Definition and Usage

The @keyframes rule specifies the animation code.

The animation is created by gradually changing from one set of CSS styles to another.

During the animation, you can change the set of CSS styles many times.

Specify when the style change will happen in percent, or with the keywords "from" and "to",
which is the same as 0% and 100%. 0% is the beginning of the animation, 100% is when the
animation is complete.

CSS Syntax
@keyframes animationname {keyframes-selector {css-styles;}}

Property Values
Value Description
animationname Required. Defines the name of the animation.
Required. Percentage of the animation duration.

Legal values:

keyframes-selector 0-100%
from (same as 0%)
to (same as 100%)

Note: You can have many keyframes-selectors in one animation.

css-styles Required. One or more legal CSS style properties

Add many keyframe selectors in one animation:

@keyframes mymove {
0% {top: 0px;}
25% {top: 200px;}
50% {top: 100px;}
75% {top: 200px;}
100% {top: 0px;}
}
@keyframes mymove {
0% {top: 0px; background: red; width: 100px;}
100% {top: 200px; background: yellow; width: 300px;}
}

Many keyframe selectors with many CSS styles:

@keyframes mymove {
0% {top: 0px; left: 0px; background: red;}
25% {top: 0px; left: 100px; background: blue;}
50% {top: 100px; left: 100px; background: yellow;}
75% {top: 100px; left: 0px; background: green;}
100% {top: 0px; left: 0px; background: red;}
}

Example

Note: The !important rule is ignored in a keyframe:

@keyframes myexample {
from {top: 0px;}
50% {top: 100px !important;} /* ignored */
to {top: 200px;}
}

CSS Animations

CSS allows animation of HTML elements without using JavaScript or Flash!

Properties:

@keyframes
animation-name
animation-duration
animation-delay
animation-iteration-count
 animation-direction
animation-timing-function
animation-fill-mode
animation

What are CSS Animations?

An animation lets an element gradually change from one style to another.

You can change as many CSS properties you want, as many times as you want.

To use CSS animation, you must first specify some keyframes for the animation.

Keyframes hold what styles the element will have at certain times.
The @keyframes Rule

When you specify CSS styles inside the @keyframes rule, the animation will gradually change
from the current style to the new style at certain times.

To get an animation to work, you must bind the animation to an element.

The following example binds the "example" animation to the <div> element. The animation will
last for 4 seconds, and it will gradually change the background-color of the <div> element from
"red" to "yellow":
Example
/* The animation code */
@keyframes example {
from {background-color: red;}
 to {background-color: yellow;}
}

/* The element to apply the animation to */

div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
}

Note: The animation-duration property defines how long an animation should take to complete.
If the animation-duration property is not specified, no animation will occur, because the default
value is 0s (0 seconds).

In the example above we have specified when the style will change by using the keywords
"from" and "to" (which represents 0% (start) and 100% (complete)).

It is also possible to use percent. By using percent, you can add as many style changes as you
like.

The following example will change the background-color of the <div> element when the
animation is 25% complete, 50% complete, and again when the animation is 100% complete:
Example
/* The animation code */
@keyframes example {
0% {background-color: red;}
25% {background-color: yellow;}
50% {background-color: blue;}
 100% {background-color: green;}
}

/* The element to apply the animation to */

div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
}

The following example will change both the background-color and the position of the <div>
element when the animation is 25% complete, 50% complete, and again when the animation is
100% complete:
Example
/* The animation code */
@keyframes example {
0% {background-color:red; left:0px; top:0px;}
25% {background-color:yellow; left:200px; top:0px;}
50% {background-color:blue; left:200px; top:200px;}
75% {background-color:green; left:0px; top:200px;}
100% {background-color:red; left:0px; top:0px;}
}

/* The element to apply the animation to */

div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
 position: relative;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
}
Delay an Animation

The animation-delay property specifies a delay for the start of an animation.

