CSS Text-Shadow Generator
Add shadows and glow effects to text visually — adjust offset, blur, opacity, and color with a live preview and presets, then copy the text-shadow CSS. Free.
💡 How to use
- Type your text, then adjust offset, blur, opacity, and colors.
- Try the presets for glow, outline, retro, and 3D looks.
- Copy the
text-shadowCSS and paste it onto your heading or text element.
Free CSS Text-Shadow Generator
Add shadows and glow effects to text visually and copy the CSS instantly. Adjust offset, blur, opacity, and color with a live preview, or start from soft, glow, outline, retro, and neon presets — then paste production-ready text-shadow CSS into your project. Free and browser-based.
What is the CSS text-shadow property?
The text-shadow property adds a shadow behind text, controlled by four values: horizontal offset, vertical offset, blur radius, and color. It is the standard way to make headings pop, create glow and neon effects, add depth to hero text, or improve readability when text sits over a busy background. Because it is pure CSS, the effect stays crisp at any size and adds no image weight.
How to use the text-shadow generator
Styling your text takes seconds:
- Type the text you want to preview.
- Drag the offset sliders to position the shadow and blur to soften it.
- Set the opacity and shadow color, or pick a preset.
- Copy the generated text-shadow CSS and paste it onto your element.
Popular text-shadow effects
A few value combinations create instantly recognisable looks:
- Soft drop shadow — small offset, moderate blur, low opacity dark color.
- Glow — zero offset, large blur, a bright color for neon-style text.
- Hard shadow — small offset, zero blur, solid color for a retro pop.
- Outline — layer several tight shadows in different directions.
- 3D text — stack multiple shadows with increasing offsets.
Using text-shadow for readability
Beyond decoration, a subtle shadow can make text legible over photos or gradients. A low-opacity dark shadow with a small blur adds just enough separation between the letters and a busy background without looking heavy. This is a common technique for hero sections and image captions where you cannot control what sits behind the text.
Layering multiple shadows
You can apply several shadows to the same text by separating them with commas. This is how outlines and 3D effects are built — for example, four tight shadows pointing up, down, left, and right create a clean outline, while a series of offset shadows in a single direction produces an extruded 3D look. Experiment with the generator, then combine values by hand for advanced effects.
Pro tip
Go easy: oversized or high-contrast text shadows quickly look dated. For modern interfaces, keep shadows subtle and purposeful, reserving bold glow and neon effects for hero headings or playful brands. Pair this with our Box-Shadow Generator and CSS Gradient Generator for a complete styling toolkit.
FAQ
Is this Text-Shadow Generator free?
How do I add a shadow to text in CSS?
How do I create a glowing text effect?
How do I make an outline around text?
Can I add more than one text-shadow?
Does text-shadow hurt performance or SEO?
Does text-shadow work in all browsers?
Related tools
Pro tip: pair this tool with CSS Box-Shadow Generator and CSS Flexbox Generator for a faster SEO workflow.