Creating coloring book pages has never been easier thanks to AI-powered design tools. In this tutorial, and transform text prompts into printable line art using Envato's GraphicsGen—no drawing skills are required!

Whether you're targeting adults seeking intricate, therapeutic designs or children looking for fun, simple illustrations, this tutorial will help you master the process in just a few minutes.

So stop tracing—let AI do all the work! Let's learn how to create a coloring book with AI.

1. What is Envato's GraphicsGen?

Envato’s GraphicsGen is an AI-powered graphics generator. It lets subscribers turn simple text prompts into illustrations based on 100 different art style choices—everything from flat-style blueprint to 8-bit nostalgia (and more to come!). This means you can use it as an AI coloring book generator.

Where to find Envato’s AI-powered GraphicsGen

1. Subscribe: Envato's GraphicsGen is available to active subscribers. A valid subscription is required to unlock the AI tools.
2. Visit Envato: Open Envato's AI tools in your browser. This is where you’ll find tools like ImageGen, VideoGen, and GraphicsGen.
3. Sign in: At the top right, use your Envato account credentials to sign in. Once authenticated, you’ll see all the available AI tools.
4. Launch GraphicsGen: Select Gen AI > GraphicsGen from the menu, or go directly to https://labs.envato.com/graphics-gen. This opens the interface to the AI graphics generator.

How does GraphicsGen work?

At the bottom of the interface, you will see a prompt box. Here, you can select a graphic style from the preset image icons showcased in the gallery or choose one from the dropdown menu in the top right-hand corner.

For example, you can select the Charming Storybook art style. Then, add the text description in the prompt box, such as: "Create a highly detailed enchanted forest scene with intricate vines, hidden creatures, and elaborate magical flora, ink outline." Once your prompt is in, hit Generate, and the AI coloring book generator delivers a PNG graphic in seconds.

What graphic outputs does GraphicsGen offer?

GraphicsGen offers royalty-free, high-resolution PNG files under your subscription, making them perfect for web, print, and branding projects.

It's part of Envato’s suite of AI tools, including ImageGen for raster images, VideoGen for short video clips, VoiceGen for text-to-speech, and more. These tools make it easy to quickly generate on-brand assets.

2. What is the difference between adult vs. kids' coloring books?

Before we begin creating, let’s explore the differences in designing coloring pages for adults versus kids. There are a few key distinctions:

A. Level of detail

• Adults: Pages tend to be more intricate, featuring numerous small shapes, fine-line artwork, and repeating patterns (think filigree or floral clusters). This encourages focus, mindfulness, and a challenge as they fill in small spaces.
• Kids: Simpler, bolder shapes with larger areas to color—animals, trucks, basic cartoon scenes—so little hands can stay within the lines and have a quick feel of accomplishment.

B. Line weight & clarity

• Adults: Thinner lines and minor variations in stroke weight give an elegant, delicate feel.
• Kids: Thicker, uniform outlines keep the images clear and are forgiving if a crayon drifts outside the edge.

C. Themes and imagery

• Adults: More sophisticated or abstract themes, like botanical gardens, fantasy landscapes, travel scenes, or Art Deco patterns.
• Kids: Fun, playful, and familiar subjects, like cartoon animals or simple holiday scenes. 

D. Page layout & composition

• Adults: Often single-page spreads with repeating motifs or borderless compositions.
• Kids: More contained scenes (with frames or borders).

E. Cognitive roles

• Adults: Promotes stress relief, mindfulness, and creative exploration. The “busy” designs help quiet the mind.
• Kids: Encourages fine motor skills, color recognition, self-expression, and quick wins to keep motivation high.

If you can recognize these differences, you will be able to customize the details, line styles, themes, and layout descriptions for your AI coloring book prompts.

3. How to define your coloring book concept

Begin by clearly defining the theme of your coloring book. This step helps guide all your creative decisions throughout the process.

