I recently added buttons to the right sidebar that denote blog categories. I am in the process of going through 4.5 years of archives to get everything sorted. Hopefully this will make searching for past projects easier!
I got an email about how I made the photo buttons and this quick tutorial shows the process. Keep in mind, this works for typepad. I am not sure of the exact process for other blog platforms, but the web coding should be the same.
FIRST : Make your buttons in photoshop. Mine are 170x100 pixels. Save each button as a ".jpg".
I wanted my buttons to be consistent so I kept them all with a photo background (that related to the category) and then used bebas font in white with the category name.
SECOND : Upload your button images into typepad through the file manager.
Once you have uploaded your files through typepad, you should be able to "find" them online by typing your blog address and the PHOTONAME.jpg (EXAMPLE : "http://eliseblaha.typepad.com/minibooks.jpg" takes you to this.) That is where your image now "exists" within the internet.
THIRD : Create a typelist. I used the notes feature which allows you to put as much text as necessary under each item. Leave the label blank and type the following webcode into the note section :
<a href="LINK TO WHATEVER"><img src="YOUR IMAGE ADDRESS"></a>
OR
<a href="http://eliseblaha.typepad.com/golden/minibooks/"><img src="https://eliseblaha.typepad.com/minibooks.jpg"></a>
And that's it. Add a different note for each button and you can get a whole sidebar made out of linkable unique images.
If you have any questions - please ask in the comments and I will answer them there.