How to Preload an Image

"Preloading" loads an image file into the users computer memory so that it can be instantly accessed when needed. This is useful, for example, if you have a mouseover event and an image needs to change without any delay.

To preload an image into your web page, paste the code below into the document head (replace the image file name with your own):

<script language="JavaScript">
if (document.images) {
    img1 = new Image();
    img1.src = "picture.jpg";
}
</script>

You can also preload an image without JavaScript by creating a 1 pixel square version of the file and hiding it somewhere on the page, like so:

<image src="picture.jpg" width="1" height="1" border="0">