CSS Alpha Masking Skill
Workflow
- •Confirm direction (horizontal or vertical) and fade stop percentages.
- •Provide the inline CSS snippet and any needed class usage.
- •Offer small tweaks only (direction, stop positions, colors).
Usage checklist
- •Apply the mask styles directly on the element or in a CSS class.
- •Always include both
mask-imageand-webkit-mask-imagefor Safari. - •Ensure the element has visible content; masks reveal/hide alpha only.
Horizontal (left/right) fade
css
/* Add this inline CSS to any element */ mask-image: linear-gradient(to right, transparent, black 15%, black 85%, transparent); -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(to right, transparent, black 15%, black 85%, transparent);
Vertical (top/bottom) fade
css
/* Add this inline CSS to any element */ mask-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, transparent, black 15%, black 85%, transparent); -webkit-mask-image: linear-gradient(to bottom, transparent, black 15%, black 85%, transparent);
Customization knobs
- •Direction:
to right,to left,to bottom,to top. - •Fade depth: adjust
15%and85%stops. - •Strength: change
transparenttorgba(0,0,0,0.2)for softer fades.
Common pitfalls
- •Forgetting the
-webkit-mask-imagefallback in Safari. - •Expecting masks to work on elements with
overflow: hiddenbut no visible content behind.
Questions to ask when specs are missing
- •Which direction should the fade go?
- •How wide should the fade edges be?
- •Is this for images, text, or a container background?