For adult audiences, consider themes like:

• Mandalas & geometric patterns
• Botanical gardens & floral arrangements
• Intricate animal portraits (e.g. lions, owls, elephants)
• Zentangles
• Fantasy worlds (dragons, castles, enchanted forests)
• Architectural details (Gothic cathedrals, vintage doorways
• Steampunk & mechanical designs
• Ocean life & underwater scenes
• Celestial & astrological themes
• Cultural motifs (henna-inspired, Art Deco, Aztec patterns)
• Wine, alcohol, coffee & tea rituals

For children, focus on:

• Everyday objects and toys
• Food
• Fantasy elements
• Animals
• Dinosaurs & prehistoric creatures
• Magical unicorns & fairies
• Superheroes & sidekicks
• Outer space adventures (astronauts, rockets, aliens)
• Vehicles & construction (cars, trains, diggers)
• Under-the-sea (fish, mermaids, sea turtles)
• Holiday celebrations (Halloween, Christmas, birthdays)
• Jungle safari (lions, monkeys, elephants)
• Cute monsters & robots

Select a theme and create a brief that includes your target audience, artistic style preference, and the overall mood you want to achieve. This will serve as your guiding principle throughout the creation process.

4. How to craft the perfect AI prompt for dynamic coloring pages

When you want AI to generate pages for your printable coloring book, you need to make it feel both dynamic and color-ready. Your prompt needs to be specific, descriptive, and tailored to the AI coloring book generator. Here is what your prompt should include:

1. Audience & complexity

• Adult: "ultra-detailed", "intricate", "fine line art".
• Child: "bold outlines", "simple shapes", "playful".

2. Style & line weight

• Specify "black-and-white vector line art", "0.3 pt uniform line width", "no shading", or "grayscale".
• Or "hand-drawn marker style", "thick outlines", "thick black outlines", "clean line art".

3. Composition & dynamics

• Adult: Use terms like "dynamic composition", "flowing movement", "overlapping elements", "action lines", "patterns", and "textures".
• For children: "centered composition", "isolated objects", "simple shapes", "clear white background", and "recognizable forms".

4. Theme & motifs

• E.g. "botanical mandala with swirling vines and hidden animals".
• Or "cartoon farm scene: cow, pig, tractor, barn, sun with a smiling face".

5. Technical requirements

• "High-resolution", "300 DPI", "3000×3000 px".
• "Portrait orientation", "single-page layout", "sized for 8.5″×11″ printing".

6. Negative/exclude notes

• "No shading", "no text", "no color", "no halftones", "no background noise".

By tailoring every part of your prompt—from the subject and mood to the point size of the lines and the output format—you will get AI-generated coloring pages that match your vision.

What is the formula to craft a rock-solid prompt?

A good prompt =  Technical requirements + Art style + Subject matter + Composition notes + Complexity level + Line quality specifications + Background / Exclude elements or lack thereof.

Example of an adult coloring page prompt

(Technical requirements) "Create a full-bleed A4 format coloring page at 300 DPI + (Art Style) rendered as solid black line art (Subject) a whimsical woodland scene for adults: an ancient oak tree with twisting branches, clusters of mushrooms, hidden woodland creatures, (Composition notes) highly detailed bark texture, stipple shading only. (Line quality) Use a uniform line weight, crisp black outlines (Background / Exclude) on a transparent background, with no shading."

Example of a kids' coloring page prompt

(Technical requirements) "Create a full-bleed A4 format coloring page at 300 DPI + (Art Style) Simple ink doodle (Subject) of a happy unicorn prancing in a meadow, (Composition notes) big shapes and bold outlines, minimal detail, smiling clouds overhead. (Line quality) 0.5 pt black line width (Background / Exclude) on white background, no text, no background noise."

What are some pro prompting tips to follow?

