Creating Blinking Text with CSS Animations

Adding Dynamic Effects: Making Text Blink with CSS

Animations are a powerful way to enhance user interfaces and draw attention to specific elements. A classic example of this is blinking text. This tutorial will guide you through creating blinking text effects using CSS animations, covering different approaches to achieve the desired visual outcome.

Understanding CSS Animations

CSS animations allow you to apply a sequence of styles to an element over a specified duration. This is done using the @keyframes rule, which defines the different states of the animation, and the animation property, which controls the animation’s behavior.

Basic Blinking Animation

The most fundamental approach involves defining an animation that toggles the opacity of the text between visible and hidden.

1. Define the @keyframes:

The @keyframes rule specifies the animation’s stages. Let’s create a blinker animation that alternates between full opacity (1.0) and complete transparency (0.0).

@keyframes blinker {
  0% { opacity: 1.0; } /* Fully visible at the start */
  50% { opacity: 0.0; } /* Invisible at the midpoint */
  100% { opacity: 1.0; } /* Return to fully visible at the end */
}

2. Apply the Animation:

Now, apply the blinker animation to the desired text element using the animation property.

.blink {
  animation: blinker 1s linear infinite;
}

Let’s break down the animation property values:

• blinker: This refers to the name of the @keyframes rule we defined.
• 1s: This sets the duration of one animation cycle to 1 second.
• linear: This specifies the timing function. linear means the animation proceeds at a constant speed. Other options include ease, ease-in, ease-out, and ease-in-out.
• infinite: This makes the animation repeat indefinitely.

HTML Example:

<span class="blink">This text will blink!</span>

Achieving a Simple On/Off Blink

For a basic on/off blinking effect, you can simplify the @keyframes and leverage the alternate animation direction.

1. Simplified @keyframes:

@keyframes blinker {
  to { opacity: 0; }
}

Notice that we only define the to (end) state. The starting state is implicitly defined as the initial opacity of the element (usually 1).

2. Apply the Animation with alternate:

.blink {
  animation: blinker 1s ease-in-out infinite alternate;
}

The alternate value for animation-direction causes the animation to play forward and then backward on each iteration, creating a smooth on/off effect.

Using step-start for a Discrete Blink

If you prefer a more abrupt, discrete blinking effect (like an old-school digital display), you can use the step-start timing function.

CSS:

@keyframes blinker {
  50% { opacity: 0; }
}

.blink {
  animation: blinker 1s step-start infinite;
}

step-start causes the opacity to change instantly at the 50% mark, creating a sharper blink.

Browser Compatibility

While modern browsers widely support CSS animations, older browsers may require vendor prefixes (like -webkit-, -moz-, etc.) to function correctly. However, it’s generally recommended to omit these prefixes and rely on standard CSS for better maintainability. Autoprefixers can be used during build processes to automatically add necessary prefixes for older browsers.