Web Image Publishing Checklist: From Raw Asset to Production HTML

Preparing web images requires balancing visual fidelity, download latency, accessibility, and correct rights attribution. Follow these steps for production deployment.

1. Dimensional Sizing

Never upload multi-megapixel camera originals directly to a content page. Bound maximum display dimensions to actual responsive container widths. For standard web layouts, maximum widths between 1200px and 1600px provide high crispness on modern displays without bloating transfer sizes.

2. Format Selection & Compression

• WebP: Recommended default for photographic web content with wide browser support.
• JPEG: Universal fallback format.
• In-browser encoding operates locally on your machine via Canvas APIs, without uploading source files to remote servers.

3. Accessible Descriptions vs. Metadata

• The alt attribute in HTML describes image content for screen readers and semantic search context.
• Embedded EXIF/XMP metadata stores creator, credit, copyright, and licensing URLs inside the file container.
• Decorative images should use an explicit empty alt="".

4. Rights and Licensing

Include machine-readable licensor URLs (WebStatement and LicensorURL) if you wish to support the Google Licensable badge. Ensure your licensing URLs use secure HTTPS protocols and point to actual licensing policy pages.