html - Is there a foreground equivalent to background-image in css?

Question

I want to add some shine to an element on webpage. I would prefer if I don't have to add additional html to the page. I want the image to appear in front of the element rather than behind. What's the best way to do this?

Answer 1

To achieve a "foreground image" (without extra HTML code), you can use a pseudo-element (::before / :before) plus the CSS pointer-events. The last property is needed so that the user can actually click through the layer "as if it did not exist".

Here's an example (using a colour whose alpha channel is 50% so that you can see that the real elements can actually be focused). http://jsfiddle.net/JxNdT/

?<div id="cont">
Test<br>
<input type="text" placeholder="edit">
</div>??????????????????????????????????????????????????????

?#cont {
? ? width: 200px;
? ? height: 200px;
? ? border: 1px solid #aaa; /*To show the boundaries of the element*/
}
#cont:before?{
? ? position: absolute;
? ? content: '';
? ? background: rgba(0,0,0, 0.5); /*partially transparent image*/
? ? width: 200px;
? ? height: 200px;
? ? pointer-events: none;
}
?

PS. I picked the ::before pseudo-element, because that naturally leads to the correct positioning. If I pick ::after, then I have to add position:relative; to the real element (#cont), and top:0;left:0; to the pseudo-element (::after).

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PPS. To get the foreground effect on elements without a fixed size, an additional element is needed. This wrapper element requires the position:relative;display:inline-block; styles. Set the width and height of the pseudo-element to 100%, and the pseudo-element will stretch to the width and height of the wrapper element. Demo: http://jsfiddle.net/JxNdT/1/.