dividing bigger images into more smaller?

[Andrej]

Do you think it's good to divide a large image into more smaller images? I've seen that on some sites and I think the main reason for doing it is that it's nicer for visitors to look at more loading pictures - 1 big being created by uniting more smaller parts (like puzzle)... rather than waiting for 1 large loading... Am I right? Or why some webmasters do that?

I consider doing the same with an image that will be displayed on the top of my website. Please advise me if it's convenient or not, even for a top site image of size 750 x 138px?

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[Wojtek]

imo it's mostly done when there is a specific need for it, like if a part of the picture is a button and you want to link it to something.

but, when cutting the image into some smaller ones, you also increase the total size, so they actually load slower then if one big picture.

do the test:
1280x1024 png = 114kb
320x1024 png = 52.3kb

so if you were to join four 320 to form a 1280, yout total size would be (52.3*4) 209kb
95kb more then if you did a whole image

Up to you, if you need it to be cut, cut it, if not, leave it as it is :)

[Andrej]

Thanks for your advice. I've divided the 750 x 138px .jpg (44.2kb) into 2 smaller:
- 750 x 70px (28.1kb)
- 750 x 68px (26.0kb)
in total: 54.1kb
Which means by dividing it the size increase, so I won't divide it if it's not necessary. :-)