To add material to your web button you must first click on the Button Material tab. You will see the "Mesh Segment", "Reflection" and "Texture" options.
Mesh Segments
Depending on the button you have selected, it might consist of a Single Mesh Segment or more. You can see Single and Multi Mesh Segment samples below.
Example 1 (Single Mesh Segment):
Example 2 (Multi Mesh Segment):
In case your button consists of more than one Mesh Segment (as in example 2) you can select the specific segment you wish to edit (this is done through the Mesh Segment drop down menu) and define the reflection and color you wish to add to that specific segment.
Referring to example 2, you can see the button is made up of 2 Segments. By selecting the "0" or the "1" from the Mesh Segment drop down menu you can edit each segment respectively.
Reflection, Color and Texture
After selecting the Mesh Segment, you can define the reflection, color, and texture you want that segment to have.
The reflection refers to how the light reflects on the specific segment of the button. This reflection gives us a view on the material. To do this you can select from the pre-defined ones, such as the Plastic or Metallic options, or customize your own.
To customize your own simply click on the "Edit" button, and define from the "Edit Reflection" window the values for the Diffuse, Specular and Power options in order to give your web button the type of reflection and look you want and would like your button to have.
The combination of the light color and the color reflected by the button gives us the resulting color of the button.
The material of the button results from the combination of colors used in the Diffuse and Specular parameters. In other words, a combination of a light color in the "Diffuse" parameter and a dark color in the "Specular" parameter, creates a "Plastic" looking result. On the other hand, a dark color in the "Diffuse" parameter and a light color in the "Specular" parameter, creates a "Metallic" looking result.
Also, by specifying the "Power" parameter which determines how intense or soft the light reflection in the button will be, you can create different types of eye-catching and original web buttons.
The above settings take effect only when the button lights are enabled. When all lights are disabled, the only way to define a color for the button is by setting the color property found in this panel. Of course, with disabled lights you will not have the reflections and shadows that give a visual appeal to your buttons.
Moreover, you can define the color to be applied simply by selecting the one you want from the color picker.
Finally, you can also add "Texture" to your web button simply by checking the "Visible" button to activate the texture option.
After you click on the "Visible" button, you are able to choose between the "Browse" and the "Gallery" options. You can choose the "Browse" option in order to select one of your images and use it as texture (based on its properties) or you may select one of the already existing textures found in our gallery through the "Gallery" option.
Example of button with selected image (Browse option)
Example of button with gallery image (Browse option)
Finally, after having selected texture you can edit its properties (Emboss, Hue, Intensity, Saturation, Contrast) and grayscale option by using accordingly the texture controls.
Automatically the relevant changes are made and you can see them directly through the preview window.
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