• Avoid clichés: Skip "stress relief mandala"; try "Art Nouveau insect with vine borders".
• Words to avoid: GraphicsGen will flag words like "stroke" when referring to line weight. Also, any words that fall in the category of profanity, hate-speech, sexual content, self-harm, terrorism, violence, and other sensitive wordings.
• Boost detail: Add "cross-hatching", "stippling", or "whimsical borders" to prompts.
• Fix mistakes: If GraphicsGen adds color, use "monochrome line art ONLY" in your prompt.
• Adult pro tip: Avoid bland art by adding "symmetrical", "ornate", or "hidden elements."
• Kids pro tip: Use "large shapes", "bold lines", "cartoony", and "playful" to keep it child-friendly.
• Keep refining: AI art is a process, not a one-and-done task. Learn from each result and tweak your approach accordingly.
• Create a simple style guide: Record your best prompts, preferred levels of complexity, and design guidelines to maintain consistency.
• Check out our complete guide to creative AI art prompts to learn more about creating effective AI prompts. 

5. How to generate your first set of adult coloring pages

Adult coloring book prompt 1

Let's start with coloring book pages for adults. For the sake of this tutorial, we will create different coloring page themes to test out several prompts.

For the first coloring page, select the Adult Coloring Book art style from the GraphicsGen gallery for detailed and intricate designs. GraphicsGen is a great AI line art generator. I chose a 90s nostalgia theme for this concept, featuring items like a Rubik's Cube and a flip phone, set against a floral background. When writing prompts, pay attention to line weight consistency, the distribution of details, and the overall balance of composition. Here's an example of an adult coloring page prompt:

• "Create a full-bleed square format coloring page, rendered at 300 DPI as black-and-white solid black line art. In an asymmetrical collage layout, meticulously create highly detailed '90s icons—a detailed rotary dial telephone, a swirling, bubbly lava lamp, a music cassette tape, a scrambled Rubik's Cube, and a classic flip phone—interwoven, floating and overlapping an intricate floral arrangement of daisies, sunflowers, and dahlias as a setting. Incorporate negative-space patterns around and between each element to maximize stress-relief coloring. Use a uniform line weight and crisp black outlines on a pure white background, with no shading, no grayscale, no stray dots, or messy linework."

Carefully enter your prompt and click Generate. AI sometimes produces designs with inconsistent line weights or overly complex areas—note these to refine the prompt later. If you find errors, click Generate Another below the rendered image. Correct your prompt and try to generate at least 3-4 different compositions again. Generating multiple works increases the likelihood of finding designs that perfectly match your vision. Once GraphicsGen generates a suitable image, click on the bottom right of the rendered image to download the PNG.

Adult coloring book prompt 2

Keeping the Adult Coloring Book art style selected, an elegant cocktail theme was chosen for the second coloring page. Imagine a martini with a curled lemon twist and olive, a mojito fresh with basil sprigs, and a negroni garnished with a vibrant orange slice—all floating in a playful, asymmetrical layout against a celestial backdrop.

Then I described the intricate cosmic scene, weaving in stars, moons, planets, and swirling filigree to give the page a magical feel. All the outlines must be clean, bold, and black, with no speckles or shading, to maintain a crisp and coloring-friendly appearance. Finally, I ran the prompt. Sometimes the results aren't perfect, and the prompt must be fine-tuned. Here's the AI coloring book prompt I worked with:

• "Create a full-bleed square format coloring page, rendered at 300 DPI as black-and-white solid black line art. Create a high-detail adult coloring-book line art page with three floating cocktail glasses arranged in an asymmetrical composition, floating in different angles: A classic martini glass garnished with a long curled lemon twist and a single olive on a pick. A tall mojito glass filled with crisp ice cubes and fresh basil sprigs. A sturdy negroni tumbler featuring a thick orange slice on its rim All suspended over an intricate celestial background of detailed swirling cosmic filigree, planets, crescent moons, stars, and tiny orbs. Use clean, bold black outlines with no shading, or speckles—perfectly crisp for detailed coloring."

Adult coloring book prompt 3

For the third coloring page, I chose a koi and blossom design. I started by locking in the technical specs—"full-bleed square adult coloring book page, 300 DPI, 3 mm bleed"—so the output is print-ready. Next, described my main subjects and their arrangement—“two elegant koi fish swimming in a perfect yin-yang formation, bodies curving into a balanced flow with long tails spinning around."

