Line length for text

Page width for readability

[henry0]

My question is about making simple text content looking better in a dynamically generated content environment.

I am running out of formatting ideas in my intent to make it look more attractive but still “clean cut professional” there is no left or right “col” so it is mostly a 1000px width page.
We have a nice header and footer.
The content is very simple
8 to 10 lines of intro with a small img floating right (as of now font size is slightly bigger than the rest of the page and comes in dark grey)
then below the rest is textual.

The formatting is done by the script as I not intend to supply an editor
So what will you do to present it better?
Line high? Font spacing? And…
Thanks for any ideas.

[Fotiman]

My initial thought is that 1000px wide single column might affect readability in a negative way. It can be harder to follow long lines. Also, 1000px is probably slightly too large for users with 1024 width resolution. 960px has become sort of the new standard for a number of reasons:

- It fits nicely with resolutions of 1024 and up (don't forget, you should subtract about 40-50px just to account for browser chrome and scroll bars)

- It is a good number if you have any ads (IAB units)

- It's easy to divide 960 into equal columns, or using the "golden ratio"

[henry0]

OK thanks, that will do for width, now about text look?