May 27
CSS Decorative Gallery
Did you like my previous CSS tutorial on how to create gradient text effects? I’m using the same trick to show you how to decorate your images and photo galleries without editing the source images. The trick is very simple. All you need is an extra <span> tag and apply a background image to create the overlaying effect. It is very easy and flexible — see my demos with over 20 styles, from a simple image icon to a rounded corner to a masked layer (both decorative and complex).
What Are The Benefits Of This CSS Trick?
- Saves Time — You don’t have to manually create the decorative template in Photoshop and export the individual image.
- Keeps Original Source Images — So you don’t have to worry about changing the design theme in the future.
- Very Flexible — You can have a completely different look and feel by just editing the CSS.
- It Works on Any Site — This CSS trick works on any type of site, with any image size.
- Cross-Browser CompatIble — It has passed the test on most browsers (Firefox, Safari, Opera, and even the "buggy IE6").
Basic Concept (see demo)
You need to insert an extra <span> tag within the <div> tag, with which we’ll apply a background image to create the overlaying effect. If you don’t like to have an empty span tag, you can append the span tag by Javascript (I’ll show you how later in this tutorial). Here is how it works:
Then in the CSS, the key point you have to remember is: specify the div element to position:relative and the span element to position:absolute. You can position the span element anywhere you want by using the top and left property.
IE PNG Hack
To make the transparent PNG image work on IE6, I use this wonderful iepngfix.htc hack. Download a copy of iepngfix.htc and insert the following code in between the <head> tag:
<!--[if lt IE 7]>
<style type="text/css">
.photo span { behavior: url(iepngfix.htc); }
</style>
<![endif]-->
Look and Feel
To change the look and feel, simply edit the CSS specifications of the span element. Click the image below to see the demos I have. To show you how flexible it is, I’ve created 15 different styles (notice the HTML markup is same).
The jQuery Solution (see demo)
I know some of you (particularly the web accessibility fans) don’t like to have an empty span tag in the markup. Well, I’ve solved this issue by using jQuery to append the span tag to the source code. Insert the following code in between the <head> tag:
<script type="text/javascript" src="jquery.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
//prepend span tag
$(".photo a").prepend("<span></span>");
});
</script>
#1. Simple Gallery (see demo)
Let’s take the technique from the previous step and apply it to create a photo gallery.
#1b. Mini Icons (see demo)
This example shows you how to position different icons on top of each photo (note: an extra CSS class name is required in the span tag).
#2. Photo With Text (see demo)
This example shows you how to create a gallery with linking text (em tag).
#2b. Popup Text (see demo)
#3. Mini Paper Clip (see demo)
#4. Cork Board Gallery (see demo, IE6 version)
sIFR Version (Flash Text Replacement) (see sIFR demo)
This example uses sIFR to replace the em text with a handwritten font (notes: in this demo, the span tag is appended by jQuery)
#4b. Cork Board With Masking Tape (see demo, IE6 version)
#5. Art Gallery - Black Frame (see demo)
#5b. Art Gallery - Gold Frame (see demo)
#6. Grungy Watercolor (see demo)
sIFR Version (see sIFR demo)
#7. Glossy Style (see demo)
#8. Wood Panel Gallery (see demo)
Finally, this example demonstrates how you can apply the background image to all elements to create a wood panel gallery: ul, li, and em.
Final Remarks
As you can see, this CSS trick is very flexible. So, be creative! Feel free to incorporate the graphic images and CSS styles in this tutorial to create your own.
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323 chuhe
January 1st, 2009 at 9:22 pm
good good, very nice, thanks….
322 Ahmad Esmaeilzadeh http://shomalgan.com
December 31st, 2008 at 6:13 am
I used it with my design,
here : http://www.shomalgan.com/blog/2008/12/11/portfolio-page-and-nextgen-gallery/
321 albertto
December 19th, 2008 at 6:27 am
Awesome !!! Thanks for share.
if(woman){
write “I love you”
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320 Markus
December 18th, 2008 at 4:32 pm
Can somebody post a good way to get the black brush-border for all sizes?
I had a try, but im not sure, if this way is really ok. I took the background-image from the span and placed it as a real img in the span. I adapt the brush-border image size and the padding to the image size automatically by PHP so that it fits.
319 publicitate online http://www.promovare-site.net
December 18th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Very nice work, good job!
318 st.killian http://plurk.com/killianklls
December 15th, 2008 at 2:14 am
so cool !!
317 Mellick
December 14th, 2008 at 1:28 pm
This is Brilliant, I have been looking for something like this for ages for my members site. I have one problem with it for use on my site, maybe someone can suggest a fix. I want to use it to display user thumbnails which are all the same width of 130px which is no problem but they are not all the same height. I would like to set the image frame to display the top 100px of the image but clip anything below that as this peaks out from behind the frame. I don’t want to set image height as this will distort the images. I have tried setting the css for li to a height of 100 with overflow hidden but this cuts off the bottom of the frame. A few other things I have tried have been just as unsuccessful.
Anyone got any suggestions?
BTW I stumbled upon this site by accident and just love it
316 mike
December 13th, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Can you provide the full php file for the templates. I am not getting how to make them at all.
Thanks!
315 bebo music skins http://www.wantaskin.com
December 6th, 2008 at 11:51 am
great stuff, ive been looking how to do this for ages, thanks
314 Herramientas blog http://maestrosdelblog.com.ar
December 4th, 2008 at 7:19 pm
cool job, very cool job people