Then I nailed down the art style—"intricate hand-drawn pen-and-ink line art, bold crisp black outlines on white, varied line weights for depth, no shading or grayscale." After that, I layered in the decorative touches—"intertwine lush cherry blossoms (no branches) and fill every inch with dynamic water motifs: ripples, swirls, waves, and bubbles." Finally, I specify the line work only, excluding any text, to keep the page clean and ready for coloring. So the prompt reads as:

• "Full-bleed square adult coloring book page, 300 DPI, with 3 mm bleed on all sides. Render two elegant koi fish swimming in a perfect yin-yang formation at the center, their bodies curving into a balanced flow and long tails spinning around. Use intricate hand-drawn pen-and-ink line art style: bold, crisp black outlines on a white background, with varied line weights to suggest depth, movement, and scale; no shading or grayscale. Intertwine lush cherry blossoms in different angles, no branches, with individual blossoms floating in the water—adding finely detailed petals around and between the fish. Fill every inch of negative space with dynamic water motifs: ripples, swirling currents, waves, and rising bubbles that organically interact with the fish and floral elements. The composition should flow in a continuous loop around the circle. Exclude any text."

Adult coloring book prompt 4

Another 'coloring book page for adults' concept to try is a skull-and-snake motif. I began by locking in the technical specs: "a square format at 300 DPI with a 3 mm bleed—to guarantee a print-ready layout." Then I defined the focal imagery: "a human skull entwined by two coiling serpents and blooming rose vines."

Followed by the line specs: "a hand-drawn pen-and-ink vector style with thick, clean black outlines and no shading or grayscale, so it reads as pure line art for coloring." To keep the page engaging, I requested intricate scale patterns, skull cracks, detailed petals, and hidden death-themed motifs, such as skull-patterned moths and fallen rose petals. Finally, I filled all negative space with swirling, spiky vines plus rose borders, excluded any text or logos, and clarified that the final deliverable should be optimized for pure line work to achieve high-quality print. The prompt reads:

• "Create a square format adult-coloring-book page with 3 mm bleed on all sides, no border, 300 DPI. Feature a central human skull entwined by a large detailed coiling serpent and blooming rose vines. Render entirely in hand-drawn pen-and-ink line art in a bold vector style: thick, clean, black outlines on a white background —no shading or grayscale. Embellish the serpents’ scales, the skull’s cracks, and each rose petal with intricate details. Hide tiny death-themed motifs — moths, dropped rose petals—within the composition’s negative spaces. Fill all empty areas with swirling spikey vines and rose border elements to create a seamless, balanced layout. Exclude any text, brand names, or logos. Output as pure line work optimized for high-quality print."

Adult coloring book prompt 5

For the last concept, I went for a psychedelic vibe. I started as usual, locking in the essentials—a square, single-page layout at 300 DPI with bold, uniform strokes and no shading—to guarantee a crisp, print-ready result. From there, I defined the overarching vibe as an "immersive psychedelic tapestry".

I broke it into five layered motif groups (ribbons & spirals, mandala details, organic surreal elements, micro-patterns, and Op-Art panels), each described with vivid verbs (twist, evolve, weave). By spelling out how ribbons morph into fractal spirals, mandalas into interlocking petals, and vines into alien blossoms, the prompt ensures that every negative space is filled with dots, dashes, or checkerboard waves. Finally, I reiterated the need for clean, continuous lines edge-to-edge so that the design remains both seamless and sharply defined. A prompt example:

• "Create a single-page, square-format adult coloring book illustration at 300 DPI in crisp black line art with uniform thick strokes and no shading. Fill the entire page edge-to-edge with an immersive psychedelic tapestry: -Flowing Ribbons & Spirals: Draw fluid, ribbon-like shapes that twist and merge in an endless dance, evolving into fractal spirals and kaleidoscopic mandalas. -Mandala Details: Each spiral unfolds into concentric rings and petals, their geometry intricate and interlocking, inviting close coloring. - Organic Motifs: Weave in strange fungi, twisting vines, and alien blossoms—some bearing hidden faces or symbols—to add a surreal, living quality. - Micro-Patterns: Fill negative spaces with delicate dots, dashes, concentric circles, and tiny stars to encourage detailed work. - Op-Art Elements: Integrate checkerboard waves, moiré ripples, and optical-illusion panels that pulse with movement. Ensure all lines are clean, continuous, and bold enough for precise coloring."

