ZPaint

Creating websites mostly requires code writing, but there are also different applications which save you the effort of programming. Some elements can be created separately, such as forms, or in this case buttons. For instance, ZPaint wants to help you design cool 3D buttons for your projects without writing a single line of code.

The application takes a couple of seconds to get installed on your computer, but for an efficient process you might need to run the setup file with administrator privileges. Once deployed and launched a set of windows show up, each containing different tools, which makes it less overwhelming for inexperienced individuals.

As the name might suggest, the way in which you create a button is to draw it. The main window is the canvas where you can start off from an existing picture, but it needs to be under the BMP format. There aren’t any brushes and drawing is either done through a single click, or dragging a box around to create a large button.

The shape window lets you select different styles which leave the impression of 3D buttons, either sinked in, or beveled. A couple of values can be adjusted to set depth and corner radius. However, to test out these values you need to interact with the canvas, and there’s an undo button in case the new style isn’t quite adequate.

Another window is dedicated to the surface of the button. There’s a default UV map you can use, but there’s also the possibility to create and load your own under the BMP format. Opacity can be set, as well as 3D contrast and gloss. Unfortunately, the element can’t be exported under any kind of code to bundle in other projects, but only as a BMP picture.

Bottom line is that designing elements for your projects doesn’t necessarily have to imply writing code, and ZPaint wants to prove this. However, it only comes with the bare necessities for configuring visual styles, while the output would have been better off as code, or a HTML file instead of a picture.