Ulead Photo Impact 12 - How to Create Gel Buttons

When people think of Ulead Photo Impact they think of a photo editing program. True, this is a photo editing program but it is also a great program to create buttons in. In this tutorial I will show you how to create different color gel buttons. These gel buttons are fairly easy to create. Open Ulead Photo Impact 12 and let it load. When the splash screen loads, click Create New Page.

The first step is to create a new image to work on. If you already have your program open, click File > New > New Image. The new image properties window will open and you will need to make some changes. First, we will look at the background color. If you know the exact color that you need, tick the Custom Color field and click the color box. Then select the color that you need. This will be the color of your website. If you aren't sure of the color, tick the Transparent field.

Next, we will need to change the image size. The size of the image will depend on if you are going to create a menu of buttons or if you are going to create one button at a time. If you are going to create a menu of buttons, set your image size to 500 pixels by 500 pixels. You can crop it when you are done. If you are just creating one button, set your image size to 300 by 300. Make sure that you tick the User Defined field. Click OK to create your new image.

Next, we will draw the rectangle for the button. In your toolbar on the left you will see your shape tool. Click the shape tool and draw a rectangle on your canvas. Draw it the size that you want your button to be.

Next, we will fill the rectangle. On the right side of your screen you will see different panels. Click the EasyPalette Panel. Click the square beside the X and that will expand your panel. If you do not see your EasyPalette Panel, go to the top of your window and click Window > Panels > EasyPalette. That will open your panel.

In the EasyPalette Panel you will see a plus sign beside Text/Path Effects. Click the plus sign to expand it. Then click the plus sign beside Material. That will expand the materials. Under materials you will see the Gel link. Click on that link.