I'm trying to use the drop shadow effect on the main content window and I think using a background like this is the best way if I'm not mistaken.

I know I must set the backgrounds minimum and maximum width properties. But how do I get text to stay perfectly in the middle for different screen resolutions?

I can create a three column layout, but how will it adjust if the screen size is different. Can I just set the minimum-maximum properties to my left and right columns (and my middle column will center automatically because of this) and will this do the trick?

I would do this

body {
  background: #3d3d3d url(that-background-you-posted.jpg) repeat-y center top;
}

#wrapper {
  margin: 0 auto;
  width: 900px; <------ whatever width you want
}

something like that.

Thanks Karine, I think i got it now!

Hi!

You can also add this line.... to reset all the margin and padding to 0...

html {
margin:0;
padding:0;
}

Which has nothing to do with the problem at hand!?