- Transitioning Gradients
- Smooth CSS Gradient Transitions
- Animating and Transitioning Gradients with CSS and Javascript
- Transitioning between two gradients in CSS smoothly
- Multiple color gradient transitions
- Conclusion
- More Tips and Tricks for CSS
- How to animate a radial-gradient using css?
- Method 1: Using CSS Transitions
- Method 2: Using CSS Animations
- Method 3: Using JavaScript
Transitioning Gradients
In, CSS, you can’t transition a background gradient. It sure would be nice if you could:
.gradient background-image: linear-gradient( to right, hsl(211, 100%, 50%), hsl(179, 100%, 30%) ); transition: background-image 0.5s linear; > .gradient:hover background-image: linear-gradient( to bottom, hsl(344, 100%, 50%), hsl(31, 100%, 40%) ); >
But, no. It jumps from one gradient to the other immediately, with no smooth transition between the two. So let’s hack it!
We can achieve this effect with the help of a pseudo-element and an opacity transform instead.
First, apply one gradient to the element. Then, position its pseudo-element to fill the element and apply the second gradient to that. To transition between the two gradients, transition the opacity of the pseudo-element.
.gradient position: relative; background-image: linear-gradient( to right, hsl(211, 100%, 50%), hsl(179, 100%, 30%) ); z-index: 1; > .gradient::before position: absolute; content: ''; top: 0; right: 0; bottom: 0; left: 0; background-image: linear-gradient( to bottom, hsl(344, 100%, 50%), hsl(31, 100%, 40%) ); z-index: -1; transition: opacity 0.5s linear; opacity: 0; > .gradient:hover::before opacity: 1; >
The pseudo-element is initially hidden via opacity: 0 . On hover, that transitions to an opacity: 1 . This produces the illusion of the main gradient transitioning to the pseudo-element’s gradient. It also takes a little bit of z-index work to ensure the pseudo-element stays positioned behind the content of the main element.
This takes a fair bit of code, unfortunately. But if you need this effect, this is the best (and only) way I’ve found so far to accomplish it.
Check out the full working example:
Smooth CSS Gradient Transitions
If you try to animate or transition a gradient in pure CSS, we end up with a little bit of an issue. All modern browsers do not natively transition colours in gradients smoothly. As such, we end up with a sudden change. That can be seen in the example below, where the transform transitions perfectly fine but the gradient does not, even though we are using transition: all 0.1s ease-out .
#gradient-button background: linear-gradient(180deg, #ff7147, #e0417f); padding: 0.5rem 1.5rem; transition: all 0.1s ease-out; font-weight: 500; font-size: 1.25rem; border-radius: 100px; transform: scale(1); margin: 0 0 2rem 1rem; > #gradient-button:hover background: linear-gradient(45deg, #0037ff, #00adff); transform: scale(1.1); >
Animating and Transitioning Gradients with CSS and Javascript
In this article, we’ll be looking at how to solve this problem, and we’ll cover how to smoothly animate a gradient transition with Javascript. That means creating a function which will be able to transition between two colors smoothly.
Although there is no native way to do this effect, we can do it with Javascript. The below button solves the problem, allowing us to smoothly animate gradient transitions with Javascript and some CSS when you hover over the button.
Transitioning between two gradients in CSS smoothly
The first step, is we need to create a function which allows us figure out a color between two colors. For this to work, we’ll need the color we start with, and the one we want to transition to.
The function we’ll create is shown below. It can support gradients with more than 2 colors — but for this we’ll just use two. We’ll also take the initial gradient color, and apply that to our button — so we can manipulate the gradient completely from our Javascript.
let element = 'gradient-button-transition'; // // DEFINE YOUR GRADIENT COLORS HERE // Pct refers to the percentage position of the gradient stop point. const gradientStopOne = [ pct: 0, color: r: 255, g: 113, b: 71 > >, // The first color in your gradient pct: 100, color: r: 0, g: 55, b: 255 > > // The color you want your first color to transition to ]; const gradientStopTwo = [ pct: 0, color: r: 224, g: 65, b: 127 > >, // The second color in your gradient pct: 100, color: r: 0, g: 173, b: 255 > > // The color you want your second color to transition to ] // Apply our gradient programmatically so we can completely manipulate the gradient from JS rather than CSS let c1 = gradientStopOne[0].color; let c2 = gradientStopTwo[0].color; document.getElementById('gradient-button-transition').style.background = `linear-gradient($angle>deg, rgb($c1.r>, $c1.g>, $c1.b>), rgb($c2.r>, $c2.g>, $c2.b>))`; // This function transitions between two rgb colors const getColor = function(pct, colorSet) for (var i = 1; i colorSet.length - 1; i++) if (pct colorSet[i].pct) break; > > // This conversion figures out the transition between two rgb values var lower = colorSet[i - 1]; var upper = colorSet[i]; var range = upper.pct - lower.pct; var rangePct = (pct - lower.pct) / range; var pctLower = 1 - rangePct; var pctUpper = rangePct; var color = r: Math.floor(lower.color.r * pctLower + upper.color.r * pctUpper), g: Math.floor(lower.color.g * pctLower + upper.color.g * pctUpper), b: Math.floor(lower.color.b * pctLower + upper.color.b * pctUpper) >; // And returns the rgb code return `rgb($color.r>, $color.g>, $color.b>)`; >
Now that we have a function which will let us transition between two colors, and have defined our gradients, We can start transitioning between them. We’ll create one function which will set an interval — depending on whether the user hovers or not, we will manipulate the direction of the animation.
