

Want a plain white background? You can download one from You can also make your own patterned or solid-colored backgrounds in a program like Photoshop Elements.

To remove drop zones after replacing a background, go to the Menu Info window and uncheck the Show Drop Zones and Related Graphics box. If you replace the background on a theme that has a drop zone, the drop zone remains. In iPhoto, duplicate the image and then adjust the brightness and contrast of the duplicate. Some photos make better backgrounds if you reduce their brightness and contrast so the image doesn’t overwhelm the buttons. You can ensure these proportions when cropping in iPhoto: from the Constrain pop-up menu, choose 4 x 3 (DVD) or 16 x 9 (HD). For the best results, be sure to use a photo with proportions that match your project’s aspect ratio: 4:3 for standard television or 16:9 for widescreen or HD television. To change the background image of an iDVD menu, simply drag an image into the menu area.
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To make sure buttons and other menu elements will be visible on TV sets, choose the Show TV Safe Area command in the View menu, and avoid putting buttons or other elements in the shaded area. TV sets omit the outer edges of a video frame-a phenomenon called overscan. To get rid of it, choose Preferences from the iDVD menu, click the General button, and then uncheck the Show Apple Logo Watermark box. IDVD displays the Apple logo watermark on each menu screen. To format the text, choose a font and size from the pop-up menus that appear below it, or use the Inspector window see the opposite page. A text area appears drag it to the desired location, then click within that text area, and type. To add descriptive text, captions, or instructions to a menu, choose Add Text from the Project menu ( -K). This technique works best with themes that don’t have background music, so either choose a theme that lacks music or delete the music (see page 270). Go to the Menu Info window, then drag the Loop Duration slider until the menu is the desired length. Maybe you don’t need all eight drop zones in the Reflections themes.

You like a particular motion menu but you don’t want to use all of it.
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(You’re free to ignore these guides.) If you want to return to the fixed grid, click the Inspector button, then, in the Menu Info window, click Snap to Grid. When you drag a button or other object, iDVD displays positioning guides to help you align items. This keeps them lined up nicely, but you can also manually specify a button’s location-perhaps to line it up with a custom background image. Normally, iDVD positions buttons on a fixed grid. Have fun with your menu designs, but don’t lose sight of the menu’s main purpose: to provide convenient access to your DVD’s contents. As with all design tasks, restraint is a virtue. You can even have a different shape and style for each button on a menu. IDVD almost provides too many customizing capabilities. You can also create text labels-for example, some instructions for DVD newbies or a few lines of commentary about the DVD’s subject. With the Buttons pane and the Menu Info window, you can modify buttons, add and remove background audio, change a menu’s background image, and more. You can customize nearly every aspect of your DVD’s menus and navigation buttons. Or maybe you’d just like to have the title of the menu at the left of the screen instead of centered. You might like the background image of a particular iDVD theme, but not its music or its buttons’ shape or typeface. Maybe you’d like to have a custom background screen containing your company logo or a favorite vacation photo. But you might prefer to not use off-the-rack designs for your DVDs. The design themes built into iDVD look great and, in some cases, sound great, too.
