CSS -> Header Background Image

[copthesaint]

Im just wondering how I could go about doing this in my css style sheet
I want to set an image to stretch to the full size of my header whatever the header size may be.
The image is a gradient png photo and I want it as the background behind my header text.
I am new to css, xhtml, however easy it is, I dont know how to do everything
As well I want to know, what is the compatability of text shadows?

[ProgrammingFun]

CSS:

#header {         background: #FFFFFF url(url/url.jpg) left       center no-repeat;         height:100%;         width:100%; }

It's really recommended that you have fixed (at least width) header otherwise, it may end up looking like crap. Therefore, something like this:

CSS:

#header {         background: #FFFFFF url(images/school.jpg) left center no-repeat;         height:260px;         width:960px; }

As for text shadows, a Google search produced the following site (pretty good): http://www.kremalicious.com/2008/04/make-cool-and-clever-text-effects-with-css-text-shadow/

[Tony]

if it's a simple enough gradient, you can have it implemented in pure CSS3 (no images).

[Zren]

If you want a backwards compatible, and fast loading version. Draw the vertical gradient in a image editor. Then shrink the width to 1px.

Then use:
background: url(img/gradient.png) repeat-x;
height: ___px;

Basically it tiles the image only on the x plane.