perspective

The perspective CSS property gives an element a 3D-space by affecting the distance between the Z plane and the user.

The strength of the effect is determined by the value. The smaller the value, the closer you get from the Z plane and the more impressive the visual effect. The greater the value, the more subtle will be the effect.

Important: Please note the perspective property doesn’t affect how the element is rendered; it simply enables a 3D-space for children elements. This is the main difference between thetransform: perspective() function and the perspective property. The first gives element depth while the later creates a 3D-space shared by all its transformed children.

/**
 * Syntax
 * perspective: none | <length> 
 */

.parent {
    perspective: 1000px;
}

.child {
    transform: rotateY(50deg);
}

<div class="parent perspective">
  <h1>Using perspective property on parent</h1>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
</div><!--

--><div class="parent transform">
  <h1>Using transform: perspective() on children</h1>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
  <div class="child"></div>
</div>

* {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

body {
  font-size: 20px;
}

.parent {
  width: 50%;
  display: inline-block;
  padding: .5em;
}

.parent.perspective {
  perspective: 50em;
}

.child {
  margin: .5em;
  width: 3em;
  height: 3em;
  background: tomato;
  display: inline-block;
  border: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.5);
}

.parent.perspective .child {
  transform: rotateX(50deg);
  background: tomato;
}

.parent.transform .child {
  transform: perspective(50em) rotateX(50deg);
  background: deepskyblue;
}

h1 {
  font-size: 1em;
}

he above demo aims at showing the difference between the function and the property.

• On the left side, you can see the property applied to the parent (perspective: 50em) of transformed elements (transform: rotateY(50deg)).
• On the right side, the perspective is applied from the transform directly on children (transform: perspective(50em) rotateY(50deg)).

This shows how setting perspective on the parent make all children share the same 3D-space and thus the same vanishing point.

Let’s try something even cooler: a cube with 3D transforms and perspective.

<div class="wrapper w1">
  <h1><code>perspective: 1000px</code></h1>
  <div class="cube">
    <div class="side  front">1</div>
    <div class="side   back">6</div>
    <div class="side  right">4</div>
    <div class="side   left">3</div>
    <div class="side    top">5</div>
    <div class="side bottom">2</div>
  </div>
</div>
<div class="wrapper w2">
  <h1><code>perspective: 250px</code></h1>
  <div class="cube">
    <div class="side  front">1</div>
    <div class="side   back">6</div>
    <div class="side  right">4</div>
    <div class="side   left">3</div>
    <div class="side    top">5</div>
    <div class="side bottom">2</div>
  </div>
</div>

.wrapper {
  width: 50%;
  float: left;
}

.w1 {
  perspective: 1000px;
}

.w2 {
  perspective: 250px;
}

.wrapper h1 {
  text-align: center;
}

.cube {
  font-size: 4em;
  width: 2em;
  margin: 1.5em auto;
  transform-style: preserve-3d;
  transform: rotateX(-40deg) rotateY(32deg);
}

.side {
  position: absolute;
  width: 2em;
  height: 2em;
  
  background: rgba(tomato, .6);
  border: 1px solid rgba(0,0,0,.5);
  
  color: white; 
  text-align: center;
  line-height: 2em;
}

.front  { transform:                  translateZ(1em); }
.top    { transform: rotateX( 90deg)  translateZ(1em); }
.right  { transform: rotateY( 90deg)  translateZ(1em); }
.left   { transform: rotateY(-90deg)  translateZ(1em); }
.bottom { transform: rotateX(-90deg)  translateZ(1em); }
.back   { transform: rotateY(-180deg) translateZ(1em); }

Here is how the cube is made: it relies on two nested wrappers (one to give the cube perspective and one to wrap all the sides) and 6 elements to make the sides. Each element is given its own transform mixing translating and rotating in the 3D-space (e.g. transform: rotateX(90deg) translateZ(1em)).

Let’s finish with a demo featuring what could be the base of a real world design: a wall of photographs + captions using perspective and transform.

<div class="wrapper">
  <div class="inner">
    <figure>
      <img src="http://lorempixel.com/200/200/nature" alt="Nature">
      <figcaption>Nature picture</figcaption>
    </figure>
    <figure>
      <img src="http://lorempixel.com/200/200/abstract" alt="Nature">
      <figcaption>Abstract image </figcaption>
    </figure>
    <figure>
      <img src="http://lorempixel.com/200/200/animals" alt="Nature">
      <figcaption>Animal photo</figcaption>
    </figure>
  </div>
</div>

@import url(http://fonts.googleapis.com/css?family=Source Sans Pro);


* {
  box-sizing: border-box;
}

body {
  font-size: 16px;
}

.wrapper {
  perspective: 1000px;
  margin: 4em auto; 
  width: 37em;
}

.wrapper:hover .inner {
  transform: rotate(0)
  
}

.inner {
  transition: .3s; 
  transform: rotateY(40deg);
}

.inner figure {
  box-shadow: -6px 6px 2px -3px  rgba(100,100,100,.1);
  width: 11em;
  padding: 1em;
  display: inline-block;
  margin-right: 1em;
  background: rgba(250,200,200,0.1);
  border: 1px solid rgba(250,200,200,.5);
}

.inner figcaption {
  text-align: center;
  margin: .5em 0;
  font-family: 'Source Sans Pro', sans-serif;
  font-weight: bold;
  color: darken(tomato, 15%);
}

.inner img {
  display: block;
  height: auto;
  max-width: 100%;
  margin: 0 auto;
  -webkit-filter: sepia(75%);
}

When hovering over the wall, the children are rotated back to their normal position, cancelling the effect.

Important! Using perspective (with a value different from 0 or none) creates a new stacking context.

Related Properties

• perspective-origin
• transform
• transform-style

Browser Support

Firefox 10-15 need -moz-, WebKit browsers may need -webkit-