One of the things I often use when building a website is a grid template. This is basically just a set of guides and an overlay I use in photoshop when mocking things up. I’ve come to learn that sites that are built against a grid have a structure that is felt more than seen. They make a visitor feel like things are just well put together, and comfortable to use. This certainly doesn’t mean you can’t get really creative, and it doesn’t impose any sort of limitations on what you can do, in fact I think that they make life a bit easier.
My favorite template currently is a 12 column, 900 pixel wide layout. You of course don’t have to use 12 tiny columns, but it gives you the flexibility to split those columns into various configurations, like three 300px columns; one 600px column and one 300px column; one 375px column, one 225px column, and two 150px columns; a page broken into three vertical sections, each having a different column configuration… whatever! This one has 6px gutters and guides for the edges and middle of the gutter, depending on how you want to line things up.
Se here you go, my 900px 12-column Photoshop Grid Template. Enjoy!
