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CSS Box Shadow Generator

Background

What is CSS Box Shadow?

The CSS box-shadow property adds one or more shadow effects around an element's border box. Each shadow is defined by horizontal offset, vertical offset, blur radius, spread radius, color, and an optional inset keyword. Positive horizontal offset moves the shadow right; positive vertical offset moves it down. Blur radius controls how soft the edge is — 0 creates a hard shadow. Spread radius expands or contracts the shadow size. Inset shadows appear inside the element's border rather than outside. Multiple shadows can be stacked using a comma-separated list, enabling realistic elevation effects, glowing outlines, and layered depth effects.

How to Use the Box Shadow Generator

  1. Adjust the Offset X/Y sliders to position the shadow (positive = right/down, negative = left/up).

  2. Use the Blur slider to control edge softness — 0 gives a hard shadow, higher values make it diffuse.

  3. Use the Spread slider to expand (positive) or shrink (negative) the shadow beyond the element.

  4. Click the color swatch to pick a shadow color, and set the Opacity for semi-transparent shadows.

  5. Toggle 'Inset' to convert the outer drop shadow into an inner shadow effect.

  6. Click '+ Add layer' to stack multiple shadows for layered depth or glow effects.

  7. Copy the generated CSS output and paste it directly into your stylesheet.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the difference between box-shadow and drop-shadow filter? box-shadow adds shadows around the element's rectangular border box and supports inset shadows. The CSS filter: drop-shadow() applies to the element's visual shape (including transparency), making it follow non-rectangular outlines like PNGs with transparent backgrounds.

How do I create a Material Design card elevation effect? Stack two box shadows: a soft ambient shadow (large blur, low opacity, slightly spread) and a key shadow (smaller blur, higher opacity, directional offset). For example: 0 2px 4px rgba(0,0,0,0.12), 0 4px 16px rgba(0,0,0,0.08).

Does box-shadow affect page layout? No. box-shadow does not affect the element's size or position in the document flow. Unlike outline, it doesn't take up layout space and won't push other elements around.

Can I animate box-shadow? Yes. box-shadow is animatable with CSS transitions and animations. For performance, prefer transitioning box-shadow only when necessary — browsers can't GPU-accelerate box-shadow changes as efficiently as transform or opacity.

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