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How can I use CSS3 transform on a span?


I have an inline element (a <span>) nested in a <h1> tag. I applied a transform property to the h1 ( skew so it looks like a parallelogram).
I need to transform the <span> tag to "unskew" it and its text. But this only seems to work in IE.

Here is an example of the HTML and CSS:

h1 {
  background: #f00;
  padding: .25em .5em;
  text-align: right;
  transform: skew(-15deg);
}
h1 span {
  color: #fff;
  transform: skew(15deg);
}
<h1><span>This is a Title</span></h1>


Solution

  • Explanation:
    A <span> or a link (<a>) are inline elements and the transform property doesn't apply to inline elements.
    Here is the list of transformable elements from the CSS Transforms Module Level 1.

    Solution:
    Set the display property of the span to inline-block or block. This will let you apply transforms to the span element.
    It also works for other inline elements like <a> <em> <strong>... (see the list of inline elements on MDN).

    Here is a demo with the <span> and link <a> elements :

    h1 {
      background: teal;
      padding: .25em .5em;
      margin: 1em;
      transform: skew(-15deg);
    }
    h1 span,
    h1 a {
      color: #fff;
      display: inline-block;  /* <- ADD THIS */
      transform: skew(15deg);
    }
    <h1><span>This is a span in a title</span></h1>
    <h1><a href="#">This is a link in a title</a></h1>