Just Three Things Before You Start ...

Before you open Photoshop, you should at least plan what you want to achieve, so that your buttons are neither too big, thus filling up the page, or too small and consequently hard to see.

Step 1: make a note of the text that has to appear on each button. You should also have an idea of the number of buttons that you want to create and the amount of text that is to go on each one.

Next, you have to decide on the size of your buttons (the whole series should be the same size!); as a rough guide, 100 pixels wide by 40 pixels high is a good size. However, a number of parameters have to be taken into account:

• If you want to align your buttons horizontally, you should limit their width in relation to the number of buttons. Don't forget that some users' browser windows do not exceed 600 pixels in width. As a rough guide, 600 pixels to be split between 8 aligned buttons = 75 pixels wide per button.
  
  
• Do some of your buttons have more than one or two words of text? You will probably have to create bigger buttons for these to make them easier to see.
  
  

Have you made a note of the text and chosen the size? Open Photoshop and then select the command File > New. Enter the size of your buttons in pixels (and not in cm or inches), then click on OK.