Hi,
I've created an new user Button so i can control the way it looks by changing the background image on mouse/keyboard events. Is this an Ok way to change a buttons appearance.

Below is my user Control (inherited from System.Windows.Forms.Button)

It has properties to set the image of the button in it's different states
  1. Normal State
  2. Mouse Over State
  3. Pressed State


It also changes the image when the user presses the space bar

Thanks Ger

Here's a link to some examples (The text after bullet buttons are labels, with the same click event)
http://www.vbforums.com/

Here is a zip file with different button backgrounds
BackGroundImages.zip

VB Code:
  1. Public Class extButton

  2.     Inherits System.Windows.Forms.Button

  3.  
  4.     Private CustomButton As Boolean = False

  5.     Private bolMouseOver As Boolean = False

  6.     Private bolDrawBox As Boolean = False

  7.  
  8.     Private imgMouseOver As Image = Nothing

  9.     Private imgMouseDown As Image = Nothing

  10.     Private imgBackGround As Image = Nothing

  11.  
  12. #Region "**************** Design Properties ****************"

  13.     <System.ComponentModel.Category("Custom Design")> _

  14.         Public Property setCustomButton() As Boolean

  15.         Get

  16.             setCustomButton = CustomButton

  17.         End Get

  18.         Set(ByVal value As Boolean)

  19.             If CustomButton <> value Then

  20.                 CustomButton = value

  21.                 If CustomButton Then

  22.                     imgBackGround = Me.BackgroundImage

  23.                     Me.FlatStyle = Windows.Forms.FlatStyle.Flat

  24.                     Me.FlatAppearance.BorderSize = 0

  25.                     Try

  26.                         Me.FlatAppearance.CheckedBackColor = Me.Parent.BackColor

  27.                         Me.FlatAppearance.MouseDownBackColor = Me.Parent.BackColor

  28.                         Me.FlatAppearance.MouseOverBackColor = Me.Parent.BackColor

  29.                     Catch ex As Exception

  30.                         Me.FlatAppearance.CheckedBackColor = Color.Transparent

  31.                         Me.FlatAppearance.MouseDownBackColor = Color.Transparent

  32.                         Me.FlatAppearance.MouseOverBackColor = Color.Transparent

  33.                     End Try

  34.                 Else

  35.                     Me.FlatStyle = Windows.Forms.FlatStyle.Standard

  36.                 End If

  37.             End If

  38.         End Set

  39.     End Property

  40.  
  41.     <System.ComponentModel.Category("Custom Design")> _

  42.     Public Property DrawBoarder() As Boolean

  43.         Get

  44.             DrawBoarder = bolDrawBox

  45.         End Get

  46.         Set(ByVal value As Boolean)

  47.             bolDrawBox = value

  48.         End Set

  49.     End Property

  50.  
  51.     <System.ComponentModel.Category("Custom Design")> _

  52.     Public Property ImageNormal() As Image

  53.         Get

  54.             ImageNormal = imgBackGround

  55.         End Get

  56.         Set(ByVal value As Image)

  57.             imgBackGround = value

  58.             Me.BackgroundImage = value

  59.         End Set

  60.     End Property

  61.  
  62.     <System.ComponentModel.Category("Custom Design")> _

  63.     Public Property ImageMouseOver() As Image

  64.         Get

  65.             ImageMouseOver = imgMouseOver

  66.         End Get

  67.         Set(ByVal value As Image)

  68.             imgMouseOver = value

  69.         End Set

  70.     End Property

  71.  
  72.     <System.ComponentModel.Category("Custom Design")> _

  73.     Public Property ImageMouseDown() As Image

  74.         Get

  75.             ImageMouseDown = imgMouseDown

  76.         End Get

  77.         Set(ByVal value As Image)

  78.             imgMouseDown = value

  79.         End Set

  80.     End Property

  81. #End Region

  82.  
  83. #Region "**************** Mybase Handled events ****************"

  84.     Protected Overrides Sub onMouseDown(ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs)

  85.         MyBase.OnMouseDown(e)

  86.         If CustomButton Then

  87.             Me.BackgroundImage = imgMouseDown

  88.         End If

  89.     End Sub

  90.  
  91.     Protected Overrides Sub onMouseEnter(ByVal e As System.EventArgs)

