Image. Dreamweaver displays the Select Image Source dialog. Naturally, the most important thing you need to do is to navigate to the image and double-click to import it. However, there are a few other options which it might be useful to explain.
You may be intrigued by the two radio buttons labelled "Select file name from" located at the top of the Select Image Source dialog box. The options are File system and Data sources. Here you will want to select File system. (The Data sources option is used to create a dynamic image when working with data-driven websites using ASP, PHP or ColdFusion.)
To locate the image, you will use the normal file navigation provided by your operating system. In addition, Dreamweaver provides a Site root button which takes you straight back to the Local Site Folder. (The Server button located underneath the Site root button is only used when building data-driven websites.)
Image sources and hyperlink addresses work in the same way on an HTML page: the file reference can have one of two starting points: the document containing the image; or the site root. The normal choice here is relative to the document.
It is also possible to import images from the Files panel. Dreamweaver's Files Panel offers a complete list of all the files and folders within the site: in a manner not dissimilar to Windows Explorer or the Macintosh Finder. If you know the name of the image you want to add to the page, you can simply drag it from the Files Panel directly onto your page.
This technique is particularly useful when adding several images to a busy page since it possible the fastest method of adding images to a page. The only disadvantage is that the Files panel does not provide a preview of the image being inserted.
Then there is the Assets panel. Dreamweaver's Assets panel is basically an internal database which provides a categorized and automatically generated list of assets available: not only in the current site, but also in other sites defined on your computer. The elements it keeps track of include images, colours and Flash movies. To work with image assets, simply activate the Assets panel (using the menu command Window - Assets) then click on the Image category. As you highlight each image, a thumbnail preview is displayed at the top of the Assets panel. To insert an image, either drag the image onto the page or highlight the image and click the Insert button.
