3 Replies Latest reply: Dec 29, 2008 1:38 PM by Bill Hunt RSS

    Menu buttons difficulty

    Soula-55 Community Member
      Some of my menu button text is rather long, and it does not fit within the button parameters. How can I adjust the button area?

      I go to the Layers tab, select the Highlight layer of the button and I can change its bounding box, but I am unable to change the text layer`s bounding box dimensions, so that my text will fit in its entirety. How would I do that?

      Thanks in advance
        • 1. Re: Menu buttons difficulty
          Bill Hunt CommunityMVP
          Christine,

          Yes, sometimes the Button Text does get unwieldy and requires a lot of extra work to get it to fit, especially if one has several Buttons on the Menu.

          Since I use Photoshop for the creation of my Menus, I'll step you through a couple of things to try there.

          1.) In PS, you can easily alter the font size of the Text, and can create line-breaks, as are needed. The downside of smaller fonts is readibility on the TV screen. Use carefully.
          2.) Obviously, spacing the Buttons from one another is a possibility, but this will depend on the amount of Text and the real estate that you have available. Same for shortening your Text.* You can also have fewer Buttons per Menu and more Menus.
          3.) The "Text" does not have to appear in the Button Layer Set. Instead, it can appear on a Text Layer, outside of the Button structure. This allows one to have smaller Buttons (only the true Button Layer Set is really a Button). The downside of this is that the user, on a computer, might become a bit confused, when the mouse over this Text, and nothing activates. The "real" Button will, of course, but this Text is not part of the Button with this scheme. If one is doing the DVD for TV, then the user will be utilizing the remote control, so it's not a problem. Now, the "real" Button's Highlight will have to be something other than the Text, because it is no longer part of the Button. You can Highlight the thumbnail, or have a "check mark," or similar, appear, but now the Text is only part of the
          i Background,
          or a graphic Layer above it, but no longer part of the Button structure.

          Personally, I'd take a good, long and careful look at #1 (check readibility), and then move on to #3. You might have to alter your graphic concept a bit, but this method will free up a lot of real estate. If designing for computer use of the Menu, make it easy for the user to find the Button, so they don't waste time clicking on the Text, which is not interactive.

          Good luck,

          Hunt

          * Instead of "Uncle Joe's Day at the Beach," just use "Beach."
          • 2. Re: Menu buttons difficulty
            Soula-55 Community Member
            I tried all 3 possibilities, to see the differences.
            No.1 is OK if I use condensed & thick fonts, plus play with the paragraph palette to sort of fit the button text within the parameter
            No.2 is not an option for this project, as I have to have a single menu with 6 buttons, but a good choice for other projects
            No.3 is truly ingenious!!!! a true life-saver.... it opens up horizons!!!

            Thanks a million Hunt, I appreciate
            • 3. Re: Menu buttons difficulty
              Bill Hunt CommunityMVP
              Christine,

              Glad that you have options. None is without some compromises with regards to the graphic design and functionality, but until we get giant Menus (say 4000 x 3000 pixels), we have to live with these constraints.

              I always struggle with design vs functionality vs the DVD specs, but I had to learn to make compromises when I moved from print advertising to the Web, and then to video. Give me a high-rez, 8-color triple-truck ads any day! [Grin]

              Hunt