Creating Graphics with Paint Programs
For
The Pixel coordinated Buttons
This tutor will show you
the steps to put the first button which is the Open button on the ButterflyPlayer which is located in the jExamples
directory.
The remaining four buttons
are created in the same manner as the first one. Just repeat the steps.
1. First we create the whole thing in a Paint
Program and save it as Player1.BMP.
You need to use a Paint
Program that shows Pixel coordinates. Some paint programs will show the cursor
positions in Inches, so you’ll have to switch over to Pixel. The Pixel readings
are needed when putting in buttons. MSPaint in
windows doesn’t show the pixels as you move the cursor around, so you’ll have
to download a better paint program that will show pixels.
2.
We select an area around the first Butterfly and cut it out. At the start of
selecting that area, we write down the X-Y coordinates on a piece of paper. In
this case it’s X-60 and Y-35. We need that coordinate when we place the
buttons.
3. Click on Edit and cut
it out. These cutouts will make covers for our buttons.
4. Click on Edit and paste
as new Image, or paste into a new window.
5. Click on File and Save As and save our cover as
mmOpen.bmp
6. Repeat the Steps 2 thru
5 until all the button covers are completed. The next file, you would name as mmPlay.BMP and so on, that is if you cut out the play
button cover next. These little covers will hide the buttons, but the buttons
will be there when you click on them.
This is the end of the first Part, which is getting all of your graphics saved to files.
Creating the Player with JaxGUI
1. Now start JaxGUI and select an area on the grid about the size of
the Player1.bmp which is 600x139. You don’t have to
get it right on, just enough room where you can place 5 buttons will do. It
will come out right since you use those numbers you wrote down.
2. Click on PopUp without a Frame. The PopUp
will allow the window to loose it’s caption.
3. Your Parent Grid will
be showing now. Select the whole thing and Right click on Static.
4. Now that you have the
Static control Right Click Menu, click on Adjust Parent to BitMap and
then click on Continue. This will make the Parent the same size as the
Bitmap.
5. When the Open file
dialog appears, browse to in this case, the jExamples
directory and click on Player1. It is the main Graphics file that will cover
the whole Parent.
6. Now that we have our
Graphic placed on our Parent, we’ll do the buttons next. Select an area close
to where the first button might go and click on Button, don’t Right click on
it, like the others.
7.
In the buttons Menu, click on Ex
that’s beside Open MM.
8. Click on Pixel
Coordinated.
9. Click on MMOpen which is the first Graphic button cover we saved.
10. Enter the First X-coord number, that was written down that went with mmOpen.bmp.
11. Enter the Y-coord number with went with this graphic.
12. Click on Continue.
13. The Parent might look
something like this.
To do the rest of the
Buttons, follow steps 6 thru 12 for each one.
When finished, the parent looks like
this in JaxGUI.
The Resume button has been discontinued since this tutorial was created. The Pause Button causes it to resume play. The player in the jExample directory also has a Close button added to it. The menus will reflect the absence of the Resume button.
THE END
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