Hi, I'm the developer of Button Shop. Thanks for all your comments so far!

Just wanted to let you know that the program is pre-registered, so you don't need any registration key.

If you click on "Help" then go to "About", it will say that it is the full version and is registered. The "Enter Registration Key" option is always there though, it's just a way to enter a different registration key if one wants to.

Also, you can use the buttons for commercial use, so you don't have to worry about that :)

Cheers!

Kristanix Software  –  14 years ago  –  A fost util acest comentariu? da | nu (+119)

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I have switched AntiVir off and installed the app. No problems at all, with XP 64 bit. Everything is straightforward and intuitive, no help is needed to create a stunning pulsing button. Much more of this, you can make an icon for your program with this app!

But, a real drawback. Saving your fascinating pulsing button in PNG gives you a lot of different PNG files (I got as many as 14 files), with every file showing its own stage of pulsing. And there is no common file that combines all the pulsing together. As PNG allows this, it is very strange. You have to use external app to combine all these phases into one image.

Vladimir  –  14 years ago  –  A fost util acest comentariu? da | nu (+32)

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Downloaded and installed easily. Short play around says it looks good, can create code if needed, and has a fair amount of styles to choose from or create.

#4 @Lekkerbek - I agree that there are web-based button programs available, but there is no harm in extra. I use "De Knop", a freeware which is good, but limited in designs, Fireworks, assorted graphics programs and the web. When I can't get just what I want from any one, I pass a design between programs to use their various capabilities, so another just adds to my arsenal.

#5 @JustMe - suspect that is Avira giving a false positive. Unless others get the same from different AVs, AVG never showed any issues.

Generally, a very nice offering, GAOTD & Kristanix. Thanks a lot!

Hamtey  –  14 years ago  –  A fost util acest comentariu? da | nu (+30)

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I've provided suggestions to allow importing custom images/icons, and to provide additional free Template Packs (the feature is present, but there are no Template Packs available on their site).

For those of you struggling with the icon placement on a button, try the Effects tab, where you can align and resize the icons.

The text can be changed independently of the button image by turning off the Autosize option under the Button tab.

You can also create disabled versions of the button by toggling the Grayscale option (top right) under the Effects tab. The Pulsing option shows how the button will animate.

The Office Ribbon style interface is good (and should be retained), but right-click menu options have to be introduced to align/rotate/resize the text and icon and the ability to import custom images/icons is a MUST!!!

However, I did like the old Xara Webstyle 3 interface which was much more intuitive, faster (sometimes buggy) and provided lot more features (such as banners, bullets, etc) than Button Shop 4 (except for the Pulsing) - 10 years ago!

Of course, Xara removed some of the nice default templates, made their software bloated and called it an upgraded version 4. But that's another story. Guess good things never last, eh?! :-)

Some of the things I liked about Button Shop:
* creation of buttons, buttons with icons and web menus
* anti-aliasing of text and images
* lots of default icons (by category) and buttons (though most of them look similar shape with different colors/gradients)
* dynamic preview of button states (normal, mouseover, mousedown, disabled)
* nice effects (glow, mirror, focus light, gloss, bevel/strokes, shadow)
* create HMTL versions of the code, for plug-and-play into a website (though I didn't try it, and it may need post-processing-with-TidyHTML if the HTML code is clunky)
* open buttons from tranportable formats like XML
* save button templates into custom BSX format
* export button images (PNG, JPG, ICON, TIFF, etc.)

Professionals can easily achieve all these and much more using PhotoShop, but even they may want to buy Button Shop, as it is convenient for churning out lots of similar stuff.

There is nothing really bad about Button Shop 4. It is good for newbies (and even pro designers in a hurry), and feature-rich (does what it says). It is especially a bonanza with today's GOTD, but its interface can do with more intuitiveness and the features have to be made at par with other competitive products.

Freeware alternatives: Zpaint, Buttonz & Tilez,
Commercial alternatives: Xara Designer, Photoshop, Corel PaintShop

veekay  –  14 years ago  –  A fost util acest comentariu? da | nu (+25)

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I admit being skeptical about this but when I started to use the program I realized it's far more useful than most will anticipate.

This is a great way of replacing those boring desktop icons with those pics you've got sitting on your hard drive!

arturo  –  14 years ago  –  A fost util acest comentariu? da | nu (+22)

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