 | Extend mode of the Stretch feature is described in the Texture and Molding section of the Properties Panel topic, but let's illustrate it with a few examples to clarify things a bit. |
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Texture
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Stretch
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Extend
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This texture is probably most suitable for the Extend mode.
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This texture becomes "deformed" in Extend mode, so simple Stretch is preferable.
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| Mirror. Some textures "stitch" together nicely when tiled. Such textures are usually called seamless. Most textures don't. You can make many such textures look seamless using the Mirror mode of the Tile property. This obviously works best with textures that have patterns at right angles to their edges. Or no directional patterns at all. But you can try this feature with any texture: sometimes the results are unexpectedly useful.
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| You can create partially-overlapping buttons either by specifying negative Distance between buttons in the Layout dialog, or by positioning individual buttons using Button X/Y Offset values in the Properties Panel. The only problem is that the Preview has trouble properly displaying the overlapping parts that have transparency in version 1.00. HTML output is fine though. Note that button order plays a role even for HTML output: browsers will typically "create" buttons in the order they find them in the HTML code, so buttons will get overlapped in the order of appearance in the grid. So, for example, if you wanted to place a small button over a large one, the small one should be listed after the large one in the grid. You will likely be using absolute positioning anyway, so their listed order won't matter as far as positioning is concerned. |
| Molding differs from Texture only in the order of Layers: Texture is underneath Glyph and Text/Shadow, while Molding is above them all. Thus you can use Molding for some special effects that affect all underlying layers. For example, setting it to a flat-color texture with some suitable middle-of-the-scale Molding Blend factor will colorize the entire button. A black or gray texture may make the button look disabled. So will a texture with dots in a checkerboard pattern (with other pixels transparent). Examples of such textures can be found in the Media\Textures\DisablingMoldings subfolder under the folder where you installed Button Workshop (usually C:\Program Files\Button Workshop\). |
| You can achieve a "glow" effect for the button Caption using the Shadow. Set Shadow X/Y Offset values to zero, make sure Shadow Color is set to the glow color you want, and set Shadow Blur to a suitable value, so that the blurred "halo" appears around the text. |
| You can simulate a button with a Glyph or even Caption extending beyond what appears to be the boundaries of the button. While you can't really do this since button Shape extends over the entire area of the button, you can use a specially-designed shape that will achieve the desired effect. For example, a rectangle that occupies just the bottom half of the shape texture will do the trick. The shape will be stretched to fill the button, but the rectangle will still occupy just its bottom half, and that bottom half will now look like the new boundaries of the button. You now have the upper half which is in fact part of the button, but doesn't look like it, so moving your Glyph partially over that area will make it look like it extends beyond the edges of the button.
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| You can use either Texture or Molding (or both!) for second or even third Glyphs if one is not enough - these layers work in much the same way, so you can do with them whatever you want. |
| Button Workshop does not support the concept of "templates" but you can achieve the same effect quite easily. Simply open the project that you wish to use as "template project", use Save Project As to save a copy thereof under a new name (do this right away so as to avoid accidentally modifying the original project), and edit the new copy. You can simply delete all existing buttons and start creating new ones: the Layout and all properties pertaining to the All buttons scope will apply to them. |
| You can use a single partially transparent Global Texture and easily change the hue of your entire project (or at least the background) using Global Color in the Layout dialog. The color you choose will be blended with the Global Texture, and possibly with the buttons as well (if they are semi-transparent). Almost all sample textures in the Media\Textures subfolder under the folder where you installed Button Workshop have such partially transparent versions in the PNG format. |
| You can make a button vanish by setting its size to zero. You can set either width or height (or both) to zero, and the button will no longer show up in the Preview. In Manual Button Size mode you can simply set either dimension to 0. In Automatic mode, set one of the Margins to a sufficiently large negative number. Note that image files output for such zero-size buttons, if any, may not be valid, so simply discard them. |
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