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Text Shadow Generator

Build text shadows, outlines and glows with a live preview.

Effect

Preview

Sharp Edges

Quick Tool Overview

The Text Shadow Generator applies layered shadows to your own text, with presets for the three effects people come looking for — a hard outline, a neon glow and layered 3D — each editable once applied.

What it does
Builds CSS text-shadow effects
You give it
Your text, plus offsets, blur and colour
You get back
A text-shadow declaration with a live preview
Best for
Headings, hero text, outlines and glow effects
Developer Tools Free, unlimited use No sign-up Runs in your browser

About the Text Shadow Generator

text-shadow takes the same offsets, blur and colour as a box shadow but applies them to glyphs, and stacking layers gives you effects the property was never obviously meant for. Drag the values and the preview updates on your own text.

Three of those effects have presets because they are what people come looking for. An outline is four zero-blur shadows at one-pixel offsets in each direction, which works where the newer text-stroke is unreliable. A neon glow is several shadows of increasing blur in the same colour. Layered 3D text is a run of hard shadows each one pixel further down and right. All three are editable once applied, rather than being fixed snippets.

Key features of the Text Shadow Generator

Outline without text-stroke

Four zero-blur shadows at one-pixel offsets, which is more reliable than -webkit-text-stroke and does not thin the glyph.

Proper neon glow

Several shadows of increasing blur in one colour, which gives the falloff a real light source has.

Layered 3D text

A run of hard shadows stepping down and right, generated at whatever depth you set.

Your own text in the preview

At your own size and weight, because an effect that works on one word may not work on a sentence.

Paint order explained

The first shadow paints on top, which is the opposite of what most people expect and why layered effects come out inverted.

How to use the Text Shadow Generator

  1. 1

    Type your text

    The preview uses your own words at a size you set.

  2. 2

    Start from a preset

    Soft shadow, hard outline, neon glow or layered 3D — then adjust.

  3. 3

    Tune the layers

    Offsets, blur and colour per layer, with layers you can add or remove.

  4. 4

    Copy the CSS

    The complete text-shadow declaration, ready to paste.

Frequently asked questions

Four shadows with no blur, offset one pixel up, down, left and right. It is more reliable than -webkit-text-stroke, which thins the glyph inwards and is not in every engine.

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