User Guide

Chapter DVD Authoring
14 - 62
Creating and Designing DVD menus
Background Layer
The menu background must be created in the correct format (NTSC 720*480 pixels; PAL
720*576 pixels) with a color depth of 24 or 32 bits and areas of transparency defined by alpha
channel. The layer names must start with a “(B)”. For example: (B) Background.
A second descriptive designation, such as “Background” in the example here, is optional.
Button Layers
The two button types are link buttons and previous/next page buttons. Each button comprises
two layers:
w Button background/mask (name starting with “(#)”)
w Highlight layer: “(^)”
The button background layers are permanently linked to the menu background and must have a
32-bit color depth. The mask is used via an alpha channel, for example, to permit buttons with
animated picons.
According to DVD specifications, the highlight layer can have no more than four colors.
Previous Page/Next Page
In order to be able to page through multi-page menus, you must create buttons that refer to the
next and previous pages. These buttons have the following structure:
w (#<) background of previous page button / (^<) previous page highlight layer
w (#>) background of next page button / (^>) next page highlight layer
Important: Previous/next page buttons must be created in pairs; otherwise the Photoshop file
will not be recognized as a DVD menu.