How to make a Web 2.0 button using Microsoft Excel

Microsoft Excel is a very useful program and I have been using it extensively over the years. Instead of using it to make a spreadsheet with calculations, data sorting, graphs and so on, I would also use it to do some simple graphic work whenever I need to. Well, since the computer at my office doesn't comes with any powerful graphic software, I will have to figure out other available options.
So, let me show you how I can make a Web 2.0 button using a few simple steps with Microsoft Excel.

First of all, open the Micrsoft Excel program and make sure you display the Drawing toolbar. You can open the drawing toolbar by clicking on the View -> Toolbars -> Drawing to enable the Drawing toolbar display.

Then, on the Drawing toolbar, click on the AutoShapes -> Basic Shapes and then click on the rounded rectangle to start drawing a rounded rectangle on the spreadsheet. You can the just click and drag a rounded rectangle of your desired size on the spreadsheet body.

Double click on the rounded rectangle to display a formatting option windows. On the Fill option, select your desired background color of the rounded rectangle.
On the Line option, select No Line.

Create another new rounded rectangle and place it right in the middle of the first rectangle. Make sure that the size of the second rectangle is slightly smaller than the first one leaving a balanced side along the rounded rectangle as shown in the picture above.
Double click on the new rounded rectangle to format. On the Line option, select No Line while on the Fill option, select the Fill Effects option to prompt out the Effects setting windows.

The effect setting took place on the Gradient tab.
On the Colors option, select the One Color option and then choose White color on the color selection box option next to it.
On the Transparency option, set 25% on the From: value and set 100% on the To: value.
On the Shading Styles option, select the first shade style which is the one with white color on top and grey at the bottom.
Then click OK on the Fill Effects and Format Auto Shape windows.

Now that you are almost in the completion of a Web 2.0 button, the only thing left is to fill the button with some text. Open the WordArt tools on the Drawing toolbars.
Select a word art style and the type the word you want to place into the button. Then simple drag the word into the center of your button.

In order to give a embedded text effect to your button, Right-Click on the White shaded rounded rectangle and select Order -> Bring to Front to place the text under the shaded white layer.

Now you have made a web 2.0 button on your Microsoft Excel but you may wonder how are you going to abstract the button image into an image file. Well, you can use the Prt Sc (PrintScreen) button on your keyboard and capture the on-screen image. Then, open the PaintBrush program and paste (press Ctrl + V) the image into the Paint Brush. Finally, simply select the portion of the completed Web 2.0 button using the Select tool and then cut out the portion (press Ctrl + X).
Clear the current Paint Brush image by pressing Ctrl + Shift + N and then press Ctrl + V to paste the button image. Now you can save your Web 2.0 button image into your computer and everything is completed.

With come creativity and brain-juice-squeezing, you can design your button with various ideas such as placing some semi-transparent text and lines on the background rectangle or even using a photo as the background layer before you create the button text and the shaded white layer. It is all up to your creativity and preference.

So, now you should be able to make your own Web 2.0 button without using the complicated graphic editing programs. It is simple and everybody can do it with only a few simple steps.

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