Since NOF makes tables out of everything you do, when you create a page and place objects, it's far better to create the tables yourself.
For start use a fixed width for all you pages, 990px is pretty decent. This is when people with a 1024x768 monitor don't have a scroller in the bottom.
Create one or more tables in the masterborder, if you use a header, the table for the header has to fill the whole width of the page.
Create one or more tables for the layout, with one big cell or with more cells, so you can place your pictures and text properly. These tables have to stretch on the right hand side up to 990px as well.
If you learn how to create formats for your cells, it's very easy to place text right in the position where you want to have it.
Do do want to have a look at a tut a friend of mine made?
It's in german, but it shows a lot of screenshots. This might give an idea what I mean.
http://www.nof-academy.de/Ein%20eige...n-layouts.html
This is the part of the tutorial where she shows how to create a design with tables.