How To Create Custom Buttons With Word

Since I am currently working on a new site and have been creating menu buttons I'd like share the method I'm using.

Below are the 38 steps to creating custom buttons using my word processor. Don't be intimidated by the number of steps because they're all easy and once you've done them a couple of times they become almost automatic.

I should also mention that while the instructions are written for MS Word they can be easily adapted to MS FrontPage.

And for those who use another word processor or html editor, you may be able to adapt these steps to the 1 you're using. In case your word processor doesn't provide drawing tools or you don't have a word processor, you can get a free 1 called OpenOffice at:
http://www.openoffice.org/index.html. Open Office works slightly different but does provide drawing tools so you can use it to create the buttons.

To find the Drawing tools available in Word and OpenOffice you can go to the 'View' menu item. Highlight 'Toolbars' and select 'Drawing'.

38 Steps To Create Custom Buttons Using MS Word

1) Open a new document in Word

2) Select Autoshapes located at the bottom

3) Select Basic Shapes from the menu

4) Select the rounded brackets and click the left mouse button

5) Create a rounded bracket shape in the Draw Box

6) Select Fill Color located at the bottom.

7) Select Fill Effects from the menu.

8) Select the Gradient Tab.

9) To get blended colors select Two Colors or Preset.

10) Pick the colors you want and click OK.

11) Select Line Color located at the bottom.

12) From the menu select No Line.

13) Open a Text Box.

14) Type the text you want i.e. Home, Main, etc.

15) Highlight the text and select the font size, color and bold you want.

16) Using the Fill Color and Fill Effects buttons at the bottom, select No Fill and No Line Color for the text box.

17) Drag the text box and place it over the rounded bracket image.

18) You may have to resize you image if its too large or too small for your text.

19) To keep the rounded corner effect of you picture you need to set the image on a background that is the same color as the background where the button will be placed on your web site.

20) Select Format located at the top.

21) Select Background from the menu.

22) Select your background color.

23) Select Print Preview. You can use either a button or the menu item found under File.

24) Open Irfanview.

25) Turn on Screen Capture.

26) Have the Print Preview of your Word document on your monitor screen.

27) Do a screen capture (Cntrl + F11).

28) An Irfanview window will popup where you draw a box around your button image.

29) Select Crop from the Edit menu located at the top.

30) Select Image from the top menu items.

31) Select Resize/Resample to set the size of your button.

32) Select File from the top menu items.

33) Select Save as.

34) Go to the folder you want to save the image.

35) Type in a file name.

36) Save as either a GIF or JPG file type. (I use GIF).

37) Open your html editor and Insert the button image you created where you want it.

38) You can then give this image a hyperlink to the web page you want your visitors to be sent when they click it.

By using the above method you will no longer be restricted to creating 1 color square buttons. You will not be able to create more attactive and colorful button images to fit the style of your site.

To Your Success,
Susan Carroll

Susan Carroll has been helping people with their online marketing for more than 3 years. You're invited to join her membership site at: http://www.friendswhocare.us/join.htm where she is giving away her report "CustomButtons". Inside the report she has these 38 steps grouped into a more manageable 13 steps plus she has included screen snapshots to make it easier to understand. She also includes a couple of hints she learned while using this method of button creation.Hiroshima Night Club