Is the slice tool really this buggy?? (pics)

Question

I am trying to create images for a website using the slice tool.
When I try to create a slice from selection, it looks ok on the artboard (pixel preview mode), but it shifts the whole slice when exporting!
What am i doing wrong? I have things set to 'align to pixel grid' in the transform options in the main toolbar at the top. I have the document DPI set to 72. And still, slices get misaligned.
ALSO: the slice select tool, when resizing a slice, seems to snap to invisible things!? I have snapping disabled in the View menu. What is the deal? Is slicing in Illustrator really that broken? Or am I missing something??
I've tried searching around the net and nothing seems to explain this strange behaviour..

Answer 1

Hi Sinrise,
The problem with the save for web feature in both Illustrator and Photoshop is that png files can only be saved as full 24bit colour with true 8bit transparency - the user cannot save, for example, a 16 colour version with full 8bit transparency.
It means web "optimized" png versions that are output by Illustrator are often far bigger in file size than what is actually possible with other (free) web optimization utilities - at the same quality.
At this point Gif should be avoided (many reasons), and only be used for smaller animated web graphics. Gif does not support full transparency, only indexed, which means it is either on or off. No 50% transparency is possible in Gif. In the end Gif results in larger versions than Png anyway.
Jpg is perfect for photo work, but less than ideal for vector and sharp edged artwork, since it is a lossy format and will introduce fringes and rogue pixels and noise along edges. Even with a quality set to over 90% those noisy artifacts will be introduced in your artwork. And it generally results in much larger file sizes (the eagle head below is ~44kb, and still has noise and fringes everywhere at 85%)
Png is perfect as a bitmap format for illustrative sharp-edged artwork. It also supports full transparency both for true colour (24 bit) and 8bit (indexed) colour modes. And this is where the save for web feature fails abysmally: it does not allow us to save 8bit png files with full 8bit transparency - only indexed, like gif. So either on or off. Therefore tremendously limiting the use of the save for web functionality in both Illustrator and Photoshop.
Because with 8bit indexed png files we get fringes or ragged non-antialiased edges with transparent backgrounds.
Here is what I am talking about (open the original image to compare):
It means that I was able to produce a perfect fully transparent version that is SMALLER than Illustrator's 8bit version with indexed transparency in Color Quantizer!
Only Fireworks currently has the option to save png images with full transparency and indexed colours. And we know that FW is scrapped. Twisting the knife in the wound even more, Color Quantizer also allows the user to save limited colour palettes of 512, 1024, 2048 and 4096 colours! And a simple to use quality mask tool is available for difficult cases to safeguard essential artwork areas from degrading in colours!
Now, you might argue that we are talking about a difference in kilobytes - but I would say that my version loads up almost three times faster, and takes up three times less bandwidth. With more images on the page, it means my page's total bandwidth would be improved by 300%-400% (my experience) compared to designers working with Adobe products only.
And I have far more control over the exported and optimized colour quality, thus on top of that my work  looks better as well in many instances.
That is why I decided a long time ago to stop relying on Adobe products to do my web optimization. They are antiquated, and have not really been updated in a long, long time.
ps RIOT (Radical Image Optimization Tool) also does a better job at jpg optimization, and again the user has more control than the save for web option delivers.