Just to wrap up this thread: i appreciate all the great suggestions. i used "save for web" in photoshop. it turned out to be the most painless for my purposes and i can fine tune it easily. i truly appreciate your taking the time to help me out here. i feel "72 degrees in my head" again. by the way, the piece that i posted so painlessly, thanks to y'all is "Waking the Ancients" . again, thanks! steelrazer (bill)