Table of Contents
Linear Gradients
Radial Gradients
Conic Gradients
Practical Tips and Fallbacks
Home Web Front-end Front-end Q&A How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds

How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds

Aug 17, 2025 am 08:39 AM
css

CSS gradients provide smooth color transitions without images. 1. Linear gradients transition colors along a straight line using directions like to bottom or angles like 45deg, and support multiple color stops for complex effects. 2. Radial gradients radiate from a central point using circle or ellipse shapes, with customizable center positions such as at top left or at 30% 70%. 3. Conic gradients rotate colors around a center point, ideal for pie charts, using from 0deg and percentage-based segments. Always include fallbacks for older browsers, use transparent colors for overlays, combine with background-size or repeating gradients for patterns, and ensure readability by avoiding overly busy gradients in text-heavy areas.

How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds

CSS gradients are a powerful way to create smooth color transitions in backgrounds without relying on images. They can be linear, radial, or even conic, and are easy to implement directly in your styles. Here's how to use them effectively.

How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds

Linear Gradients

Linear gradients transition colors along a straight line. You define the direction and the colors to blend.

.gradient-box {
  background: linear-gradient(to bottom, #ff7e5f, #feb47b);
}
  • to bottom sets the gradient to go from top to bottom.
  • You can also use angles: background: linear-gradient(45deg, #ff7e5f, #feb47b);
  • Add more color stops for complex effects:
    background: linear-gradient(to right, red, orange 20%, yellow 40%, green 60%, blue 80%, indigo 90%, violet);

Common directions:

How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds
  • to top, to bottom, to left, to right
  • Diagonal: to top right, to bottom left, etc.

Radial Gradients

Radial gradients radiate outward from a central point, great for circular or soft focus effects.

.radial-bg {
  background: radial-gradient(circle, #a8edea, #fed6e3);
}
  • circle creates a circular gradient; use ellipse for oval shapes.
  • Position the center: radial-gradient(at center, #a8edea, #fed6e3)
  • You can also set custom positions: at top left, at 30% 70%

Example with shape and position:

How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds
background: radial-gradient(ellipse at top, #e0c3fc, transparent 70%);

Conic Gradients

Conic gradients rotate colors around a center point, useful for pie charts or color wheels.

.conic-bg {
  background: conic-gradient(from 0deg, red, yellow, lime, blue, magenta);
}
  • from 0deg sets starting angle.
  • Useful for segmented designs:
    background: conic-gradient(red 0% 25%, blue 25% 50%, green 50% 75%, yellow 75% 100%);

Note: Conic gradients have good modern browser support but may need fallbacks for older browsers.

Practical Tips and Fallbacks

Always consider usability and compatibility:

  • Add fallbacks for older browsers:
    .safe-gradient {
      background: #ff7e5f; /* Fallback */
      background: linear-gradient(to right, #ff7e5f, #feb47b);
    }
  • Use transparent to create overlays:
    background: linear-gradient(to bottom, rgba(0,0,0,0), rgba(0,0,0,0.7)), url('image.jpg');
  • Combine gradients with background-size and repeating gradients:
    background: repeating-linear-gradient(
      45deg,
      #ff7e5f,
      #ff7e5f 10px,
      #feb47b 10px,
      #feb47b 20px
    );

    Gradients work best when they enhance readability—avoid overly busy blends on text-heavy areas.

    Basically, CSS gradients give you flexible, lightweight background options. Start simple with linear, experiment with radial for depth, and try conic for creative layouts.

    The above is the detailed content of How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds. For more information, please follow other related articles on the PHP Chinese website!

Statement of this Website
The content of this article is voluntarily contributed by netizens, and the copyright belongs to the original author. This site does not assume corresponding legal responsibility. If you find any content suspected of plagiarism or infringement, please contact admin@php.cn

Hot AI Tools

Undress AI Tool

Undress AI Tool

Undress images for free

Undresser.AI Undress

Undresser.AI Undress

AI-powered app for creating realistic nude photos

AI Clothes Remover

AI Clothes Remover

Online AI tool for removing clothes from photos.

Clothoff.io

Clothoff.io

AI clothes remover

Video Face Swap

Video Face Swap

Swap faces in any video effortlessly with our completely free AI face swap tool!

