Ever seen websites from the 1990s? They can look hideous by today’s standards. However, the issue goes beyond aesthetics.

Keep in mind that people judge your site the moment they land on it. If it looks ugly, they might bounce out before further exploring, shopping, or subscribing.

You can remedy this with Photoshop web design. Use today’s tools to make your site look great.

Not that familiar with the process? Uncertain where to begin?

You’re in the right place. In this guide, you’ll learn how to use the Photoshop tool to build stunning websites. Read on and find out more:

How to Do Photoshop Web Design

Do you aspire to become a great web designer? If so, you need to learn how to design good-looking, clean, and most of all, functional web layouts. That’s why you need to learn how to do this from scratch using Photoshop.

But if you’re a business looking for unlimited graphic design help for marketing, try Unlimitly. It’s a great choice for outsourcing graphic design tasks.

Here are some tips on how to do Photoshop web design:

1. Get It All Out

A good practice for successful web design and time management is to put all your elements on the Photoshop canvas. Do this before you start tinkering with the design. A common mistake is jumping right into a specific area without consideration for the content weight and the rest of the page.

That’s why you need to get the rough framework in place first. That way, you’ll have means of making smart decisions with your web design. It saves a lot of time since you won’t have to do major edits later on.

2. Check Out the Custom Document Presets

When opening the New Document window, pick the Preset menu. It will contain the basic presets for both web and mobile websites. The caveat is that it lacks a lot of the common directions for various grid systems, banners, and iOS and Android devices.

Even as a beginner, it will only take a short while to fill in the missing areas. If you’re not ready to start your web design from scratch, you can use this as a guide.

3. Customize the Default Type and Make the Vectors Crisp

Try closing all documents and open the Character Palette. This helps you pick your preferred font family as well as the weight, spacing, and color. That means you won’t have to stick with the default Myriad anymore.

As for your vector objects, keep it crisp to get the most out of it. Use the Rectangle Tool and open the Geometry options menu. Select the Snap to Pixels option and you’re done.

4. Make Dotted Lines

Using the brush tool, you can open the Brush Presets palette. A dropdown menu will appear at the upper right corner. Find the Square Brushes options and click on Append.

Now you can utilize the Hard Square 1 Pixel Brush. Once done, you can move over to the Brushes palette and click on the Brush Tip Shape. Adjust the Spacing until it reaches 300%.

On the canvas, hold Shift while you drag the brush in either horizontal or vertical directions. With that, you can now make a crisp dotted line.

5. Easy Text Wrapping

Photoshop has the means of applying Text Wrap functions using quick workarounds. Pick the Rectangle Tool and go to the Options bar. Set the fill to Paths and select “Add to Path Area” after setting the shape to Rectangle tool.

Draw a big rectangle over the content area on your canvas. Change the “Add to Path Area” to “Subtract from Path Area” using the same Options bar. With the outline of the original rectangle, draw a rectangle that will intersect it since it’s the area where the text wraps.

Pick the Type Tool and click within the large rectangle’s area. This converts the shape to a Type Work Path that fills with type. Use the Rectangle Tool and the Direct Selection tool to refine the dimensions of the Type Work Path.

6. Stay Organized and Use Smart Objects

You need to group your layers to ensure that you stay organized and focused on your web design elements. Group your content areas and components separately. For example, separate the navigation, featured content, and supporting components from each other.

Grouping these elements will reduce the hassle you’ll encounter throughout the project. You can also use Smart Objects to boost your workflow. Convert all the larger photos and vector objects into Smart Objects to preserve their original image quality even after scaling, rotating, and skewing.

7. Make Good Use of Masks

If you need to become more efficient with Photoshop, start globalizing masks. For example, if your design has five slider images, group them and put a mask on the folder rather than on each layer. This is a great solution if you don’t want to search through 20 masks.

Another good practice is to use refine masks. It’s a good tool if you’re trying to fix silhouette hair, no matter how outrageous the hairdo. Make a rough mask first and go to the Refine Mask option, playing with the Radius to fix it.

8. Use Subtlety

A lot of designers often discredit their audience’s ability to see their intended effect. It’s a bad habit since it leads you to add too much noise or contrast. This will make the web design look too saturated and unappealing.

It’s always important to look for the perfect blend. You can achieve this by applying grace and self-control to your design.

Learn Photoshop Today!

When doing Photoshop web design, you need to have patience. It’s important since you’ll need it to learn and master all the skills needed to make a professional website. Don’t get discouraged when you stumble—make it part of your learning experience and grow from it.

These tips are enough if you want to get started. But you need to look for other ways to master the best practices and become a better web designer. Don’t hesitate and keep practicing.

Did you find this guide informative? If so, read more of our posts and learn more.