6. How to create the children's versions using the Simple Ink Doodle Style

Switch to the Simple Ink Doodle art style for kids' coloring pages. It's also an excellent option for AI line art generation. Since we will focus on simplicity and bold shapes for this age group, the Simple Ink Doodle style is ideal for creating clean, streamlined designs that are perfect for children. When creating prompts for children's coloring pages, concentrate on the following elements:

• Large, clearly defined spaces for coloring
• Minimal details
• Clear subjects
• Positive, friendly images

Kids' coloring book prompt 1

Begin by locking in the page specs—a single-page, square format at 300 DPI—to guarantee a crisp, print-ready canvas. Then define the star of the scene (a dynamic, galloping unicorn with a long, flowing mane and tail) and surround it with playful motifs (swirling ribbons, blooming flowers, fluttering butterflies, twinkling stars, bubbling hearts, and bows) to fill every corner with energy.

Next, specify a hand-drawn pen-and-ink vector style—thick, clean black outlines with varied line weights and no shading—to keep the artwork pure line work for easy coloring. Finally, I excluded any text or branding to ensure the illustration stands independently. The prompt reads: 

• "Create a single-page, square-format kids’ coloring-book illustration at 300 DPI. Center a dynamic galloping cartoon unicorn with a long flowing mane and tail. Surround it with long swirling ribbons, blooming flowers, fluttering butterflies, twinkling stars, bubbling hearts, and bows to fill the scene with playful energy. Render entirely in hand-drawn pen-and-ink line art in a crisp vector style: thick, clean black outlines on a white background with varied line weights to convey motion and depth—no shading or grayscale. Exclude any text, brand names, or logos. Optimize as pure line work for easy coloring."

Kids' coloring book prompt 2

For the second coloring page, let's do an astronaut theme. First, set down the print requirements—a single-page, square layout at 300 DPI—for color-ready art. Next, define the main character of the scene: a young astronaut 'surfing' on a rocket board through a vibrant galaxy.

To spark imagination, the background should be filled with oversized, easy-to-color planets, smiling faces, playful comets, and friendly aliens waving from asteroids. To keep it kid-friendly, every element should be rendered in bold, hand-drawn line art, with thick, crisp outlines of varied weights and no shading. Fun, chunky details such as planet faces, gear buttons, and comet flares will add charm, along with broad, open spaces for coloring. Finally, make sure to exclude any text or branding from the design. The prompt should read something like this:

• "Create a single-page, square-format kids’ coloring-book illustration at 300 DPI. Feature a dynamic scene of a young astronaut surfing on a rocketboard through a vibrant galaxy: the astronaut boy in a simple, cartoon-style spacesuit, arms outstretched, streaming in zero gravity. Surround them with large, easily colorable planets, smiling stars, playful comets with trailing tails, and two or three friendly alien characters waving from nearby asteroids. Render all elements as bold, hand-drawn line art: thick, crisp black outlines on a white background, with varied line weights for emphasis but no shading or grayscale. Include fun, chunky details—planet faces, gear buttons, and comet flares—while leaving broad open areas for coloring. Exclude any text, brand names, or logos."

Kids' coloring book prompt 3

For this sample, let's work on animal characters. We'll specify a square format at 300 DPI and then build out the scene: two cute animal characters (a cat baker in a chef's hat and apron behind a pastry-filled window, and a dog server in a bow tie holding a steaming cup) set before a simple café façade.

Display pastries, a blank chalkboard menu, and some potted flowers. Ensure you include thick, clean outlines on a transparent background with no shading or grayscale, allowing for pure line art that facilitates easy coloring. For the background, add simple trees and bushes, and exclude any text.

