A masthead, also called a 'banner', is a concept that predates the internet and web pages, and generally refers to the graphic image most often found at the top of a printed or graphics page. The term is borrowed from the shipping industry, referring to a brass plate affixed to the main mast of a commercial sailing vessel. This plate contained the name of the owner or owners of a ship.
The main purpose of the masthead is to catch the eye and provide the page with a degree of visual appeal and often to be recognizable, so the viewer remembers it and associates it with the contents of the page or publication. It is considered to be one of the most important components in defining the look and feel of any webpage. They usually contain such key elements as an easily recognized company logo, a text title in fonts and colors that catch the eye, or a graphic image that helps visually tell the viewer something important about the purpose and function of the website.
An effectively designed masthead generally compells the viewer to continue scanning the web page to hopefully find additional elements that attract attention. This is why most website designers spend a significant amount of time and effort creating a masthead that 'sends the message' to the visiting consumer.
Web Developers are constantly on the look out for eye catching graphics to use on their websites. Panoramic, wide format, images are perfect for anchoring the prime real-estate of the horizonal masthead area of website. This area gets more attention and "eye-balls" than any other area. Graphic Designers also often need wide format images to use in the mastheads of brochures and other types of advertisements.
If you've tried finding them, you'll discover that unlike typical regular format images, Panoramic images are hard to find. One reason for this is because they are hard to produce. They are created by "stitching" several regular format images horizontally so that they create a seamless wide format image - one with an extreme aspect (width-to-height) ratio.
You will find a diverse collection of ready-to-use panoramic images, perfect for use as mastheads, on this website. Simply explore any of the panorama galleries listed at left, or visit the main gallery categories index.