CSS Alpha Masking Skill

Workflow

1. Confirm direction (horizontal or vertical) and fade stop percentages.
2. Provide the inline CSS snippet and any needed class usage.
3. 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-image and -webkit-mask-image for Safari.
• Ensure the element has visible content; masks reveal/hide alpha only.

Horizontal (left/right) fade

/* 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

/* 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% and 85% stops.
• Strength: change transparent to rgba(0,0,0,0.2) for softer fades.

Common pitfalls

• Forgetting the -webkit-mask-image fallback in Safari.
• Expecting masks to work on elements with overflow: hidden but 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?