• "Create a square-format, 300 DPI, hand-drawn line-art illustration for a children’s coloring book featuring two cute animal characters in front of a cozy café storefront: - Characters: - A friendly cat baker wearing a chef’s hat and apron, standing behind store window panel with cupcakes, loaves of bread, and pastries. - A cheerful cartoon dog waiter in a bow tie and server apron, holding a tray with a steaming cup and saucer. - Setting: - A quaint café façade with a striped awning, large display window showing baked goods, a small chalkboard menu (blank for coloring), and potted flowers on either side of the door. Coffee Table upfront . - Style: - Thick, clean black outlines on a transparent background. - No shading or grayscale—pure line art for easy coloring. - Extras: - Leave the café sign and chalkboard blank. Tree and bush background within the page borders. - Exclude any text, logos, or branding."

Kids' coloring book prompt 4

For sample four, a Japanese culture theme was chosen. I began crafting this prompt by setting the essentials—a single-page layout at 300 DPI. Next, I centered the scene around a kawaii kitten in a simple floral kimono behind a sushi counter.

I added clear, chunky kitchen props (rice bowls, bamboo steamer, soy dish, sushi board, and fish accents) and a charming Japanese wall pattern in the background to create context. I specified uniform 1 pt black line art with smooth, rounded strokes and no shading to keep everything bold and kid-friendly, and left generous white space. Finally, I framed it all with a thick inner border set 3 mm from the edge to tie the composition together. This is the AI coloring book prompt:

• "Design a single-page, square-format coloring book illustration at 300 DPI. Center a kawaii cartoon kitten in a simple floral kimono with tied obi, standing behind a sushi counter. One paw holds a bamboo rolling mat while the other shapes rice into nigiri. Surround the foreground scene with chunky, easy-to-color kitchen props—bowls of rice, a bamboo steamer, a soy-sauce dish, a wooden sushi board, and plate of fish. In the background, a kawaii cherry blossom Japanese-style wall design. Render all elements in uniform 1 pt black line art with clean, rounded strokes and no shading. Leave ample white space and simple pattern. Finish with a thick line border set 3 mm inside the page edge."

Kids' coloring book prompt 5

Here is a fun approach with skeletons. I sketched out the playful concept: three bubbly skeleton characters enjoying a sunny beach day, each engaged in a fun activity (digging with a shovel, tossing a beach ball, splashing in gentle waves) to set a lighthearted, dynamic mood.

Next, I added simple seaside accents—scattered shells, a sand bucket, starfish on the shore, a palm tree bending in the breeze, and a smiling sun overhead—to frame the scene. Finally, I finalized the style guidelines: bold, uniform 1-point black outlines with no shading and clear, open shapes, ensuring the line art remains clean, accessible, and perfectly suited for children.

• "Create a single-page, square-format adult coloring book illustration at 300 DPI. A cheerful kids' coloring-book page in clean black-and-white line art features three bubbly cartoon skeletons enjoying a sunny beach day. One skeleton enthusiastically digs in the sand with a small shovel; another is joyfully playing with a beach ball and splashes in gentle waves: and the third building a sandcastle. Surround them with simple, whimsical seaside details—scattered shells, a sand bucket, starfish on the sand. Add a palm tree bending in the breeze, and a smiling sun overhead. Use bold, uniform 1 pt strokes with no shading, keeping shapes clear and open. Lay out all elements on a single page with plenty of white space for coloring."

Excellent job, you're done!

Congratulations, you now know how to create effective AI prompts for coloring pages for adults and kids, using GraphicsGen as both an AI coloring book generator and an AI line art generator. With this skillset, you’ll be whipping up unique, eye-catching coloring books in a heartbeat.

Just keep your prompts clear and creative, curate your designs carefully, and tune into what your audience wants. Those simple steps are the secret sauce for AI coloring book success. And if you’d like to create your own printable coloring book illustrations, look at How to Create a Coloring Book Style Illustration in Adobe Illustrator.

Resources from Envato

Now that you've learned how to create a coloring book using AI, your Envato subscription provides access to a vast library of high-quality, easily customizable templates, graphics, and more. You can use these resources to generate your printable coloring book. Here are a few graphics you can explore:

Coloring pages digital sketches (PNG)

If you're short on time to create AI coloring prompts, visit Envato to download one of their many coloring page collections, such as this one. It includes everything from cozy interiors to blooming flowers.

