The length of the page in 2003 is set dynamically to the last object on the
page.  (this is on the faq page -
http://www.publishermvps.com/Default.aspx?tabid=30) Unless you go into page
setup and force a page length (not recommended). It looks to me like you
created a text box over your background image and then made it very long. In
which case the page would size to the length of that box. If you did either
of these then the answer is, don't. I also noted that you are publishing
using File, Save as. I strongly recommend against that. You can refer to
publishing articles on
http://www.publishermvps.com/WebDesign/Version2003/tabid/33/Default.aspx -
which state to use File, Publish to the web. Your last question is another
question covered on the faq page -
http://www.publishermvps.com/Default.aspx?tabid=30 - make use of the FAQ page
to improve your user experience. That subject is also covered in more details
in my article - http://www.publishermvps.com/Default.aspx?tabid=160