Wireframes are a great way to plan out the design of a website before getting into the nitty-gritty of actually designing it. They help you to map out what content will go where, and give you an idea of how users will interact with your site. Plus, they can be a lot of fun to make!
If you’re not familiar with the term, a “wireframe” is basically a low-fidelity mockup of a website. It’s usually made up of simple shapes and lines, without any real graphics or content. This makes it quick and easy to put together, and helps to keep the focus on functionality rather than aesthetics.
There are lots of different ways to create wireframes, but in this tutorial we’re going to be using Photoshop. Photoshop is a great choice for wireframes because it’s easy to add and rearrange elements, and there are plenty of resources available if you want to find some premade wireframe elements to use.
So, let’s get started!
The first thing you’ll need to do is create a new document in Photoshop. For this tutorial we’re going to be working at a resolution of 1920x1080px, but you can use whatever size you like. Once you’ve got your document set up, go ahead and add in some basic layout elements.
Start with a header area at the top of the page, and then add a horizontal navigation bar underneath it. You can also add in a sidebar if you want, or even split your content area into multiple columns.
It’s up to you! Just play around with different layouts until you find something that looks good and feels right.
Once you’ve got your basic layout sorted out, it’s time to start adding in some content. Again, there’s no right or wrong way to do this – just start with whatever seems most important or relevant to your site. In our example we’re going to be adding in some dummy text so that we can see how our finished wireframe will look with real content in it.
To do this, simply create a new layer and then use the Type tool (T) to add in some text. Once you’ve got your text layer set up the way you want it, go ahead and repeat the process for any other content areas that you want to include in your wireframe.
Once you’ve got all of your content added in, take a step back and look at your work so far. Is everything where you want it?
Do all of the elements make sense in relation to each other? If not, now is the time to make changes! Just move things around until they feel right, and then continue on to the next step.
The last thing we’re going to do is add some interaction elements into our wireframe. These could be things like buttons, form fields, or even just simple links between pages. Again, there’s no right or wrong way to do this – just add whatever makes sense for your site.
In our example we’re going to be adding a few simple links between pages, so we’ll need to create two new layers – one for each link. To do this, simply use the Type tool (T) to add some text for each link on its own layer. Then, use the Rectangle tool (U) to draw a box around each link – making sure that each box is on its own layer as well.
Once you’ve got your boxes drawn out, select both the text layer and the box layer for each link and then click on the “Create Link” icon at the bottom of the Layers panel. This will turn each link into an actual hyperlink that can be clicked on when viewing the finished wireframe!
Creating a wireframe in Photoshop is quick and easy! Just follow these simple steps:
1) Create a new document
2) Add some basic layout elements
3) Add content
4) Add interaction elements
