Color transparent Button

Question

hi all
i wanna create color transparent button..
can we do it in java? i search and try for few hours already
but only can do the transparent.. i want have a soft color transparent in my button how to do that
thx
import java.awt.AlphaComposite;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.Cursor;
import java.awt.Graphics;
import java.awt.Graphics2D;
import java.awt.GraphicsEnvironment;
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.event.MouseAdapter;
import java.awt.event.MouseEvent;
import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
import java.io.File;
import javax.swing.ImageIcon;
import javax.swing.Timer;
import javax.swing.JButton;
import javax.swing.JFileChooser;
import javax.swing.JFrame;
import javax.swing.JPanel;
public class test_ys_button_fade extends JFrame{  
    public test_ys_button_fade(){       
        tes_panel panel = new tes_panel();              
        add(panel);
        panel.setLayout(null);
        setBackground(Color.WHITE);
        setDefaultCloseOperation(EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        GraphicsEnvironment ge = GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
        setSize(400,400);
        setVisible(true);
        setTitle("tes fade");
    public static void main(String[] args){
        new test_ys_button_fade();
class tes_panel extends JPanel{       
    JButton[] bOpen = new JButton[5];   
    int iPosisiy;
    public tes_panel(){       
        //init_timer();
        for (int ilu=1;ilu<=1;ilu++){
            iPosisiy = (ilu*50) + 20;
            bOpen[ilu] = new TransparentButton("test");   
            /*bOpen[ilu] = new myButton(" Open ", 250, 20, 60, iPosisiy, ilu);
            bOpen[ilu].addActionListener(new ActionListener() {
                public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                    BrowserControl.OpenURL("http://www.ipmart.com");
            });//emd ActionListener*/
            add(bOpen[ilu]);
        }//end for
    class TransparentButton extends JButton {
        BufferedImage buttonImage = null;
        int animationDuration = 1000; // each animation will take 2 seconds
        long animationStartTime;
        boolean boA=false;
        Timer index_timer;
        float alpha = 0.0f; // current opacity of button 
         public TransparentButton(String text) {
             //super(text);
             setOpaque(false); 
             setFocusPainted(false);
             setBorderPainted(true);
             setContentAreaFilled(false);
             setCursor(new Cursor(Cursor.HAND_CURSOR));
             setVisible(true);
             setSize(250, 20);
             setLocation(60, iPosisiy);
             //setBackground(Color.GREEN);
             setBackground(new Color(50, 50, 50, 255));
             addMouseListener(new MouseAdapter(){    
             public void mouseEntered(MouseEvent evt) {
                if(!boA){
                    animationStartTime = System.nanoTime() / 1000000;
                    ActionListener IndexTask = new ActionListener(){
                        public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent evt) {
                            boA=true;
                            long currentTime = System.nanoTime() / 1000000;
                            long totalTime = currentTime - animationStartTime;
                            if (totalTime > animationDuration) {
                                System.out.println("ahahaha " + getName());
                                index_timer.stop();
                                alpha = 0.0f;
                                boA=false;
                            float fraction = (float) totalTime / animationDuration;
                            fraction = Math.min(1.0f, fraction);
                            alpha = 1-(Math.abs(1 - (2 * fraction)));
                            int iId = 1;
                            bOpen[iId].repaint();
                    };//ActionListener
                    index_timer = new Timer(30, IndexTask);
                    index_timer.start();
         public void paint(Graphics g) {
             Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D) g.create();
             g2.setComposite(AlphaComposite.getInstance(AlphaComposite.SRC_OVER, alpha));
             super.paint(g2);
             g2.dispose();
             //g2.setColor(new Color(255, 0, 0, 20));
    protected void paintComponent(Graphics g){
        super.paintComponent(g);
        Graphics2D g2 = (Graphics2D)g;
        g.setColor(Color.GRAY);
        g.fillRect(0, 0, getWidth(), getHeight());
}

Answer 1

A demonstration below. The only time it dosen't work is when the LAF dosen't honor the background color set on the button (there's only one such LAF on my machine --> Vista LAF). In this case the LAF paints over the color I filled the button with.
import java.awt.event.ActionEvent;
import java.awt.event.ActionListener;
import java.awt.Color;
import java.awt.AlphaComposite;
import javax.swing.*;
import javax.swing.UIManager.LookAndFeelInfo;
public class ButtonTest {
    public static void main(String[] args) {
        SwingUtilities.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            public void run() {
                new ButtonTest().createAndShowGUI();
    private JFrame frame;
    private JButton opaqueButton1;
    private JButton opaqueButton2;
    private SoftJButton softButton1;
    private SoftJButton softButton2;
    public void createAndShowGUI() {
        opaqueButton1 = new JButton("Opaque Button");
        opaqueButton2 = new JButton("Opaque Button");
        softButton1 = new SoftJButton("Transparent Button");
        softButton2 = new SoftJButton("Transparent Button");
        opaqueButton1.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
        softButton1.setBackground(Color.GREEN);
        frame = new JFrame();
        frame.getContentPane().setLayout(new java.awt.GridLayout(2,2,10,10));
        frame.add(opaqueButton1);
        frame.add(softButton1);
        frame.add(opaqueButton2);
        frame.add(softButton2);
        frame.setSize(567,350);
        frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        frame.setVisible(true);
        Timer alphaChanger = new Timer(30,new ActionListener() {
            float incrementer = -.03f;
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                float newAlpha = softButton1.getAlpha() + incrementer;
                if(newAlpha < 0) {
                    newAlpha = 0;
                    incrementer = -incrementer;
                }else if(newAlpha > 1f) {
                    newAlpha = 1f;
                    incrementer = -incrementer;
                softButton1.setAlpha(newAlpha);
                softButton2.setAlpha(newAlpha);
        alphaChanger.start();
        Timer uiChanger = new Timer(3500,new ActionListener() {
            LookAndFeelInfo[] laf = UIManager.getInstalledLookAndFeels();
            int index = 1;
            public void actionPerformed(ActionEvent e) {
                try{
                    UIManager.setLookAndFeel(laf[index].getClassName());
                    SwingUtilities.updateComponentTreeUI(frame);
                }catch(Exception exc) {
                    exc.printStackTrace();
                index = (index+1) % laf.length;
        uiChanger.start();
    public static class SoftJButton extends JButton {
        private static final JButton lafDeterminer = new JButton();
        private boolean rectangularLAF;
        private float alpha = 1f;
        public SoftJButton() {
            this(null,null);
        public SoftJButton(String text) {
            this(text,null);
        public SoftJButton(String text, Icon icon) {
            super(text,icon);
            setOpaque(false);
            setFocusPainted(false);
        public float getAlpha() {
            return alpha;
        public void setAlpha(float alpha) {
            this.alpha = alpha;
            repaint();
        public void paintComponent(java.awt.Graphics g) {
             java.awt.Graphics2D g2 = (java.awt.Graphics2D) g;
             g2.setComposite(AlphaComposite.getInstance(
                     AlphaComposite.SRC_OVER,alpha));
             if(rectangularLAF && isBackgroundSet()) {
                 Color c = getBackground();
                 g2.setColor(c);
                 g.fillRect(0,0,getWidth(),getHeight());
             super.paintComponent(g2);
        public void updateUI() {
            super.updateUI();
            lafDeterminer.updateUI();
            rectangularLAF = lafDeterminer.isOpaque();
}