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Buttonz & Tilez by Bjorn Ischo |
Here are two tools that the multimedia publisher shouldn't be without. 'Buttonz' will create great looking button icons and 'Tilez' will take your design and incorporate it into a tile that will flow seamlessly in the background! |
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1.7 megs HERE! |
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Buttonz & Tilez by Bjorn Ischo In need of a change, I was searching around the file archives looking for a freeware utility or two to help me re-design my web site. I found Buttonz and Tilez to be a standout both in size and features. Tilez took the struggle out of my attempt to make a button or two (I don't use that many!) and Tilez took all of the work out of trying to make a background tile that pleased me. I've never been very good with paint programs so these two beauties were just what the freeware doctor ordered. Want more!? Check it out: Platform...... The help file states Windows 95/98/NT however, I'm running it on WinXP Pro and it has worked flawlessly. For 2000, it's anyone's guess! Web Site.......... This site hosts a bunch of freeware programs made by the author with Buttonz & Tilez listed among them. I'm looking forward to checking out some of the other freebies offered there! The site is dark with bright lettering which makes these pages an easy read and there are many other things to see to such on this site such as artwork, coding, music, photos and more. Downloading........ Size Downloaded: 2.68 megs Size Installed: 3.67 megs Installation.......... The file is a .zip file and running the 'install' in UltimateZip brought up a standard install program complete with directory choice, type of install (full, compact, and custom) and the icon additions. No rebooting is needed and after the computer settles down, you're ready to go. Help Files.......... Well, I found the help file in the directory for the programs however, clicking on the help menu on either program only brought up a blank screen. Perhaps this is a WinXP thing, I don't know. There IS a help file however and if necessary, you can bring it to your desktop just by finding the file with your file manager (like Turbo Navagiator) and dragging a copy or link to it on your desktop. This is a standard help file with no screenshots that I noticed. Interface & Features ........... To make it a bit easier, I'm breaking down this review into two separate pieces. We'll start with Buttonz:
Buttonz! An excellent utility for making button icons for your web site, multimedia presentation, desktop or where ever you feel you need to use them! Here's a screenshot of the programs opening window:
Buttonz gives you many ways to adjust the button that your working on including the width, height, inner lumination, the bevel width, the opacity of the bevel and the relative offset! Colors can be adjusted, you can add a double bevel, change the lighting of the button for shadow effects and more. At the bottom is where the text goes for your button and on the right is a vertical row of choices for the shape of your button. As you can see in the pic, you can zoom in to get a better view too. You also get a choice of the bevel style from Solid, Smooth, and Gradient. There is also adjustments for the Fill Style, Anti-Aliasing and the Caption. The Caption button brings a nice window for making all kinds of adjustments to your fonts. Here's a pic of that setting area:
From the 'File' menu item, you can browse a few presets, load and save parameters for customization, and do batch rendering! Here's a screenshot of the batch rendering 'wizard' which comes with the program:
This is a sweet addition! The pic explains itself. It will guide you through the process allowing you to choose the desired captions and format output (.jpg, bmp, tif, png), and where to put them. Excellent!
Tilez This program makes the creation of tiling for backgrounds a breeze! With a similar interface as 'Buttonz', you are given many different ways to adjust your tile rendering. Here's a pic of the opening window to give you an idea of what to expect:
Pick a design or take one of your own and do all kinds of amazing things with it. Change the brightness, Cycle, Amplitude, 2 different turbulences, and a great twist slide which takes your image and gives it a spin! You can adjust the shade of your pallette and play with features like embossing, flipping (great for 'book ends'), and change the cell width and height. There are two 'shader' layers and a tab that gives you the end result. You can zoom into your tile or even preview it which covers the entire window to see how seamless it can be. Here's a pic of the program with one of the tiles I was working on to change my site:
As far as preview goes though, this program excels! With Tilez, you can go to the 'View' menu and pick 'Full Screen Preview' which fills your screen with your design along with sample fonts in different colors to give you a fabulous look at how it will be with your page fonts! An excellent bonus for freeware!! You can also mutate your design via the 'Mutation' menu, copy and paste parameters in the 'Buffer' menu, and the 'File' menu will give you sample presents plus the usual stuff you find in there. The background being used on my pages was made with Tilez using a single picture of a cd that I had. I used a program to angle the picture then imported it into Tilez and worked with it. The result is what you'll find on every page. Problems....... I've enjoyed using these two great programs with no problem at all. I find the layout of all of the selections easy to access and there's enough features in both these programs to keep me occupied for hours just trying out new designs and shades. In Closing .......... If you're in the need for a nice button or tile maker, I strongly suggest downloading these great programs from their home page and give them a try. For freeware, you can't beat it! Enjoy!! Buzzy J |
