How to apply a CSS 3 blur filter to a background i

Question

I have a JPEG file that I'm using as a background image for a search page, and I'm using CSS to set it because I'm working within Backbone.js contexts:

background-image: url("whatever.jpg");

I want to apply a CSS 3 blur filter only to the background, but I'm not sure how to style just that one element. If I try:

-webkit-filter: blur(5px);
-moz-filter: blur(5px);
-o-filter: blur(5px);
-ms-filter: blur(5px);
filter: blur(5px);

just underneath background-image in my CSS, it styles the whole page, rather than just the background. Is there a way to select just the image and apply the filter to that? Alternatively, is there a way to just turn the blur off for every other element on the page?

Answer 1

This answer is for a Material Design horizontal card layout with dynamic height and an image.

To prevent distortion of the image due to the dynamic height of the card, you could use a background placeholder image with blur to adjust for changes in height.

 

Explanation

• The card is contained in a <div> with class wrapper, which is a flexbox.
• The card is made up of 2 elements, an image which is also a link, and content.
• The link <a>, class link, is positioned relative.
• The link consists of 2 sub-elements, a placeholder <div> class blur and an <img> class pic which is the clear image.
• Both are positioned absolute and have width: 100%, but class pic has a higher stack order, i.e., z-index: 2, which places it above the placeholder.
• The background image for the blurred placeholder is set via inline style in the HTML.

 

Code

.wrapper {
  display: flex;
  width: 100%;
  border: 1px solid rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.16);
  box-shadow: 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.16), 0 1px 1px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.23);
  background-color: #fff;
  margin: 1rem auto;
  height: auto;
}

.wrapper:hover {
  box-shadow: 0 3px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.16), 0 3px 6px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.23);
}

.link {
  display: block;
  width: 200px;
  height: auto;
  overflow: hidden;
  position: relative;
  border-right: 2px solid #ffffd;
}

.blur {
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  right: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  margin: auto;
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  filter: blur(5px);
  -webkit-filter: blur(5px);
  -moz-filter: blur(5px);
  -o-filter: blur(5px);
  -ms-filter: blur(5px);
}

.pic {
  width: calc(100% - 20px);
  max-width: 100%;
  height: auto;
  margin: auto;
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  right: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  z-index: 2;
}

.pic:hover {
  transition: all 0.2s ease-out;
  transform: scale(1.1);
  text-decoration: none;
  border: none;
}

.content {
  display: flex;
  flex-direction: column;
  width: 100%;
  max-width: 100%;
  padding: 20px;
  overflow-x: hidden;
}

.text {
  margin: 0;
}

<div class="wrapper">
  <a href="#" class="link">
    <div class="blur" style="background: url('http://www.planwallpaper.com/static/assets/img/header.jpg') 50% 50% / cover;"></div>
    <img src="http://www.planwallpaper.com/static/assets/img/header.jpg" alt="Title" class="pic" />
  </a>

  <div class="content">
    <p class="text">Agendum dicendo memores du gi ad. Perciperem occasionem ei ac im ac designabam. Ista rom sibi vul apud tam. Notaverim to extendere expendere concilium ab. Aliae cogor tales fas modus parum sap nullo. Voluntate ingressus infirmari ex mentemque ac manifeste
      eo. Ac gnum ei utor sive se. Nec curant contra seriem amisit res gaudet adsunt. </p>
  </div>
</div>

Answer 2

div{
 background: inherit;
 width: 250px;
 height: 350px;
 position: absolute;
 overflow: hidden;  //adding overflow hidden
}
div:before{
 content: ‘’;
 width: 300px;
 height: 400px;
 background: inherit; 
 position: absolute;
 left: -25px;  //giving minus -25px left position
 right: 0;
 top: -25px;   //giving minus -25px top position 
 bottom: 0;
 box-shadow: inset 0 0 0 200px rgba(255,255,255,0.3);
 filter: blur(10px);
}

Answer 3

Although all the solutions mentioned are very clever, all seemed to have minor issues or potential knock on effects with other elements on the page when I tried them.

In the end to save time I simply went back to my old solution: I used Paint.NET and went to Effects, Gaussian Blur with a radius 5 to 10 pixels and just saved that as the page image. :-)

HTML:

<body class="mainbody">
</body

CSS:

body.mainbody
{
    background: url('../images/myphoto.blurred.png');
    -moz-background-size: cover;
    -webkit-background-size: cover;
    background-size: cover;
    background-position: top center !important;
    background-repeat: no-repeat !important;
    background-attachment: fixed;
}

EDIT:

I finally got it working, but the solution is by no means straightforward! See here:

• filter: blur(1px); doesn't work in firefox, IE, and opera

Answer 4

Simple solution for modern browsers in pure css with a 'before' pseudo element like the solution from Matthew Wilcoxson. To avoid the need of accessing the pseudo element for changing the image and other attributes in java script, simple use inherit as value and access them via the parent element (here body).

body::before{
  content: ""; /* important */
  z-index: -1; /* important */
  position: inherit;  
  left: inherit;
  top: inherit;
  width: inherit;                                                                               
  height: inherit;  
  background-image: inherit;
  background-size: cover; 
  filter: blur(8px);
}
body{
  background-image: url("xyz.jpg"); 
  background-size: 0 0;  /* image should not be drawn here */
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  position: fixed; /* or absolute for scrollable backgrounds */  
}   

Answer 5

You need to re-structure your HTML in order to do this. You have to blur the whole element in order to blur the background. So if you want to blur only the background, it has to be its own element.

Answer 6

Please check the below code:-

.backgroundImageCVR{
	position:relative;
	padding:15px;
}
.background-image{
	position:absolute;
	left:0;
	right:0;
	top:0;
	bottom:0;
	background:url('http://www.planwallpaper.com/static/images/colorful-triangles-background_yB0qTG6.jpg');
	background-size:cover;
	z-index:1;
	-webkit-filter: blur(10px);
  -moz-filter: blur(10px);
  -o-filter: blur(10px);
  -ms-filter: blur(10px);
  filter: blur(10px);	
}
.content{
	position:relative;
	z-index:2;
	color:#fff;
}

<div class="backgroundImageCVR">
    <div class="background-image"></div>
    <div class="content">
      <p>Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit. Duis aliquam erat in ante malesuada, facilisis semper nulla semper. Phasellus sapien neque, faucibus in malesuada quis, lacinia et libero. Sed sed turpis tellus. Etiam ac aliquam tortor, eleifend rhoncus metus. Ut turpis massa, sollicitudin sit amet molestie a, posuere sit amet nisl. Mauris tincidunt cursus posuere. Nam commodo libero quis lacus sodales, nec feugiat ante posuere. Donec pulvinar auctor commodo. Donec egestas diam ut mi adipiscing, quis lacinia mauris condimentum. Quisque quis odio venenatis, venenatis nisi a, vehicula ipsum. Etiam at nisl eu felis vulputate porta.</p>
      <p>Fusce ut placerat eros. Aliquam consequat in augue sed convallis. Donec orci urna, tincidunt vel dui at, elementum semper dolor. Donec tincidunt risus sed magna dictum, quis luctus metus volutpat. Donec accumsan et nunc vulputate accumsan. Vestibulum tempor, erat in mattis fringilla, elit urna ornare nunc, vel pretium elit sem quis orci. Vivamus condimentum dictum tempor. Nam at est ante. Sed lobortis et lorem in sagittis. In suscipit in est et vehicula.</p>
    </div>
</div>