CONTENT
 Foreword
Design
buttons that make impression
How to hide
a button in a menu
How to adjust the position of a button in a menu
How to specify a unique text color for
a button
How to
open a PDF document from a button
How to
start an MSI installation from a button
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FOREWORD
This is the second newsletter in a series of four for those
who had downloaded a trial version of the menu designer
tool CD-Menu Creator
from SamLogic Software.
In this issue we will cover a very important part of a
menu: the buttons. We will give examples of how buttons
can be designed, and we have included links to useful
step-by-step tips that show how to use the buttons in a
menu interface.
If you have questions about CD-Menu Creator, please
feel free to contact me. If you want to read
another issue in this special newsletter series they are
available here:
#1
- Why create a menu interface for a CD, DVD or USB
stick?
#3
- How to add social media (like Facebook) to a menu
#4
- Where to find free images and icons for your menu interface
Sincerely,
Anders Persson
SamLogic Software |
DESIGN BUTTONS THAT MAKE IMPRESSION
Good design is important nowadays. And most important is
often the first impression. When you distribute software
via a CD, DVD or USB flash drive you have the
opportunity to give your user a great first expression
by adding a beautiful and professional menu interface.
An important part of a graphical menu interface is the
buttons that the users clicks to launch programs or open
documents etc. With CD-Menu Creator you can create
buttons with various styles and you can use a lot of
effects together with the buttons, for example glass
effects, reflections, shadows, etc. Below we will show
some button styles that can be created with CD-Menu
Creator:
Buttons with vertical color gradient
The picture above shows buttons that fades vertically
between two colors. In the top of a button gray color is
used and in the bottom of a button black color used. By
changing color from one color to another in this way a
color gradient effect is created.
Buttons with cylindrical color gradient
The picture above shows buttons with a cylindrical color
gradient, which also is combined with a light reflector
on the top of the button. This gives the illusion of a
three-dimensional metal surface, in this case gold.
Plastic buttons
This is a new style that we added recently. It is
buttons with a plastic style, which will give your menu
interfaces a modern design.
Partially transparent buttons
Buttons can also be partially transparent. The
background is then partially visible trough the button.
You can choose how much of the background that should be
visible through the button (the opacity).
More examples
For more examples of button styles you can click on
the links below to view our menu gallery:
Menu
Gallery 1 - examples of menus and buttons
Menu
Gallery 2 - examples of menus and buttons
You can also view this video for examples:
 
SamLogic CD-Menu Creator - Autorun Menu Examples |
HIDE
A BUTTON IN A MENU
CD-Menu Creator supports reuse of menus where a previous
created menu interface can be used as template with the
same design but with different visible buttons. This tip
shows how to achieve this. This tip is available both as
a text tip and video tip:
Tip: How to hide a button in a menu |
ADJUST
THE POSITION OF A BUTTON IN A MENU
This step-by-step tip shows how to adjust a button's X and
Y position in a menu. You can move a button to any place
in a menu interface:
Tip:
How to adjust a button's position in a menu
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SPECIFY A UNIQUE TEXT COLOR FOR A BUTTON
 It
is possible to specify unique text colors for buttons in
a menu. For example, the Exit button can have a
different text color than the other buttons, so it can
be easier located in a menu.
In this tip we will show how to give one button another
text color than the other buttons in the menu. This tip
is available both as a text tip and video tip:
Tip: How to specify a unique text color for a button
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OPEN
A PDF DOCUMENT FROM A BUTTON
 This tip
shows how to open a PDF document from a button
in a menu. When the end-user clicks on the button, the PDF document
is opened in a PDF viewer.
Same method can be used to also open Word documents,
text files, web pages, PowerPoint presentations etc.
Click on the link below to open up the tip. This tip is
available both as a text tip and video tip:
Tip: How to open a PDF document from a menu
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START AN MSI INSTALLATION
FROM A BUTTON
The last tip in the newsletter shows how to start an MSI
(Windows Installer) installation from a button. This tip
is available both as a text tip and video tip:
Tip: How to start an MSI installation from a menu
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BUY
NOW:
CD-Menu Creator
CD/DVD menu designer tool.
Prices from 79 dollar:
Order
here
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USB Menu Creator
USB menu designer tool.
Prices from 139 dollar:
Order
here
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Media Tools
You can also order the latest Media Tools suite (where
the 2 tools above are included). You will also get 1 year
support & updates.
Prices from 149 dollar:
Order
here
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SEE ALSO
Visit also our
blog. |
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