Okay what I'm interested in is what the the best way (assumming you don't use a skinning app) to get coordinates for elements? Cause all I can think to do is with PhotoShop is to have the window open that tells you the coordinates on the image. Is this ideal if I'm not using a skinning app? Cause even with that it's still a little trail and error as things don't come out right at first.

Make sure your bg image is exactly 640x480 pixels big
In paint, open it up and use the select tool.
Select a rectange, and without letting go of the mouse, look at the coordinates in the status bar.

They are in the format:
L,T | W,H

Use those in the pos tag

Thanks.