Discover 14 Must-Know CSS3 Properties that Elevate Your Web Design

CSS3, the latest version of Cascading Style Sheets, introduced numerous powerful properties that revolutionized web design. It has been around here for more than 8 years. Understanding these properties is essential for every web developer and designer. If you are a web designer, you may have learned lots of new properties in CSS3 over the years. But, it's hard to remember all the properties by a single person. Sometime, you may have forgot few properties while designing a page. Don't worry it's natural.

In this article we will explore the must-know CSS3 properties that will help you create stunning and modern web designs. Let's dive in!

1. Rounded Corners

A rounded button can spruce up a website, but it's hard to create one. Rounded corner requires a designer to write a lot of code. Adjusting the height, width and positioning of these elements is a never-ending chore because any change in content can break them. CSS3 solve this problem using border-radius property. It gives you the same rounded-corner effect but don't have to write all the code.

border-radius: 5px;

-webkit-border-radius: 5px;

2. Multiple Backgrounds

Now, CSS3 help you to add multiple background in the same element. The background property has been overhauled to allow for multiple backgrounds, where each image can be moved and animated independently. Currently not all browser support for multiple backgrounds. Make sure that you provide a fallback for the browsers in your project. Else, they'll skip over the property entirely, leaving your background blank.

background: url('image/img1.jpg') 0 0 no-repeat,

                        url('image/img2.jpg') 100% 0 no-repeat;

3. Transition

The transition property enables smooth and gradual animations between different CSS property values. With transitions, you can add subtle effects like fading, sliding, or scaling to elements, enhancing the user experience.

transition: 0.3s all ease-in-out;

4. Text shadow

The new text-shadow property allows you to add drop shadows to the text. Prior to CSS3, this would be done by either using an image or duplicating a text element and then positioning it. It is quite similar to box-shadow with the same four parameters.

text-shadow: 0 1px 0 white;

5. Calculating values

calc() function is another awesome feature of CSS3. It allows you to do simple arithmetic calculations in CSS. It can be used anywhere, for length or for size. What is even cooler, is that you can freely mix different units, like percentages and pixels. This makes a lot of layout hacks that can be very useful for your next project.

width: calc(100% - 40px);

6. Gradients

Gradients give web designers the power to create smooth transitions between colors without using a single image. CSS gradients also look great on retina displays, because they are generated on the fly. They can be linear or radial, and can be set to repeat.

background:linear-gradient(to bottom, #8df2f9 , #66c0c7);

background:radial-gradient(#8df2f9,#66c0c7);

7. Border Images

The border-image property allows you to display custom designed border around the element. The borders are contained in a single image, with each region of that image corresponding to a different part of the border.

border-image:url('/image/border.png') 30 30 round;

8. 3D Transforms

CSS3 brings flashy and full with eye-candy property transform-style. It helps you to create 3D perspective object in your browser without any help of JavaScript.

transform-style: preserve-3d;

-webkit-transform-style: preserve-3d;

9. Columns

Column-based layouts were notoriously difficult to pull off in previous CSS version. It usually involved using JavaScript to split the content into different elements. Fortunately, now there is a way around this by using the CSS3 columns.

-webkit-columns:4;

columns:4;

10. Text Overflow

The text-overflow property can be used to cut off text that exceeds its container. It was originally developed by Internet Explorer, which accept only two values: clip and ellipsis.

-o-text-overflow: ellipsis;

text-overflow:ellipsis;

11. Grid

CSS Grid Layout is another powerful layout system that offers precise control over the positioning and alignment of elements. With grid properties, you can create complex and responsive grid-based layouts, making it easier to design multi-column websites.

display: grid;

12. Flexbox

Flexbox is a layout model that simplifies the process of building responsive and flexible web layouts. It provides a powerful set of properties for creating dynamic and adaptive designs, allowing you to easily align and distribute elements within containers.

display: flex;

13. @media queries

@media queries enable you to create responsive designs by applying different CSS styles based on the user's device screen size or other characteristics. This property is crucial for designing websites that adapt seamlessly across various devices and screen resolutions.

@media screen and (min-width: 480px) {

}

14. @keyframes

@keyframes, in combination with the animation property, allows you to create custom animations by defining keyframes at specific points in time. This property opens up a world of possibilities for animating elements and bringing your designs to life.

@keyframes animate {
                   0% {top: 0px;}
                   25% {top: 200px;}
                   50% {top: 100px;}
                   75% {top: 200px;}
                   100% {top: 0px;}
}

Conclusion

Understanding and utilizing these must-know CSS3 properties will take your web design skills to the next level. From creating rounded corners to designing responsive layouts and animating elements, CSS3 empowers you to craft visually stunning and engaging websites. Experiment with these properties and explore the endless possibilities they offer. Keep learning and stay updated with new features and advancements in CSS3 to continually improve your web design skills.