Why does Zeplin provide specs in Pixels instead of a responsive unit like percentages?
To say that a button is 40px wide and 20px height is not responsive. should I expect the developer to translate this into responsive % numbers?
Here's a picture:
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Let's say a button on had 15% width. On a really small screen like a phone that might be appropriate. But if you're viewing that same page on a 4k monitor, that button is going to be HUGE. That's why the specs are in pixels – Zach Saucier Apr 22 '17 at 16:11
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But your actual question here is unclear. Specs are given in pixels sometimes and percents in others. We can't provide a sure answer as to why one group decided to give everything in pixels. Can you provide more insight as to the context in which you're asking? – Zach Saucier Apr 22 '17 at 16:13
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Specs are always wrong because they only make sense in context of the actual responsive markup and CSS. – DA01 Apr 22 '17 at 21:19
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If zeplin is a css based system, then "pixel" isn't truly a pixel but a derived unit that depends on DPI/PPI of the display to look roughly the same independent of the device or resolution. – casey Apr 23 '17 at 23:44
I'm not sure that's a reasonable expectation. In so much as a button is often required to be a certain pixel size... just that that's pixel size might change depending on the screen size.
Most sites I have worked on have - generally speaking - percentage width containers, but fixed size elements (like buttons) although the specced sizes of those elements might be different on desktop or mobile.
To be clear I can imagine a scenario where a button might be required to be a percentage width (normally 100% I would imagine (of it's container)) but I can equally imagine a button that would be 100px round on any screen size. It's a mix and match.
answered Apr 22 '17 at 14:48
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Thanks. So you actually do use percentage or pixel as appropriate then. – user855 Apr 22 '17 at 15:04
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Yes that's right. Of course there are no actually RULES for this. But in general I would expect a spec sheet like the one you reference above to have percentages for containers and pixels for elements. The dates for example might be set to 20% of the viewport, but that round button might be 52px at any screen size. - The site is still RESPONSIVE, but not every element of a responsive site has to be flexible and "responsive" in itself if you follow me. – mayersdesign Apr 22 '17 at 15:23
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This is especially true for images that otherwise can pixelate (logos, icons?). But for photos, for example, you can use percentages too. – Rafael Apr 22 '17 at 20:50
