3D buttons like Photoshop

[RobinR]

It is my understanding that Adobe Photoshop and Macromedia Fireworks were written in C++. Photoshop was released in 1988 and Fireworks was released in 1998. I have no interest in recreating either of these excellent Photo editors.

However, has anyone figured out how to make high quality 3D buttons like the kind you can make in Photoshop or Fireworks? More specifically, if I knew the depth, color, length, and text of my buttons, would it be possible to make these buttons with code? Since Photoshop and Fireworks does make the buttons with code, the question is does anyone else know how to do it and made this code available to the public?

I would like to make simple 3D rounded rectangle buttons. Whenever an object has depth, it is apparently not a simple thing. So, is the recipe still a secret? .

Thanks,

Robin