This code is an example of an file input masked with a text. Clicking on the text (actually clicking on the invisible input) will open the file dialog.
<div style="position:relative;">
<div style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;-ms-filter:'progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.Alpha(Opacity=0)';filter: alpha(opacity=0);opacity: 0;">
<input type="file" name="iul" id="iul">
</div>
<div style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;z-index:-1;">
<a href="javascript:void(0);">Upload</a>
</div>
</div>