Hot Tools

Notepad++7.3.1

Notepad++7.3.1

Easy-to-use and free code editor

SublimeText3 Chinese version

SublimeText3 Chinese version

Chinese version, very easy to use

Zend Studio 13.0.1

Zend Studio 13.0.1

Powerful PHP integrated development environment

Dreamweaver CS6

Dreamweaver CS6

Visual web development tools

SublimeText3 Mac version

SublimeText3 Mac version

God-level code editing software (SublimeText3)

How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds How to use CSS gradients for backgrounds Aug 17, 2025 am 08:39 AM

CSSgradientsprovidesmoothcolortransitionswithoutimages.1.Lineargradientstransitioncolorsalongastraightlineusingdirectionsliketobottomorangleslike45deg,andsupportmultiplecolorstopsforcomplexeffects.2.Radialgradientsradiatefromacentralpointusingcircleo

How to create a dotted border in CSS How to create a dotted border in CSS Aug 15, 2025 am 04:56 AM

Use CSS to create dotted borders, just set the border attribute to dotted. For example, "border:3pxdotted#000" can add a 3-pixel-wide black dot border to the element. By adjusting the border-width, the size of the point can be changed. The wider borders produce larger points. You can set dotted borders for a certain side, such as "border-top:2pxdottedred". Dotted borders are suitable for block-level elements such as div and input. They are often used in focus states or editable areas to improve accessibility. Pay attention to color contrast. At the same time, different from dashed's short-line style, dotted presents a circular dot shape. This feature is widely used in all mainstream browsers.

How to create a glassmorphism effect with CSS How to create a glassmorphism effect with CSS Aug 22, 2025 am 07:54 AM

To create a glass mimicry effect of CSS, you need to use backdrop-filter to achieve background blur, set a translucent background such as rgba(255,255,255,0.1), add subtle borders and shadows to enhance the sense of hierarchy, and ensure that there is enough visual content behind the elements; 1. Use backdrop-filter:blur(10px) to blur the background content; 2. Use rgba or hsla to define the transparent background to control the degree of transparency; 3. Add 1pxsolidrgba(255,255,255,0.3) borders and box-shadow to enhance the three-dimensionality; 4. Ensure that the container has rich backgrounds such as pictures or textures to present a blurred penetration effect; 5. It is compatible with old browsers

How to change the list style in CSS How to change the list style in CSS Aug 17, 2025 am 10:04 AM

To change the CSS list style, first use list-style-type to change the bullet or numbering style. 1. Use list-style-type to set the bullet of ul to disc, circle or square, and the number of ol is decimal, lower-alpha, upper-alpha, lower-roman or upper-roman. 2. Remove the tag completely with list-style:none. 3. Use list-style-image:url('bullet.png') to replace it with a custom image. 4. Use list-style-position:in

How to change the cursor in CSS How to change the cursor in CSS Aug 16, 2025 am 05:00 AM

Usebuilt-incursortypeslikepointer,help,ornot-allowedtoprovideimmediatevisualfeedbackfordifferentinteractiveelements.2.ApplycustomcursorimageswiththecursorpropertyusingaURL,optionallyspecifyingahotspotandalwaysincludingafallbacklikeautoorpointer.3.Fol

How to implement a dark mode theme with CSS How to implement a dark mode theme with CSS Aug 22, 2025 am 09:55 AM

There are two main ways to implement dark mode: one is to use prefers-color-scheme media to query automatically to adapt system preferences, and the other is to add manual switching function through JavaScript. 1. Use prefers-color-scheme to automatically apply dark themes according to the user system. There is no need for JavaScript, just define the styles in the media query; 2. To achieve manual switching, you need to define light-theme and dark-themeCSS classes, add toggle buttons, and use JavaScript to manage the theme status and localStorage to save user preferences; 3. You can combine both to read localSt first when the page is loaded.

How to use grid-template-areas in CSS How to use grid-template-areas in CSS Aug 22, 2025 am 07:56 AM

Thegrid-template-areaspropertyallowsdeveloperstocreateintuitive,readablelayoutsbydefiningnamedgridareas;eachstringrepresentsarowandeachwordacolumncell,withgrid-areanamesonchildelementsmatchingthoseinthetemplate,suchas"headerheaderheader"for

How to add a box shadow in CSS How to add a box shadow in CSS Aug 18, 2025 am 11:39 AM

To add box shadows, use box-shadow attribute; 1. The basic syntax is box-shadow: horizontal offset vertical offset blur radius expansion radius shadows in color; 2. The first three values are required, the rest are optional; 3. Use rgba() or hsla() to achieve transparent effect; 4. The positive expansion radius expands shadows and the negative value is reduced; 5. Multiple shadows can be added by commas separation; 6. Overuse should be avoided to ensure that visibility is tested on different backgrounds; this attribute is well supported by the browser, and reasonable use can improve the design texture.

See all articles