1) These buttons are built with a series of stacked rounded rectangles. Then various fills and effects are added to them. So let's build the base of the button.

Create a rectangle that is 130 X 44 points, and has a roundness set at 22, like shown above.

2) Next we are going to give it a Contour fill. First mix up two new colors to use in this fill:

• Base Dark = 0r 0g 72b
• Base Light = 65r 113g 167b

So give the rectangle a Gradient fill and choose the Contour type. Also, make sure it's set at Normal so you can change some of the fill settings. Use the Base Dark for the left fill color, and Base Light for the right. Also, remove the Stroke here too. Just select it in the Properties panel and hit the Trash button.

Note: Although you can play with with the Gradient Handles, I chose to hide them and use the fill's numeric fields instead as it's more accurate.

So in the fill settings, set all of the numeric fields just like you see above in the Properties panel. This will move the fill around and change how the highlight is shown.

3) Now while the rectangle is still selected, go to the Add Effects menu and add a Drop Shadow. For the shadow, make the settings like above in the Properties panel. Looks pretty good so far!

Note: If your drawing starts to look pixelated at closer inspection, don't worry. Just go under the File menu > Document settings > Raster Effect Settings. Here set the resolution higher to make any Raster effects look better on-screen and print better as well. Also, be aware that the higher the resolution, the slower the redraw may be.

4) OK, now let's create a new Rectangle. This one will be slightly smaller than the original. Make it the same size as you see in the Properties panel above.

Now to position it, align with the the center of the base rectangle shape using the Align panel. Now move it slightly lower than the base rectangle. Precision isn't necessary here, so just place it like the image above.

5) This rectangle will be the inner glow of the glassy button. So first we want to give it a lighter, vibrant color. So mix a new color:

• Color Highlight = 98r 203g 243b

So give this rectangle a Contour Gradient fill. Use the Base Light color for the left color, and the new Color Highlight in the right. Use the same settings I have used for the Gradient fill options as shown above.

6) Now we want to blur the heck out of this rectangle to make it fuzzier. Go into the Effects pulldown menu and select Blur > Gaussian Blur. For this, just set it to 7 and it will blur it like shown above.

Keeping this rectangle selected, Cut it to the clipboard, then select the base rectangle and Paste Inside.

7) Next we need to draw out our final rectangle shape that will be the top highlight of the button. Use the same dimensions as shown above in the Properties panel. Then center-align it with the bottom base shape.

Remove the Stroke of the rectangle and give it a basic White fill.

Position it near the top of the base rectangle shape just like the example above. You don't want it touching the top, but just a hair below it.

8) Now we add a Gradient Mask to the highlight rectangle. Make the settings just like you see above in the Properties panel. For the Gradient colors part, use 90% Black for the two left colors, and White for the two right colors. Position the colors in the same approximate locations.

Select the highlight and the bottom button shape and Group them together.

The resulting highlight should look just like the example above. Congrats! You just created an Aqua style button!

It's very easy to make different color buttons as well. First make sure the colors are Process colors in the Swatches panel. They will show up as italics if they are process.

Next make a copy of the button and go under the Xtras menu > Color > Color Control. Here I choose the HSL section. That's Hue, Saturation and Lightness for those who don't know.

Then just move the Hue slider back and forth and you will instantly see changes to the button's color. Very easy and fast!

Just add text to finish off the buttons. Export and use them in Flash or Fireworks to make them interactive and add links to them.