The following example has a 2 seconds delay before starting the animation:
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
position: relative;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
animation-delay: 2s;
}

Negative values are also allowed. If using negative values, the animation will start as if it had
already been playing for N seconds.

In the following example, the animation will start as if it had already been playing for 2 seconds:
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
 position: relative;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
animation-delay: -2s;
}
Set How Many Times an Animation Should Run

The animation-iteration-count property specifies the number of times an animation should run.

The following example will run the animation 3 times before it stops:
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
position: relative;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
animation-iteration-count: 3;
}

The following example uses the value "infinite" to make the animation continue for ever:
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
position: relative;
 background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
animation-iteration-count: infinite;
}
Run Animation in Reverse Direction or Alternate Cycles

The animation-direction property specifies whether an animation should be played forwards,

backwards or in alternate cycles.

The animation-direction property can have the following values:

normal - The animation is played as normal (forwards). This is default

reverse - The animation is played in reverse direction (backwards)
alternate - The animation is played forwards first, then backwards
alternate-reverse - The animation is played backwards first, then forwards

The following example will run the animation in reverse direction (backwards):
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
position: relative;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
animation-direction: reverse;
}
The following example uses the value "alternate" to make the animation run forwards first, then
backwards:
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
position: relative;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
animation-iteration-count: 2;
animation-direction: alternate;
}

The following example uses the value "alternate-reverse" to make the animation run backwards
first, then forwards:
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
position: relative;
background-color: red;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 4s;
animation-iteration-count: 2;
animation-direction: alternate-reverse;
}

Specify the Speed Curve of the Animation

The animation-timing-function property specifies the speed curve of the animation.
The animation-timing-function property can have the following values:
ease - Specifies an animation with a slow start, then fast, then end slowly (this is default)
linear - Specifies an animation with the same speed from start to end
ease-in - Specifies an animation with a slow start
ease-out - Specifies an animation with a slow end
ease-in-out - Specifies an animation with a slow start and end
cubic-bezier(n,n,n,n) - Lets you define your own values in a cubic-bezier function

The following example shows some of the different speed curves that can be used:
Example
#div1 {animation-timing-function: linear;}
#div2 {animation-timing-function: ease;}
#div3 {animation-timing-function: ease-in;}
#div4 {animation-timing-function: ease-out;}
#div5 {animation-timing-function: ease-in-out;}
Specify the fill-mode For an Animation

CSS animations do not affect an element before the first keyframe is played or after the last
keyframe is played. The animation-fill-mode property can override this behavior.

The animation-fill-mode property specifies a style for the target element when the animation is
not playing (before it starts, after it ends, or both).

The animation-fill-mode property can have the following values:

none - Default value. Animation will not apply any styles to the element before or after it is
executing
forwards - The element will retain the style values that is set by the last keyframe (depends on
animation-direction and animation-iteration-count)
 backwards - The element will get the style values that is set by the first keyframe (depends on
animation-direction), and retain this during the animation-delay period
both - The animation will follow the rules for both forwards and backwards, extending the
animation properties in both directions

The following example lets the <div> element retain the style values from the last keyframe
when the animation ends:
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: red;
position: relative;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 3s;
animation-fill-mode: forwards;
}

The following example lets the <div> element get the style values set by the first keyframe
before the animation starts (during the animation-delay period):
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: red;
position: relative;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 3s;
animation-delay: 2s;
animation-fill-mode: backwards;
}

The following example lets the <div> element get the style values set by the first keyframe
before the animation starts, and retain the style values from the last keyframe when the animation
ends:
Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: red;
position: relative;
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 3s;
animation-delay: 2s;
animation-fill-mode: both;
}
Animation Shorthand Property

The example below uses six of the animation properties:

Example
div {
animation-name: example;
animation-duration: 5s;
animation-timing-function: linear;
animation-delay: 2s;
animation-iteration-count: infinite;
animation-direction: alternate;
}
The same animation effect as above can be achieved by using the shorthand animation property:
Example
div {
animation: example 5s linear 2s infinite alternate;
}

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:

Add a 2 second animation for the <div> element, which changes the color from red to blue. Call
the animation "example".

