Your Second Step is to Finalize Your Design. Your design is the most important part of your button. The information, tools and links on this page are some of the tools that our Artists use to make button images.  Now they are also available to you.

Guidelines for Preparing Your Button Image for ButtonStar

ButtonStar uses CorelDraw software to print your images for your buttons.  CorelDraw allows us to import a wide variety of image formats for printing your buttons. So, we can accept many different formats, but the following are our preferences for ease of use:

• We prefer that you send us your image in EPS, PDF, or CDR format. Many other formats are acceptable.
• Please convert your fonts to outlines or curves. This avoids required font matching.
• If sending a bitmap image, we prefer JPG or PNG images at 300 - 500 dpi. A lower dpi may affect the quality of your printed image.
• Button templates are available through a link on the right side of this page in PDF formats. However, you can just use your button size and add a half inch bleed around the edges. We need the half inch bleed so that the background colors of your image wraps around the edge of your button to the back.

We use many images that do not meet the above guidelines. If you are not sure if your image will work, please send it to us anyway. We will let you know if we have any problems with it.

Color Solutions

ButtonStar will do all we can to make your buttons the colors that you want. From time to time, the issue of color comes up. Frankly, we are surprised that it is does not come up more often. There are many possible reasons why your buttons don't appear to be the same color as you are viewing on your monitor. Let me list a few:

• Monitor manufacturers show the same colors differently.
• Monitor settings can dramatically change colors.
• Monitors use back light that shines through the colors and when you view a printed image it is reflective light from the paper.
• Monitors show colors in RGB format and printers print in CMYK. All CMYK formats shown on monitors are simulated, not true CMYK.
• Software used for viewing your image will usually change how you colors look on your monitor and printed.
• Software setting can dramatically change your colors for viewing or printing.
• Printer manufactures almost always print colors differently. We have 5 Xerox color laser printers. Some of them print similar, but others print much differently.
• Printer setting will also dramatically change the color of an image.

For these reason and many others, it is surprising that colors ever match. And for these reason, the graphic arts community relies on the Pantone Matching System. Keep in mind that the PMS uses printed guides, so that we are matching printed colors to a printed guide. Because of all the reasons above, a PMS color may look a lot different on your monitor then in the PMS chart. Also note, that most printers cannot print all the PMS colors correctly as the color system was originally made of off-set printing. However, with a little effort, you can usually get relatively close.  Click here to view an online version of the PMS colors.

Basically, there are only a few ways to be sure you are getting the colors you wants.

• Take the colors you want off a printed PMS chart to use for your images, then with adjustment and test printing, most printers can get relatively close.
• You can take your best guess and describe any colors that feel may present a problem (blues are often the biggest problem), then request a sample button for your review.
• We can provide you with a layout to use for your buttons. You can then print your own images and send them to us. We will cut the images from the pages and make your buttons. (Depending on the button size, we will discount your button price for printing (for example, discount 1-cents per button for 3-inch button).

We want you to make your buttons in the colors that you want and are willing to work with you make that happen. If specific colors are important to your design, we suggest you use one of the above methods.

Please let me know if you have any additional questions.