How to Set Up the Responsive CSS Grid Design in Sketch

Yes, we will talk about Sketch shortly, but even if you “only” work as a web designer, you should read on here. You don’t have to write the CSS later, but you should understand the possibilities and limitations, because otherwise the design always lags behind the technology and can never be implemented correctly. Don’t worry, it’s just a little HTML and CSS and doesn’t bite.

HTML markup for our example:

A div with the class of .container holds 5 div/items (can of course be more or less). If you like, you can experiment with the HTML and CSS markup in CodePen directly.
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I added some CSS styling for better understanding, not relevant for the grid

Base: Set Grid, Columns and Rows in the CSS

In the CSS, we turn the .container class into a grid by adding display:grid. With grid-template-columns we activate the desired columns, in this case 5 columns with 250px each. With grid-template-rows we can set the height of the row (if needed), in this case 150px. And that’s it, the first grid is done!

> .container{
>   display: grid;
>   grid-template-columns: 250px 250px 250px 250px 250px;
>   grid-template-rows: 150px;
> }
> /* short form: */ 
> grid-template-columns: repeat(5, 250px);

Setting the gutter

Any desired distance between the items can be created with grid-gap for all items or separate for horizontal and vertical distances with column-gap and row-gap. By the way you can use all common units, for example px for fixed gutters or % for flexible gutters.

> .container{
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: repeat(5, 250px);
  grid-template-rows: 150px;
  grid-gap: 30px;
}

Automatic distribution to the available screen area with “fr”

A designer’s dream! With Fractional Units short fr you can divide the available space according to your wishes! Here, for example, we divide the screen size into 6 parts. The first column takes 1/6 = 1fr of the space, the second column 3/6= 3fr and the third column 2/6= 2fr. You can of course also add grid-gap if you wish.

.container{

  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 3fr 2fr;
}

all rows flexible

px and fr mixing for fixed and flexible columns

pxand fr can be mixed in any desired way the rest will adapt to the available space. Works like a charm!

.container{
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 300px 3fr 2fr;
}

first row fixed by px, remaining layout flexible

Absolute freedom of arrangement

The best thing is, all items can take up as much space as you like even within the gird! For this purpose a starting point is set with grid-column-start and the end with grid-column-end. Or in short grid-column: startpoint / endpoint;

.container{
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 3fr 2fr;
}
.item-1 {
 grid-column: 1 / 4;
}
.item-5 {
 grid-column: 3 / 4;
}

Don’t get confused by the grid lines, they start at the very beginning of the first item!

The same applies to vertical or full-area distribution!

Here CSS Grid can shine and prove its superiority over Boostrap and Co. Items can take all vertical sizes and positions with the help of grid-row. As we will see in the next example, this is an absolute advantage for adapting to different screen sizes and devices.

.container{
  display: grid;
  grid-template-columns: 1fr 3fr 2fr;
}
.item-2 {
 grid-row: 1 / 3;
}
.item-1 {
 grid-column: 1 / 4;
 grid-row: 3 / 4;
}

Any vertical width and position

Adapting to different screen sizes and devices? Of course!

Here CSS Grid also has a clear advantage over conventional grids, depending on the screen size you can not only switch from flexible to fixed elements with media queries, you can also adjust the position of entire items! .container{ display: grid; grid-template-columns: 250px 3fr 2fr; } .item-1 { grid-column: 1 / 4; } .item-2 { grid-row: 2 / 4; } @media only screen and (max-width: 720px){ .container{ grid-template-columns: 1fr 1fr; } .item-1 { grid-column: 1 / 3; grid-row: 2 / 3; } .item-2 { grid-row: 1 / 1; } }