Staggered Letter Shine Text: CSS Text Animation

Staggered Letter Shine Text

A glint runs through each letter in turn and lifts it a hair, so the light seems to skip along the word. Every span has its own clipped gradient, delayed by its index.

Also known as: letter by letter shine, per letter glint css, sequential shine text.

Superstar

Color Font size 40px Dark background

HTML

<div class="txt-staggered-shine-text" aria-label="Superstar"><span style="--i: 0">S</span><span style="--i: 1">u</span><span style="--i: 2">p</span><span style="--i: 3">e</span><span style="--i: 4">r</span><span style="--i: 5">s</span><span style="--i: 6">t</span><span style="--i: 7">a</span><span style="--i: 8">r</span></div>

CSS

.txt-staggered-shine-text {
  --c: var(--txt-color, #3b82f6);
  font-size: var(--txt-size, 32px);
  font-family: system-ui, sans-serif;
  font-weight: 700;
  line-height: 1.2;
  font-weight: 800;}
.txt-staggered-shine-text span {
  display: inline-block;
  background: linear-gradient(110deg, var(--c) 35%, color-mix(in srgb, var(--c) 20%, #fff) 50%, var(--c) 65%) 100% 0 / 300% 100%;
  -webkit-background-clip: text;
  background-clip: text;
  color: transparent;
  -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent;
  animation: txt-staggered-shine-text-glint 2.4s cubic-bezier(0.4, 0, 0.2, 1) infinite;
  animation-delay: calc(var(--i) * 70ms);
}
@keyframes txt-staggered-shine-text-glint {
  0%        { background-position: 100% 0; transform: translateY(0); }
  16%       { transform: translateY(-0.06em); }
  34%, 100% { background-position: 0% 0; transform: translateY(0); }
}

@media (prefers-reduced-motion: reduce) {
  .txt-staggered-shine-text, .txt-staggered-shine-text *, .txt-staggered-shine-text::before, .txt-staggered-shine-text::after, .txt-staggered-shine-text *::before, .txt-staggered-shine-text *::after {
    animation-duration: 0.01ms !important;
    animation-iteration-count: 1 !important;
    transition-duration: 0.01ms !important;
  }
}

Customizing this snippet

Color: set --txt-color on the element or a parent. Currently previewing #3b82f6.
Font size: set --txt-size. Every other dimension is in em, so the whole thing scales together. Currently previewing 40px.
Speed: change the duration on the transition or animation shorthand. Staggered delays are relative, so they keep their rhythm.
Reduced motion: the rule at the end of the CSS turns the motion off for people who asked their OS for less of it. Keep it.

Staggered Letter Shine Text

HTML

CSS

Customizing this snippet

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