Im looking to design my own layout for a website. I have worked with photoshop before and have been using it for a while but never used it to make layout for a website. What is a common starting size for a average layout? What do the designers in this community use? Thanks for the help

:eek4:

Personally, I think 100% is a good place to start. Later, you can get into other sizes too :)

When designing a page layout in photoshop, I'll generally take a screenshot of a 1024x768 browser (Alt + Print Screen in Windows to capture only the active window) and work within that. Usually though, I'll try to have an idea how the eventual buildout will react to screens being wider/larger, sometimes noting rough percentages of tables.

I spose im a bit of an oldie (despite being 23) and i try and stick to 800x600. I like to think that when someone looks at my page that everyone is seeing exactly the same thing whatever the screen rez.

As for tools, dreamweaver, photoshop and flash are my tools of the trade.

Id suggest before u sit in front of the computer though, u get some paper and a pen and sketch out what you want the site to look like. that way ull have a good idea of what you want the site to look like and it saves time mucking around making it up as you go along!!!

Remember to take the scrollbars into consideration :)

Fireworks and Homesite for me, though programs like Notepad++ and Crimson Editor are decent too. Dreamweaver is good in code mode, but in WYSIWYG mode, it'll only teach you bad habits.

I think a fluid 100% width is for large crowded sites. If you plan to have a lot of content then go for 100%. For a fixed width: 740 to 760 px I'd say.

Thanks for all the help. Im looking to design an average size site. I will try 800x600. Is that too old school now a days?

I always design for 800 but 100% is nice if you dont have a background.

I am looking to use a background in the layout. What size do you think I should start with?

There's nothing that says you can't use a background along with a fluid design. Frankly, I think this type of challenge is half the fun of Web design :)

the_pm

If you do 100% though, your user will never see it correct? Or am I wrong in assuming this?

I wonder what the stats are now for users using 1024 or higher for a screen size.

the_pm

If you do 100% though, your user will never see it correct? Or am I wrong in assuming this?

I wonder what the stats are now for users using 1024 or higher for a screen size.That all depends on how you approach the exporting of your imagery and the strategies you use during coding. Generally, in the hands of a capable coder, I would say this assumption is generally incorrect.

I can say with confidence the risk is no more than the risk that it won't be seen because it scrolls off the screen.

That stats will vary greatly between different sites, but the stats mean nearly nothing, because people are free to browse with screens at any size they like, regardless of their screen resolution, and you cannot know whether they browse using sidebars or toolbars positioned in various places within the browser.