Macromedia Fireworks Tutorials >> Menus, Buttons & Animations >> Plastic Pill Button

Plastic Pill Button

We've had quite a few requests and suggestions to make this lesson shorter so we revisited the effect and came up with a "leaner" version.

Step 1: Creating the Pill Shape

1. Select either the the Rounded or Regular Rectangle Tools
2. Create a pill shape with a Roundness of 100. ( For assistance creating a rounded rectangle, click here)
3. Set the Fill to a color you want the pill effect to be. In this example, we're using a light orange, #FF9900.
4. Reduce the Opacity to 88%.
5. Duplicate the Pill Shape (Edit>Duplicate is one way to duplicate the shape)

Step 2: Applying the Gradients

1. Select the first Pill Shape and apply a Linear Gradient to it.
2. Edit the gradient so one end is the color of the gradient is a lighter color of the original pill shape color.
3. Modify the gradient by dragging the handles as in the diagram below. For additional assistance with modifying gradients, click here.

Step 3: Modifying the Second Pill Shape

1. Select the other pill shape and set the fill to white.
2. Apply a Gaussian Blur to the shape by going up to Xtras>Blur>Gaussian Blur...At this point FW will tell you it needs to convert the shape to a Bitmap. Click OK. I used a setting of 5 for the Gaussian Blur but this value is flexible.
3. Move the shape you just blurred on top of the original shape.
4. Set the Opacity to around 40%.

Step 4: Creating the Top Reflection

1. Select the Rounded or Regular Rectangle Tool and draw a smaller, thinner rectangle over the top area of the pill shape.
2. Set the Fill to White.
3. Apply a Gaussian Blur with a setting of 4
4. Reduce the Opacity to 82%.