Comments in the code below explains what we’re trying to do here. The interval runs every 16.67 miliseconds — or 60 times a second. This will give us a smooth 60 frames per second animation. Within the interval function, we calculate the total number of frames, and stop the animation when the transition time is up.
let transitionTime = 1000 // let previousTime, start = 0; // let angle = 180; // let animationDirection = 'forwards' // let intervalFrame; // let currentPct = 0; // let elapsed = 0; // // This is our animation which we run on hover const animateGradient = function() if(intervalFrame === undefined) intervalFrame = setInterval(() => let time = transitionTime / 1000; // time in seconds let numberOfFrames = time * 60; // 60 frames per second -> 1 second = 60 frames // If the animation is going forward if(animationDirection === 'forwards') // Add 1 to elapsed elapsed += 1; // The elapsed frames out of max frames currentPct = Math.min(elapsed / numberOfFrames, 1) * 100; > else // Otherwise we're going back - subtract 1 from ellapsed elapsed -= 1; // The elapsed frames out of max frames currentPct = Math.max(elapsed / numberOfFrames, 0) * 100; > // Calculate current color in this time for each gradient color let colorOne = getColor(currentPct, gradientStopOne); let colorTwo = getColor(currentPct, gradientStopTwo); // Generate CSS string let generateGradient = `linear-gradient($angle>deg, $colorOne>, $colorTwo>)`; // Add it to our background. document.getElementById(element).style.backgroundImage = generateGradient; // End the interval when we're done if(currentPct === 100 || currentPct === 0) clearInterval(intervalFrame); intervalFrame = undefined; > >, 16.667); // 60 frames per second > >;
Finally, we run all of this on hover in, and hover out. When the user hovers, we update the animation direction, so we can move the gradient towards the colors we want it to.
// On hover, run our animation document.getElementById('gradient-button-transition').addEventListener('mouseover', function() animationDirection = 'forwards'; animateGradient(); >); // On hover out, run our animation again, but backwards document.getElementById('gradient-button-transition').addEventListener('mouseleave', function() animationDirection = 'backwards'; animateGradient(); >);
Multiple color gradient transitions
Since we can have this run for multiple colors, and also run whenever we want — we can create some fun effects. Here is a button that automatically transitions between 4 different gradients:
Conclusion
Although not possible with CSS today, Javascript actually gives us a lot more flexibility to animate our gradient transitions smoothly. If you’ve found this useful, don’t forget to subscribe or follow me on twitter.
More Tips and Tricks for CSS
How to animate a radial-gradient using css?
Radial gradients in CSS allow for a smooth transition between two or more colors, radiating out from a central point. While these gradients can add a visually striking element to a website or application, there may be instances where you want to animate the gradient for added visual interest. However, animating a radial gradient in CSS can be a bit tricky, as there are a few different properties that need to be adjusted in order to achieve the desired effect.
Method 1: Using CSS Transitions
To animate a radial-gradient using CSS, you can use CSS transitions. Here’s how to do it in 5 simple steps:
background-image: radial-gradient(circle, #ff0000, #0000ff);
- Next, add the transition property to your element and specify which property you want to animate. In this case, we want to animate the background-image property. Here’s an example:
transition: background-image 1s ease;
- Now, create a new class for the hover state of your element. In this class, change the background-image property to the new gradient you want to transition to. Here’s an example:
.my-element:hover background-image: radial-gradient(circle, #00ff00, #ffff00); >
div class="my-element">My Elementdiv>
- Now, when you hover over your element, the background gradient will smoothly transition to the new gradient. Here’s the complete code:
.my-element background-image: radial-gradient(circle, #ff0000, #0000ff); transition: background-image 1s ease; > .my-element:hover background-image: radial-gradient(circle, #00ff00, #ffff00); >
That’s it! You now have a smoothly animated radial-gradient using CSS transitions.
Method 2: Using CSS Animations
To animate a radial-gradient using CSS Animations, follow these steps:
div class="radial-gradient">div>
.radial-gradient width: 200px; height: 200px; background: radial-gradient(circle, #ff0000, #0000ff); >
.radial-gradient animation: pulse 2s infinite; > @keyframes pulse 0% transform: scale(1); > 50% transform: scale(1.1); > 100% transform: scale(1); > >
In the above code, the pulse animation scales the radial-gradient up and down repeatedly over a 2-second duration. The transform: scale() property is used to achieve this effect.
You can adjust the animation duration and scaling values to achieve the desired effect. Additionally, you can experiment with different radial-gradient colors and shapes to create unique animations.
That’s it! You now know how to animate a radial-gradient using CSS Animations.
Method 3: Using JavaScript
To animate a radial-gradient using CSS with JavaScript, you can use the setInterval() method to change the background position of the element with the gradient. Here is an example code:
const element = document.querySelector('.gradient-element'); let backgroundPosition = 0; setInterval(() => backgroundPosition++; element.style.backgroundPosition = `$backgroundPosition>px`; >, 10);
In this code, we first select the element with the gradient using querySelector() . Then, we define a variable backgroundPosition to keep track of the current position of the background. We use setInterval() to repeatedly execute a function that increments the backgroundPosition variable and sets the background position of the element using style.backgroundPosition .
You can adjust the speed of the animation by changing the interval time (10 milliseconds in this example).
Note that this is just one way to animate a radial-gradient using CSS with JavaScript. There are many other methods and techniques you can use depending on your specific requirements.