Mandala set (PNG, EPS, JPG, AI)

Mandalas are an excellent option for adult coloring books. Their calming, repetitive patterns help in relaxation and creating mindfulness, making each coloring session a soothing retreat. You can also create your own by following this tutorial: How to Create a Festive Mandala Style Coloring Book Page in Illustrator.

Halloween doodle set (PNG, EPS, AI)

This Halloween doodle coloring pages collection features charming, hand-drawn cartoon characters as fully editable clip art—perfect for Adobe Illustrator or CorelDRAW. With a few clicks, you can easily adjust and recolor each graphic to suit your spooky-season coloring book designs.

Hand-drawn floral line art(AI, EPS, PNG, JPG)

If you prefer not to use the AI coloring book generator, download this line art collection for a quick turnaround. The set is suitable for coloring book pages for adults.

Hand-drawn floral illustration (AI, EPS, PNG, PSD)

This botanical collection of floral line illustrations is an interesting option for crafting stunning adult coloring books. Thanks to its fully editable AI/EPS files, you can easily edit elements to bring your unique design vision to life.

Want to learn more?

Are you looking to unlock even more creative magic with AI? Check out our other articles for handy tips and clever tricks to get you started with AI coloring book generators and AI line art generators. You’ll be amazed at what you can create for your printable coloring book.

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In June 2025 Apple revealed its new visual language, along with the beta launch of iOS 26. Liquid Glass was the name given to their “new and expressive material”, bending light, and distorting UIs. It received a mixed response, and just weeks after its launch we’ve seen Apple dial down their glassy effects to some degree.

We’ve covered CSS glass effects on Tuts+ before, but today we’re going to do things a little differently. Let’s dive into SVG filters!

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What is an SVG filter?

CSS provides us with the filter property that allows us to apply visual effects such as blur, brightness, contrast, saturation, and other effects to HTML elements. 

However, for more advanced, almost cinematic effects, SVG filters are a better choice. Unlike CSS filters, SVG filters are composed of modular building blocks known as primitives. When these primitives are combined, they produce powerful visual effects which would not be possible with CSS alone.

Some of the effects that can be applied using filters include custom blurs, water or ripple effects, realistic drop shadows, lighting effects, etc. 

SVG filters are created using the <filter> element whose syntax looks like this:

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<filter>

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</filter>

Just like any other  SVG element, the <filter> element accepts several attributes that control how it behaves and how much space it covers. These attributes determine factors such as position, size, and blur of the filter.

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<svg width="200" height="200">

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  <filter id="myFilter" x="0" y="0" width="100%" height="100%" filterUnits="objectBoundingBox" primitiveUnits="userSpaceOnUse"/>

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</svg>

• id: used to identify the filter.
• x , y are the positions of the filter relative to the target element.
• width and height: specify the size to be covered by the filter.
• filterUnits is the coordinate system for x, y, width, and height.
• primitiveUnits defines the coordinate system inside the filter primitives

Inside the <filter> element is where you define the primitives. Primitives are also SVG elements and they include <feGaussianBlur>, <feOffset>, <feColorMatrix>, <feDisplacementMap>, etc.

In this tutorial, we’ll only focus on the <feGaussianBlur> and <feDisplacementMap> filters. These two are commonly used together to create effects such as glass distortion, ripples, and frosted backgrounds.

For example, to blur an element, we use the <feGaussianBlur> primitive which looks like this:

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<feGaussianBlur in="SourceGraphic" stdDeviation="5" result="blur" />

The in attribute defines the input source of the filter primitive while the stDeviation determines the strength of the blur. Once we define the SVG filter, we’ll apply it to an HTML element or another SVG by referencing its id using the filter property.

In action

So for example, suppose we have a green SVG circle that looks like this:

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<svg width="200" height="200">

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  <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="80" fill="green" />

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</svg>

If we needed to apply a blur to the SVG circle,  we would create a filter containing a <feGaussianBlur> primitive, and then apply the filter to the circle as shown below.

