Some examples for the settings in 'specials' for buttons.
Most times it is convenient to scale buttons automatically with the text length. That is exactly what 'dynamic size' does. But if you have a bunch of different texts it is sometimes nicer to have an identical size for all buttons. Example (Arial 16, dynamic size)
As you see, all buttons have a different size. In order to get them in line, select the widest ('Testfilm'), right-click, set alignment to left, and the size to 'Fixed size'. To have it easy to set the other buttons to the same size, click on 'Set Default' as well.
Select the other buttons, set alignment to left, and the size to 'Fixed size'. Now click on 'Use Default' to set the size to exactly the value of the 'Testfilm'-Button.
The result should look like this:
Remark: If you set the fixed size to small, you will be warned.
With a similar approach you may create purely graphical buttons. Add the image first and scale it properly (if necessary with a custom size). Then set the button to exactly the same (fixed) size as the image and delete the text. Drag the button over the image to set the same position for both the button and the image. Example (with a 5 pixel frame):
If you use the buttontype "Fill" or "Both" (but not frame alone - as it would have no effect then), you may clear the tag "Normal visible" in the button specials properties. In this case a button without text (empty string) is fully filled with the (transparent) fill color. This way you may create buttons similar as with TMPGEnc DVDAuthor:
You may of cause use another color for the highlight than the "ugly yellow"... :-)
Another effect which can be achieved with the "Normal visible" tag switched off are "sprites". Choose a font with some graphical characters like wingdings, symbol... (you can use the dynamic size option again as the size of the button isn't important for this kind of buttons) and select the character you would like to use as "sprite" like normal text (star, arrow...). To set a proper position for the button it may be necessary to switch off the "use raster" option. Example:
Set the transparency to zero for this kind of highlight.
Gifmasks may be used for more 'fancy' effects. See also: Buttons & Masks and Short description for creating GifMasks