Linear, Radial, Conic — All Generated, No Image File
Gradients
Gradients are CSS-generated images. Three flavors — linear, radial, conic — plus repeating variants.
What you'll learn
- Author linear and radial gradients
- Use conic for pie charts and avatars
- Layer gradients
A gradient is a generated image. Use anywhere an image fits —
background-image, border-image, mask-image.
Linear Gradient
background: linear-gradient(to bottom, white, #f4f4f5);
background: linear-gradient(45deg, tomato, gold);
background: linear-gradient(to right, red, orange 30%, yellow); Direction first (or angle in degrees), then color stops. Each stop
can have an optional position (% or length).
Radial Gradient
A gradient that radiates from a point:
background: radial-gradient(circle at top right, gold, transparent 60%);
background: radial-gradient(ellipse, white, #f4f4f5); circle or ellipse (default), an optional at <position>, then
the stops.
Conic Gradient
Sweeps around a point — perfect for pie charts and color wheels:
.pie {
background: conic-gradient(
tomato 0 30%,
gold 30% 60%,
skyblue 60% 100%
);
border-radius: 50%;
width: 200px;
height: 200px;
} Repeating Gradients
repeating-linear-gradient, repeating-radial-gradient,
repeating-conic-gradient — for stripes and patterns:
background: repeating-linear-gradient(
45deg,
#f0f0f0,
#f0f0f0 10px,
#fafafa 10px,
#fafafa 20px
); Hard Stops
To make a sharp color change instead of a blend, place two stops at the same position:
background: linear-gradient(
to right,
red 50%,
blue 50%
); Half red, half blue, no fade.
Modern Interpolation
You can request OKLCH interpolation for smoother color mixing:
background: linear-gradient(in oklch, blue, red); Avoids the muddy middle (gray) that RGB interpolation produces.
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