Create a “inset” effect using CSS in websites

Question

I am very much impressed by the "inset" like effect in many latest websites. Some examples are alt text http://img687.imageshack.us/img687/457/inset2.png

and

alt text http://img163.imageshack.us/img163/8158/inset1.png

The line in the center. Nowadays, many websites use these kinds of lines/effects.

I tried to achieve the same with borders but the color combination is not working me and it is not proper.

Do other websites use images for these ? is it easy to this ?

Any example css ?

Example sites: http://woothemes.com, http://net.tutsplus.com/ , http://www.w3schools.com (in the header) and in wordpress admin page sidebar

Answer 1

this is css text shadow property.for get this effect use

.style{
    text-shadow:0 1px #FFFFFF;
}

but really this is effect of color combination that you are using in background and text. so you should do.

1. use text shadow color dark than background color.
2. use text shadow color light than text color.

Answer 2

Using an <hr> is quite clever.

Following up on user1302036’s answer, all we need is to set the color of the top and bottom borders for an <hr> and set the left and right border widths to 0.

hr {
  border-width: 1px 0px;
  border-color: #666 transparent #ccc transparent;
}

Answer 3

3D effects in 2D computer displays are mere optical effects accomplished by the use of colour: lighter variations suggest bright (higher areas) and darker variations suggest shadown (lower areas). Most people is right-handed and writing lights tend to be on the left side of the desktop, so you use an imaginary source of light in the left top corner of the screen.

It's been possible to do it with pure CSS in rectangular areas for years:

body{
	background-color: #8080C0;
}
div{
  display: inline-block;
	margin: 1em;
	padding: 1em;
	width: 25%;
	color: white;
	background-color: #8080C0;
}
div.outset{
	border-width: 1px;
	border-style: solid;
	border-color: #A6A6D2 #4D4D9B #4D4D9B #A6A6D2;
}
div.inset{
	border-width: 1px;
	border-style: solid;
	border-color: #4D4D9B #A6A6D2 #A6A6D2 #4D4D9B;
}

<div class="inset">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit</div>
<div class="outset">Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipisicing elit</div>

Fonts, however, require newer CSS attributes that don't have wide support yet and, also, do not allow to provide more than one colour, so it's common to use images. See http://www.quirksmode.org/css/textshadow.html

Answer 4

Easiest, draw an horizontal rule

---

with the following styles, contrast can be modified depending on background color:

hr {
background-color: #000;
border-top: solid 1px #999;
border-left: none;  
height:0px;
}

Answer 5

Use border-bottom and box-shadow.

body {
  background-color: #D0D9E0;
}

h1 {
  border-bottom: 1px solid #EFF2F6;
  box-shadow: inset 0 -1px 0 0 #AFBCC6;
}

Check out the Fiddle and Browser Compatibility for box-shadow property.

Answer 6

Here is a more current and flexible solution that can be used.

JSFIDDLE

.hr {
  background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.6);
  height: 1px;
  width: 100%;
  display: block;
  border-bottom: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.6);
}

<span class="hr"></span>

By using RGBA(Red, Green, Blue, Alpha) you can use white/black with an alpha(opacity) to make the illusion of an inset effect.