I am trying to create a page where the client wants an image to stretch the width of the page without any white space on the left and the right (see attachment) Is it at all possible to do this without creating a huge image and setting the width to 100%? I've never made a page to fit the full width of the screen and with resolution type issue I really need help achieving this look. I can handle the rest, I just need to know how to make the main image stretch across the entire page without looking like doo doo...

Dan, in all honesty I think the client is being unreasonable here. I really don't think there's a good way to do what they want and they really need to accept that it's just not going to work like they envision.

To have the image stretch across the page it will need to have some kind of relative measurement, but that will also mean the image will lose quality the further it gets away from the real size of the image.

This isn't quite the solution, but another option if you can get the client to listen is to use the image you have and then have a band of color running to the left and right of the image that stretches to the edges of the window. Does that make sense?

I'm thinking one of the lighter tones in the image or even the color the font used for the company name would work well.

I'm sorry this isn't the answer the client wants, but I really do think they're being completely unreasonable. One thing you can do is ask the client to find a site that does what they want. If they actually can find another site to do this you should be able to find how they do it in the source code. My guess though is the client won't find a site doing this.

It's really one of the original issues in web development, whether to design for a fixed width or fluid width design. What the client is really wanting is both and that's probably not going to happen.

You could try something like this:
http://www.centennialheart.com

The image 'strip' is set to tile horizontally and sized so that at 800x600 you still see all the main images, but at higher resolutions, it repeats. The rest is all background colors, so check the code. That's just a placeholder page for now.

You can sort of get a mix of both fixed and fluid. In the remainder of the pages for that site, the left side navigation area is fixed, whereas the content area will stretch to the right. I have limited the content area to a max-width of 1000px so that text doesn't string out in a ridiculous way.

I was thinking of something like that too, but based on previous discussions with Daniel about this site I have the feeling the client wouldn't be happy with it. They seem to want an infinite number of fixed layouts one for every possible variation in screen resolution. Maybe they will go for this though.

It is one possible solution that would work nicely.

LadynRed is that one of your designs? It looks good and I think it is a workable solution for Daniel's client. Good call.

Thank you both very much!

I have proposed both ideas to her and we'll see what she says. I've asked her to provide me a link or 2 of an example to see exactly what she's talking about (I've never actually spoken to her or seen her).

I think both ideas could actually work. I don't know why I get so narrow minded about this stuff sometimes. Both solutions full under the "KISS" motto... I just complicate things way too much sometimes!!

Thanks a million to both of you. I'll post the finished result so you can see...

Daniel I'd like to see the final product when it's all set. I think I've been along the ride with this for awhile so it will be fun to see it when it's done.

Don't kick yourself for being locked into something. It's easy to do. I've done it myself often, but I've learned there are always other options and I've even found that sometimes those other options turn out better than the thing I was locked in on in the first place.

One of the keys to me about designing for the web is that you can never control everything. There's no way to know in advance what browser your next visitor will be using or what operating system or what screen resolution, etc.

It's hard to accept that sometimes, but the more you realize you have to the more it will influence design choices that make coding all that much easier.