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mask-border

This is an experimental technology
Check the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The mask-border CSS property lets you create a mask along the edge of an element's border.

This property is a shorthand for mask-border-source, mask-border-slice, mask-border-width, mask-border-outset, mask-border-repeat, and mask-border-mode. As with all shorthand properties, any omitted sub-values will be set to their initial value.

Syntax

/* source | slice */
mask-border: url('border-mask.png') 25;

/* source | slice | repeat */
mask-border: url('border-mask.png') 25 space;

/* source | slice | width */
mask-border: url('border-mask.png') 25 / 35px;

/* source | slice | width | outset | repeat | mode */
mask-border: url('border-mask.png') 25 / 35px / 12px space alpha;

Values

<'mask-border-source'>
The source image. See mask-border-source.
<'mask-border-slice'>
The dimensions for slicing the source image into regions. Up to four values may be specified. See mask-border-slice.
<'mask-border-width'>
The width of the border mask. Up to four values may be specified. See mask-border-width.
<'mask-border-outset'>
The distance of the border mask from the element's outside edge. Up to four values may be specified. See mask-border-outset.
<'mask-border-repeat'>
Defines how the edge regions of the source image are adjusted to fit the dimensions of the border mask. Up to two values may be specified. See mask-border-repeat.
<'mask-border-mode'>
Defines whether the source image is treated as a luminance mask or alpha mask. See mask-border-mode.

Formal syntax

<'mask-border-source'> || <'mask-border-slice'> [ / <'mask-border-width'>? [ / <'mask-border-outset'> ]? ]? || <'mask-border-repeat'> || <'mask-border-mode'>

Example

Bitmap

In this example, we will mask an element's border with a diamond pattern. The source for the mask is a ".png" file of 90 by 90 pixels, with three diamonds going vertically and horizontally:

HTML

<div id="bitmap">This element is surrounded by a bitmap-based mask border! Pretty neat, isn't it?</div>

CSS

To match the size of a single diamond, we will use a value of 90 divided by 3, or 30, for slicing the image into corner and edge regions. A repeat value of round will make the mask slices fit evenly, i.e., without clipping or gaps.

div {
  width: 200px;
  background-color: lavender;
  border: 18px solid salmon;
  padding: 10px;

  mask-border:
    url("https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/15836/mask-border-diamonds.png")  /* source */
    30 /         /* slice */
    36px 18px    /* width */
    round;       /* repeat */
}

Result

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
CSS Masking Module Level 1
The definition of 'mask-border' in that specification.
Candidate Recommendation Initial definition
Initial value as each of the properties of the shorthand:
Applies to all elements; In SVG, it applies to container elements excluding the <defs> element and all graphics elements
Inherited no
Percentages as each of the properties of the shorthand:
Media visual
Computed value as each of the properties of the shorthand:
Animation type as each of the properties of the shorthand:
Canonical order per grammar
Creates stacking context yes

Browser compatibility

TBD

© 2005–2018 Mozilla Developer Network and individual contributors.
Licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License v2.5 or later.
https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/mask-border