Hi Micro Cars.

Have you got anti aliasing on? This is a feature of most graphics tools which help blend the type with the background.

Also - never resize text once it's in an image - this will cause you problems with clarity - design your images at the exact size you need - type too. This way what you see, really is what you get.

Also if you are saving as a gif file, make sure there is enough colors in the palette and that they are optimised for the picture you are saving.

Unless you're using a fancy font, another good alternative is to create background images without the text for the buttons. Then use actual links for the text and use CSS to style it and add the background image.

Also - never resize text once it's in an image - this will cause you problems with clarity ...

I think that might be my problem.

as for CSS, I am only *just* starting to use it and I was concerned that some browsers would render the text larger than the button graphic, but perhaps I am being overly cautious.

thanks for the tips

Following up on what Limbo said,

If you have your button graphic at the finish size and you add a text layer with your text at finish size, then as you adjust the text anti-alias to either none, sharp, crisp, strong, or smooth (adjust from the text pallet) you will see exactly how the type will appear.

For me, I usally find gif works best for small type but you may find jpg works better in some cases. Try both.