<style>
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background-color: red;
animation-name: _______ ;
___________ : 2s;
}

@keyframes example {
from { ________: red;}
to {_______ : blue;}
}
</style>

<body>
<div>This is a div</div>
</body>

CSS Transitions
CSS transitions allows you to change property values smoothly, over a given duration.

How to Use CSS Transitions?

To create a transition effect, you must specify two things:

 the CSS property you want to add an effect to

 the duration of the effect

Example
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: red;
transition: width 2s;
}

The transition effect will start when the specified CSS property (width) changes value.

Now, let us specify a new value for the width property when a user mouses over the <div>
element:

Example
div:hover {
width: 300px;
}

Change Several Property Values

The following example adds a transition effect for both the width and height property, with a
duration of 2 seconds for the width and 4 seconds for the height:

Example
div {
transition: width 2s, height 4s;
}
<html>

<head>

<style>

div {

width: 100px;

height: 100px;

background: red;

transition: width 2s, height 4s;

div:hover {

width: 300px;

height: 300px;

</style>

</head>

<body>

<h1>The transition Property</h1>

<p>Hover over the div element below, to see the transition effect:</p>
<div></div>

</body>

</html>

Specify the Speed Curve of the Transition

The transition-timing-function property specifies the speed curve of the transition effect.

The transition-timing-function property can have the following values:

 ease - specifies a transition effect with a slow start, then fast, then end slowly (this is default)
 linear - specifies a transition effect with the same speed from start to end
 ease-in - specifies a transition effect with a slow start
 ease-out - specifies a transition effect with a slow end
 ease-in-out - specifies a transition effect with a slow start and end
 cubic-bezier(n,n,n,n) - lets you define your own values in a cubic-bezier function

<html>

<head>

<style>

div {

width: 100px;

height: 100px;

background: red;

transition: width 2s;

#div1 {transition-timing-function: linear;}

#div2 {transition-timing-function: ease;}

#div3 {transition-timing-function: ease-in;}

#div4 {transition-timing-function: ease-out;}

#div5 {transition-timing-function: ease-in-out;}

div:hover {

width: 300px;

</style>

</head>

<body>

<h1>The transition-timing-function Property</h1>

<p>Hover over the div elements below, to see the different speed curves:</p>

<div id="div1">linear</div><br>

<div id="div2">ease</div><br>

<div id="div3">ease-in</div><br>

<div id="div4">ease-out</div><br>

<div id="div5">ease-in-out</div><br>

</body>

</html>
Delay the Transition Effect
The transition-delay property specifies a delay (in seconds) for the transition effect.

<html>

<head>

<style>

div {

width: 100px;

height: 100px;

background: red;

transition: width 3s;

transition-delay: 1s;

div:hover {

width: 300px;

</style>

</head>

<body>

<h1>The transition-delay Property</h1>

<p>Hover over the div element below, to see the transition effect:</p>

<div></div>

<p><b>Note:</b> The transition effect has a 1 second delay before starting.</p>

</body>

</html>

Transition + Transformation
The following example adds a transition effect to the transformation:

<html>

<head>

<style>

div {

width: 100px;

height: 100px;

background: red;

transition: width 2s, height 2s, transform 2s;

div:hover {

width: 300px;
 height: 300px;

transform: rotate(180deg);

</style>

</head>

<body>

<h1>Transition + Transform</h1>

<p>Hover over the div element below:</p>

<div></div>

</body>

</html>

Test Yourself With Exercises

Exercise:
Add a 2 second transition effect for width changes of the <div> element.

<style>
div {
width: 100px;
height: 100px;
background: red;

: ;
}
div:hover {
width: 300px;
}
</style>

<body>
<div>This is a div</div>
</body>