adjusting background color gradient of a submit button with css - html

Question

Hi i want to style an input submit button which has a background as given in the attached image.The back ground image was provided, but im not sure how to implement it in the submit button so instead of using that image i tried using the css 3 color gradient properties to style the button,however, i cant get the desired color output.Any help is welcome.
CSS code so far.
.button {
-moz-border-radius: 18px;
-moz-box-shadow: #fffff 0px 0px 11px;
-webkit-border-radius: 18px;
-webkit-box-shadow: #6E7849 0 0 10px;
background-color: #fefefefe;
background-image: -moz-linear-gradient(24deg, #d8d8d8, #fefefefe);
background-image: -ms-linear-gradient(24deg, #d8d8d8, #fefefefe);
background-image: -o-linear-gradient(24deg, #d8d8d8, #fefefefe);
background-image: -webkit-linear-gradient(24deg, #d8d8d8, #fefefefe);
background-image: linear-gradient(24deg, #d8d8d8, #fefefefe);
border-radius: 18px;
border: 1px solid #888888;
box-shadow: #fffff 0px 0px 11px;
color: #000000;
display: inline-block;
font-size: 3em;
margin: auto;
padding: 4px;
text-decoration: none;
}

Answer 1

Use the image. Matching the gradient fully to the image is an unnecessary pain:
.button {
display:block;
width:50px; //use actual image width
height:50px; // use actual image height
background:url(../img/button.png); //image file path
}
.button:hover {
background:url(../img/button_hover.png);
}

Answer 2

To use an image as the input is very simple:
<input type="image"src="/images/submit.gif" />

Answer 3

Finally i found the way to make this button using sliding door technique.However still in jeopardy to style it in disabled state.
This link helped me alot http://www.springload.co.nz/love-the-web/dynamic-submit-buttons
css
div.submit_button {
background: transparent url('common/images/bg-submit2.png') no-repeat 0 0;
display: block;
float: left;
height: 27px; /* total height of the button */
padding-left: 15px; /* end width */
}
span.submit_button_end {
background: #fff url('common/images/bg-submit2.png') no-repeat 100% 0; /* used a sprite image */
display: block;
float: left;
font-weight: normal;
height: 27px; /* total height of the button */
}
input.submit_input {
font-size: 13px;
font-weight:bold;
background: none;
border: none;
padding: 0 0 2px 15px; /* end width */
color: #1b1d60;
cursor: pointer;
position: relative;
height: 25px;
line-height: 25px;
left: -15px;
margin-right: -15px;
padding-right: 15px;
}
input.submit_input:hover {color: #fff;}
div.submit_button:hover {background-position: 0 100%;}
div.submit_button:hover span.submit_button_end {background-position: 100% 100%;}
HTML
<div class='submit_button'>
<span class='submit_button_end'>
<input class='submit_input' type='submit' value='Submit button' tabindex='#' />
</span>
</div>