Box Shadow Generator

A box shadow is a CSS property that adds shadow effects around an element's frame. It allows you to create depth and elevation in your designs by casting shadows that can be positioned, blurred, spread, and colored. Shadows can be applied to the outside (drop shadow) or inside (inset shadow) of an element.

Click the "+ Add Layer" button to add more shadow layers to your element. Each layer can be customized independently with different positions, blur, spread, colors, and opacity. Multiple layers allow you to create complex shadow effects like material design elevation or neumorphic styles. The tool automatically combines all layers into a single CSS box-shadow property.

Horizontal offset moves the shadow left (negative) or right (positive). Vertical offset moves it up (negative) or down (positive). Blur radius controls how soft or sharp the shadow appears - higher values create softer, more diffused shadows. Spread radius expands (positive) or contracts (negative) the shadow size before blurring. Color and opacity determine the shadow's appearance and transparency.

An inset shadow is drawn inside the element's border rather than outside. It creates the appearance that the element is pressed into the surface, like a button being clicked or an input field. Inset shadows are useful for creating depth that goes into the page rather than lifting off of it. Check the "Inset" checkbox on any shadow layer to make it an inset shadow.

Neumorphism uses two shadows: one light and one dark, positioned on opposite sides. Use the "Neumorphism" or "Neumorphism Inset" presets as a starting point. The light shadow (usually white) goes on the top-left, and the dark shadow (usually gray) goes on the bottom-right. Adjust the box background color to match your page background for the best effect. The element should have a subtle border radius for the classic neumorphic look.

Yes! Negative spread values shrink the shadow inward before applying blur. This is commonly used in material design to create more realistic, concentrated shadows. Negative spread with positive blur creates a softer, more natural-looking shadow that doesn't extend as far from the element. It's particularly useful for card components and elevated surfaces.

There are two copy options: "Copy CSS" provides the complete CSS rule including the selector (.box-element) with all properties (box-shadow, background-color, border-radius). "Copy Value" provides just the box-shadow value that you can paste into any existing CSS rule. Click either button to copy the code to your clipboard.

The tool includes 12 preset shadow styles: Soft (subtle single shadow), Medium (layered subtle shadow), Large (prominent elevation), Extra Large (high elevation), Inner (inset shadow), Outline (border-like effect), Neumorphism (3D raised effect), Neumorphism Inset (3D pressed effect), Colorful (vibrant multi-colored shadow), Glow (luminous halo effect), Lifted (sharp elevation), and Floating (distant elevated shadow). These serve as starting points you can customize further.

Yes! Use the "Glow" preset or create your own by setting horizontal and vertical offsets to 0, using a large blur radius (20px or more), zero spread, and choosing a vibrant color with medium to high opacity. Bright colors like blue, cyan, or neon colors work best for glowing effects. You can add multiple colored glow layers for more complex lighting effects.

Opacity controls how transparent or solid the shadow appears, ranging from 0 (completely transparent) to 1 (fully opaque). Lower opacity (0.1-0.3) creates subtle, realistic shadows commonly used in modern UI design. Higher opacity (0.6-1.0) creates more dramatic, visible shadows. The tool automatically converts your shadow color and opacity into an rgba() color value in the CSS code.

Yes, the CSS box-shadow property is well-supported across all modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge, and mobile browsers. It has excellent compatibility and doesn't require vendor prefixes. However, Internet Explorer 9+ supports box-shadow but with some limitations on inset shadows. All current browsers support multiple shadow layers and all shadow parameters.

Yes, box shadows can be animated using CSS transitions or animations. To animate shadows smoothly, use the CSS transition property on the box-shadow. For example: "transition: box-shadow 0.3s ease". Be aware that animating box shadows can be performance-intensive on lower-powered devices. For better performance, consider using opacity changes or transform properties instead when possible.