  92.         MyBase.OnMouseEnter(e)

  93.         If CustomButton Then

  94.             Me.BackgroundImage = imgMouseOver

  95.             bolMouseOver = True

  96.         End If

  97.     End Sub

  98.  
  99.     Protected Overrides Sub onMouseLeave(ByVal e As System.EventArgs)

  100.         MyBase.OnMouseLeave(e)

  101.         If CustomButton Then

  102.             Me.BackgroundImage = imgBackGround

  103.             bolMouseOver = False

  104.         End If

  105.     End Sub

  106.  
  107.     Protected Overrides Sub onMouseUp(ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.MouseEventArgs)

  108.         MyBase.OnMouseUp(e)

  109.         If CustomButton Then

  110.             If bolMouseOver Then

  111.                 Me.BackgroundImage = imgMouseOver

  112.             Else

  113.                 Me.BackgroundImage = imgBackGround

  114.             End If

  115.         End If

  116.     End Sub

  117.  
  118.     Protected Overrides Sub OnKeyDown(ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs)

  119.         MyBase.OnKeyDown(e)

  120.  
  121.         If CustomButton Then

  122.             If e.KeyCode = Keys.Space Then

  123.                 Me.BackgroundImage = imgMouseDown

  124.             End If

  125.         End If

  126.     End Sub

  127.  
  128.     Protected Overrides Sub OnKeyUp(ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.KeyEventArgs)

  129.         MyBase.OnKeyUp(e)

  130.         If CustomButton Then

  131.             If e.KeyCode = Keys.Space Then

  132.                 If bolMouseOver Then

  133.                     Me.BackgroundImage = imgMouseOver

  134.                 Else

  135.                     Me.BackgroundImage = imgBackGround

  136.                 End If

  137.             End If

  138.         End If

  139.     End Sub

  140.  
  141.     Protected Overrides Sub onPaint(ByVal e As System.Windows.Forms.PaintEventArgs)

  142.         MyBase.OnPaint(e)

  143.         If bolDrawBox Then

  144.             Dim pen As Pen = New Pen(Color.Black, 1)

  145.             Dim rect As New Rectangle(0, 0, Me.Width - 1, Me.Height - 1)

  146.             Dim pp As Drawing2D.GraphicsPath = RoundRectPath(rect, 2)

  147.             e.Graphics.DrawPath(pen, pp)

  148.  
  149.             pen.Dispose()

  150.             pp.Dispose()

  151.         End If

  152.     End Sub

  153.  
  154. #End Region

  155.  
  156.     Public Shared Function RoundRectPath(ByVal rect As Rectangle, ByVal cornerRadius As Integer) As Drawing2D.GraphicsPath

  157.         Dim cornerDiameter As Integer = cornerRadius * 2

  158.         Dim pp As New Drawing2D.GraphicsPath()

  159.         pp.AddLine(rect.Left + cornerRadius, rect.Top, rect.Right - cornerRadius, rect.Top)   'top

  160.         pp.AddArc(New Rectangle(rect.Right - cornerDiameter, rect.Top, cornerDiameter, cornerDiameter), 270, 90)   'topRight

  161.         pp.AddLine(rect.Right, rect.Top + cornerRadius, rect.Right, rect.Bottom - cornerRadius) 'right

  162.         pp.AddArc(New Rectangle(rect.Right - cornerDiameter, rect.Bottom - cornerDiameter, cornerDiameter, cornerDiameter), 0, 90)   'bottomRight

  163.         pp.AddLine(rect.Right - cornerRadius, rect.Bottom, rect.Left + cornerRadius, rect.Bottom)   'bottom

  164.         pp.AddArc(New Rectangle(rect.Left, rect.Bottom - cornerDiameter, cornerDiameter, cornerDiameter), 90, 90)   'bottomLeft

  165.         pp.AddLine(rect.Left, rect.Bottom - cornerRadius, rect.Left, rect.Top + cornerRadius) 'left

  166.         pp.AddArc(New Rectangle(rect.Left, rect.Top, cornerDiameter, cornerDiameter), 180, 90)   'topLeft

  167.         pp.CloseFigure()

  168.         Return pp

  169.     End Function

  170. End Class