Another update on topic
I got the thing fixed up using this method...
http://phydeaux3.blogspot.com/2006/0...it-for-ie.html
so now things work in IE...
however using max-width in opera for some reason STILL distorts the shape of the page, even though the image is displayed smaller, the page is still skewed as though the image was there in full size still...
continuing to fiddle around.... tips will be appreciated...