3 replies to this topic

[Bouzy210]

How big do you make them in a photoshop document?

[Sqthreer!]

What are you talking about exactly? Do you mean website layouts?

If so, then this is pretty much up to you, but there are a few things you should think about when you're doing it. The main point to start your design is screen resolution. It's true that most people nowadays use at least 800x600 for their resolution, and it's even more common to find 1024x768 or higher. Regardless, you should consider whether or not you want to exclude anyone using 640x480 or less from seeing your site correctly.

If you don't want to worry too much about adhering to screen sizes, then you might consider a liquid layout. A liquid layout is when there isn't a fixed pixel width for your layout, so when people resize their browser window, the site will resize with it (to an extent, of course). The downside with this is that you have much less control, and your options for design are somewhat limited.

And yet ANOTHER thing to think about are the people with widescreen, or very high resolution monitors. If you've got a site that looks fine on a 640x480 screen resolution, then you're going to have a LOT of extra space on the side(s) for people with resolutions like 1440x900 or higher, and this can often look pretty bad. Liquid layouts, again, might look pretty bad, too, with all your text stretched out across the screen, for example.

There is quite a bit to think about when it comes to designing a website layout, and no matter what you're going to end up excluding someone, but it's your choice to design for whatever audience you're expecting.

But if you're talking about some other kind of layout, then please disregard everything I just said :D

Edited by Sqthreer!, 19 May 2007 - 10:57 PM.

[Archangel]

And something to think about as well. If you would choose say a 800 x 600 website layout you'd actually want to design it a little less than 800 wide (I forget exactly what it needs to be...used to know).

The reason is that if you have to scroll the page the scroll bar takes up a certain amount of those 800 pixels so all the sudden your user needs to scroll side-ways as well.

[Tirus]

Archangel, on May 23 2007, 09:25 AM, said:

And something to think about as well. If you would choose say a 800 x 600 website layout you'd actually want to design it a little less than 800 wide (I forget exactly what it needs to be...used to know).

The reason is that if you have to scroll the page the scroll bar takes up a certain amount of those 800 pixels so all the sudden your user needs to scroll side-ways as well.

780 pixels wide will do
and i agree with everything previously written about choosing your layout dimensions...well said.