This is close to the transform I was thinking of, but I was more interested in the the process used to chop up the image, and how it gets chopped up so that you can reuse it.
I don't have a great example, but here is one page:
http://rmadilo.com/files/merchant-system/examples/edit/edit.html
It actually doesn't use css, although it could. The example is just a form wrapper with image type submit buttons. The buttons are ugly, no doubt, but they are constructed out of a rectangle image with text and rounded head/tail. Since this button has to fit into a variable width form, and the buttons are also variable size, there is a widget that figures out the details. But another detail is the process for creating the buttons and drop-shadow around the form allow you to change the color (or create new buttons) very easily, without going back to the designer.
Alternate color images here:
http://rmadilo.com/files/merchant-system/source/merchant-system/www/graphics/
The form widgets are here:
http://rmadilo.com/files/merchant-system/source/merchant-system/tcl/adp-tags.tcl
Here is an image series and the scripts which handle their creation (slightly different application):
http://rmadilo.com/files/converter/
