One advantage of using CSS3 is that you can apply colors and backgrounds to any element in a web document, create your own gradients, and even apply multiple backgrounds to the same element. This practical guide shows you many ways to use colors, backgrounds, and gradients to achieve some pretty awesome effects.

Short and sweet, this book is an excerpt from the upcoming fourth edition of CSS: The Definitive Guide. When you purchase either the print or the ebook edition of Colors, Backgrounds, and Gradients, you'll receive a discount on the entire Definitive Guide once it's released. Why wait? Learn how to bring life to your web pages now.

• Define foreground colors for a border or element with the color property
• Combine foreground and background colors to create interesting effects
• Position and repeat one or more images in an element's background
• Fix an image to a screen's viewing area, rather than to the element that contains it
• Use color stops to define vertical, horizontal, and diagonal linear gradients
• Create spotlight effects, circular shadows, and other effects with radial gradients