Jan 17
CSS Gradient Text Effect
Do you want to create fancy headings without rendering each heading with Photoshop? Here is a simple CSS trick to show you how to create gradient text effect with a PNG image (pure CSS, no Javascript or Flash). All you need is an empty <span> tag in the heading and apply the background image overlay using the CSS position:absolute property. This trick has been tested on most browsers: Firefox, Safari, Opera, and even Internet Explorer 6. Continue to read this article to find out how.
Benefits
- This is pure CSS trick, no Javascript or Flash. It works on most browsers including IE6 (PNG hack required).
- It is perfect for designing headings. You don’t have to render each heading with Photoshop. This will save you time and bandwidth.
- You can use on any web fonts and the font size remains scalable.
How does this work?
The trick is very simple. Basically we are just adding a 1px gradient PNG (with alpha transparency) over the text.
The HTML markups
<h1><span></span>CSS Gradient Text</h1>The CSS
The key point here is: h1 { position: relative } and h1 span { position: absolute }
h1 {
font: bold 330%/100% "Lucida Grande";
position: relative;
color: #464646;
}
h1 span {
background: url(gradient.png) repeat-x;
position: absolute;
display: block;
width: 100%;
height: 31px;
}That’s it! You are done. Click here to view my demo page.
Make it work on IE6
Since IE6 doesn’t render PNG-24 properly, the following hack is required in order to display the transparent PNG (add anywhere in between the <head> tag):
<!--[if lt IE 7]>
<style>
h1 span {
background: none;
filter: progid:DXImageTransform.Microsoft.AlphaImageLoader(src='gradient.png', sizingMethod='scale');
}
</style>
<![endif]-->This is why we hate IE 6!
jQuery prepend version (for semantic lovers)
If you don’t want to have the empty <span> tag in the heading, you can use Javascript to prepend the <span> tag. Here is a sample using jQuery prepend method:
<script type="text/javascript" src="jquery.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
$(document).ready(function(){
//prepend span tag to H1
$("h1").prepend("<span></span>");
});
</script>More samples
Want to make Web 2.0 glossy text?
Literally, you can apply this trick on any solid background color (as long your gradient color is the same as your background color).
Pattern / Texture
You can also apply this trick with a tile background image. Look, here is an example of zebra pattern. So, be creative!
Limitations and more…
- This trick is only suitable for solid background color elements. Your gradient color (PNG image) must be the same color as your background color.
- IE PNG hack is required if you want it to work on IE 6.
- If your gradient image is taller than the heading, the text will not be selectable.
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194 Karl Hardisty http://mothership.co.nz/blog
July 3rd, 2008 at 5:14 am
The power of CSS coming to the fore, at last. Some very good examples here; even more so when one takes into account that they work in Internet Explorer.
Thank you for the collection - very educational.
193 Affordable Web Design http://www.alfredfox.com
June 28th, 2008 at 6:27 pm
Oh how wonderful this tutorial is, lol! Great stuff, you can bet yourself I’ll put this to good use. Is this compatible across browsers?
192 Web 2 Development http://www.gigaturn.com/web-2-development.htm
June 28th, 2008 at 9:34 am
Awesome tricks on this site, this is also part of web 2, sharing your knowledge…:)
191 soccer picks http://www.asian-picks.com
June 25th, 2008 at 5:35 pm
Wonderful effect! I’ll defentiely put this on good use. Thanks for sharing
190 örnekleri dersleri http://javascript-dersi.blogspot.com
June 23rd, 2008 at 2:27 am
HI i need your help i really want to create my own website/web page but i dont know how to go about doing it so can you please help me out
189 Web 2.0 Expertise http://gigaturn.com/web-2-development.htm
June 20th, 2008 at 10:55 am
Great Articles on site, it will help to create web 2.0 layouts.
188 John http://none
June 19th, 2008 at 2:55 am
you forgot to mention the div on top of the text that sources the background image
187 John http://none
June 19th, 2008 at 2:44 am
this css doesnt work in IE / Netscape browsers
186 e devlet http://www.siberdevlet.blogcu.com
June 17th, 2008 at 1:01 am
css background examples , Properties , Attribute - - css-lessons.ucoz.com/background-css-examples.htm
185 Ilias
June 14th, 2008 at 9:04 am
Thanks , Nice tutorial