sprytools

CSS Text Shadow Generator

Create stunning CSS text shadows with live preview. Stack multiple shadows, choose from 8 presets (neon, retro, emboss, fire), adjust offset, blur, and color. Copy the generated CSS with one click. Free, 100% client-side.

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CSS Text Shadow Generator — Create Stunning text-shadow Effects Online

This CSS text shadow generator lets you design text-shadow effects visually and copy production-ready CSS in seconds. Adjust X/Y offset, blur radius, color, and opacity with live sliders — and see the result update instantly on real preview text.

How to Use

  1. Adjust the sliders — Offset X and Y control shadow direction; Blur sets softness
  2. Pick a color and opacity — use the color picker or type a hex code directly
  3. Stack shadows — click + Add Shadow to layer up to four shadows for complex effects
  4. Apply a preset — choose from Simple, Deep, Neon Blue, Neon Green, Retro, Emboss, Fire, or Long Shadow
  5. Copy the CSS — click Copy to grab the text-shadow property for your stylesheet

Understanding text-shadow CSS

The text-shadow property accepts one or more shadows separated by commas. Each shadow takes three values plus a color: offsetX offsetY blur color. Unlike box-shadow, there is no spread radius and no inset option — the shadow follows the letterform outlines directly.

Stacking multiple shadows unlocks advanced neon text CSS effects (overlapping blurs at offset 0,0), fire effects (upward-shifted orange layers), retro 3D depth (incremental hard offsets), and emboss (opposing light and dark shadows).

text-shadow vs box-shadow

Both properties add shadow effects, but they behave differently. box-shadow adds a shadow around the entire element box and supports spread radius and inset mode. text-shadow follows the letterform outlines and has no spread or inset — it is purely typographic. Use text-shadow for text effects and box-shadow for card elevation, button depth, and container shadows.

Browser Support

text-shadow is supported in all modern browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Edge. Stacked multiple shadows are also fully supported. There is no need for vendor prefixes.

Performance Tips

Keep blur radius below 20px for better rendering performance. Multiple stacked shadows with large blur values can slow rendering on mobile. For animated glow effects, prefer CSS custom properties and limit the shadow count to two or three layers.

Privacy

All calculations run entirely in your browser. No input is sent to any server.

FAQ

What is a CSS text shadow?

CSS text-shadow adds a shadow effect to text. Unlike box-shadow, it has no spread radius and no inset option. The syntax is: text-shadow: offsetX offsetY blur-radius color. Multiple shadows can be stacked with commas.

Can I stack multiple text shadows?

Yes — CSS text-shadow supports multiple shadows separated by commas. This enables effects like neon glows (overlapping blurs), 3D depth (incremental offsets), or retro outlines (multiple thin shadows in different directions).

What is the difference between box-shadow and text-shadow?

box-shadow applies to the element box and supports spread-radius and inset. text-shadow applies only to the text characters — no spread, no inset. Both support stacked shadows and rgba colors.

Is text-shadow supported in all browsers?

Yes — text-shadow has excellent cross-browser support (Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) and does not require vendor prefixes in modern browsers. It is defined in CSS3 and supported since IE 10.