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To be able to access the Any Shape Button
Designer, you need to have an image open, so for the purpose
of this tutorial, you're welcome to use
mine or a smallish one of your own.
On the menu bar click on File/Open and
then browse to where you have saved your image and double click
on it.
You're planning to frame the image, so
click on Format/Expand Canvas and when the Expand Canvas box
pops up ensure that you have a check mark in the Expand sides
equally box and enter the value of 30 Pixels. Click on OK.
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Right Click on your image. Click on All.
Right Click again and click on Border.
When the Border box pops up, enter the values:
Border width - 30
Direction - Inward
Shape - Box
Soft edge - 0
Click on OK
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On the menu bar click on Edit/Fill. Right click on Color and
then click on Eyedropper.
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Move the eyedropper over your image in the preview pane. Select
a colour in your image by clicking on it. When you're happy
with the colour you've selected click on OK.
You'll be taken back to the Fill screen, so click on OK.
Your image will now have a coloured border that's looks very
2D. Let's remedy that and make it look 3D by taking a look at
what options we have in the Any Shape Button Designer...
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On the menu bar click on Web/Button Designer/Any Shape.
Click on the Basic tab and the screenshot on the left
here shows what you will be faced with.
1. This
is the preview pane. You won't be able to zoom in on it, but
if you'd like to see how your frame will look on your image,
you could click on the Preview button. Should you choose to
click on the Preview button at any time, then you'll need to
click on the continue button to get back.
2. This
area is where you can alter settings such as light angle and
elevation, bevel size and smoothness and whether you'd like
for your frame to be a pressed or outer one.
3. You
have a choice of type of button you can use too. Use the slider
to scroll through the choices and if you see a button that you
particularly like, then simply click on it. The settings will
change to suit the button you choose, but you have full control
over those settings.
Experiment a little here. Choose different
buttons and see how the settings alter with each one. Click
on preview to see how your framed image might look.
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Click on the Bevel tab and the screenshot on the left
here shows what you will be faced with.
1. Again
you have the option to set the bevel size and smoothness of
your buttonized frame and whether you'd like it to be a pressed
or outer one.
2. Here
you have the option to choose what type of bevel you'd like
for your frame to have. Use the slider to scroll through the
choices and if you see a bevel type that you particularly like,
then simply click on it. You might wish to choose to repeat
the bevel type across your buttonized frame too.
3. Again,
you have the option (as you do on all the screens) to choose
a button type.
4.
And again as on all the screens you have the option to preview
either by looking at the preview screen or by clicking on the
preview button.
Experiment a little here with the different
types of bevel and settings. Click on the preview button to
see how your framed image might look.
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Click on the Light tab and the screenshot on the left
here shows what you will be faced with.
1. You
can choose up to 4 lights to light up your frame.
2. The
number of lights you choose will show here and you can click
on each of them in turn to alter their settings.
3.
This is where you can alter the settings of each light. You
can change the light colour elevation and angle. By changing
the light colour be aware that you may change the colour of
your buttonized frame altogether.
As usual you'll have the option to change
the button type but I've not shown that on this screen shot
or on any further screenshots.
Experiment a little. Add more lights
and alter their settings to see how they will affect your framed
image. Click on preview to see how your framed image might look.
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Click on the Shadow tab and the screenshot on the left
here shows what you will be faced with.
1. Be
sure to put a check mark in the shadow box if you decide to
have one and then click on the shadow type you'd like to have.
2. Here
you can alter the settings of your shadow and also change the
colour if you wish.
Experiment a little here with the different
shadows and shadow colour and settings. Click on preview to
see how your framed image might look.
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Click on the Warping tab and the screenshot on the left
here shows what you will be faced with.
If you'd like for your frame to have a warped look, then be
sure to put a check mark in the warping box and then alter the
smoothness and warp level to your liking.
Experiment a little here by altering
the smoothness and warp level. Click on preview to see how your
framed image might look.
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Now that you've had the chance to experiment a bit throughout
each of the tabs, you should now know a little bit more about
the Any Shape Button Designer and how much fun it can be playing
around with the settings. When you've found a setting that you
particularly like, click on the OK button to apply the buttonized
frame to your image.
Right click on your framed image and select to Merge All. Save
your finished image as a .jpg and don't forget to compress or
optimize it a bit. If you're unsure how to do that, then you
might like to refer to this
tutorial.
The image you see on the left here is how mine turned out.
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