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<svg width="200" height="200">

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  <filter id="blur">

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    <feGaussianBlur in="SourceGraphic" stdDeviation="20"/>

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  </filter>

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  <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="80" fill="green" filter="url(#blur)"/>

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</svg>

SVG primitives typically have both an input(in) as well as an output(result). The output of one primitive is used as input of another primitive hence creating a chain of primitives for more advanced effects.

In this code snippet, in=sourceGraphic means that the blur will be applied to the original graphic, in this case, the green circle, while the stdDeviation attribute controls the strength of the blur. The higher the value, the more intense and spread out the blur effect becomes.

feImage Filter Element

The <feImage> filter primitive is used to bring an external image or SVG fragment into the filter chain. It does not apply any effects, rather it loads an image from a URL or base64 data. 

The output is then used by other primitives like the <feDisplacementMap> to create custom effects such as distortions, lighting, blending,  etc. 

For example, to load an image URL into the <feImage> filter primitive, we’ll have something like this:

1

<feImage

2

  href="https://example.com/image.png"

3

  x="0" y="0"

4

  width="100%" height="100%"

5

  result="map" />

feDisplacementMap Filter Element

The  <feDisplacementMap> filter primitive is responsible for creating distortion effects in SVG. It does this by distorting the color values using the pixels of a displacement map( loaded using the <feImage > filter) to shift pixels of the original graphic.

1

<feDisplacementMap

2

  id="disp"

3

  in="blur"

4

  in2="map"

5

  scale="0.8"

6

  xChannelSelector="R"

7

  yChannelSelector="G"

8

></feDisplacementMap>

For example, in the code above, the <feDisplacementMap> filter primitive takes 2 inputs where:

• in="blur" is the output of the Gaussian blur
• in2="map" is the displacement map image

The xChannelSelector attribute specifies which color channel from the displacement image is used to displace pixels along the x-axis while the yChannelSelector attribute specifies which color channel from the displacement image is used to displace pixels along the y-axis.

These channels can either be R(Red), G(Green) B(Blue) and A(Alpha). The scale attributes determine the intensity of the distortion effect.

Now that we know how SVG filters work and how to create them, we can create a liquid glass distortion effect and apply it to an HTML element.

Create a Liquid Glass button with SVG filters

We’ll start with the HTML markup, a simple button and a span element.

1

<button class="glass-button">

2

    <span>CRYSTAL</span>

3

</button>

Styling with CSS

To create a realistic glass button, we need three key ingredients:

• A background blur to blur whatever is behind the button and create a translucent frosted look. We will achieve this using the feGaussian filter.
• A background image will enhance the realism of the blur. 
• Transparency; we need to make the button partially see-through. Without the semi-transparent background, the button would be solid, hence hiding the blur effect. 

Let’s add a background image to the page.

1

body {

2

  height: 150vh;

3

  background: url("https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1683657535824-5b570c7a1749?q=80&w=764&auto=format&fit=crop&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D");

4

  background-size: cover;

5

}

We’ll also add a simple keyframe animation that will change the background’s position over time, hence creating a smooth floating animation.

1

body {

2

  height: 150vh;

3

  background: url("https://images.unsplash.com/photo-1683657535824-5b570c7a1749?q=80&w=764&auto=format&fit=crop&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fA%3D%3D");

4

  background-size: cover;

5

  animation: floatBG 15s ease-in-out infinite;

6

}

7

8

@keyframes floatBG {

9

  0%,

10

  100% {

11

    background-position: center center;

12

  }

13

  25% {

14

    background-position: 30% 70%;

15

  }

16

  50% {

17

    background-position: 70% 30%;

18

  }

19

  75% {

20

    background-position: 40% 60%;

21

  }

22

}

Add these styles to the button. 

1

.glass-button {

2

position: fixed;

3

top: 50%;

4

left: 50%;

5

transform: translate(-50%, -50%);

6

cursor: pointer;

7

outline: none;

8

width: 350px;

9

height: 180px;

10

border-radius: 999px;

11

12

}

13

14

.glass-button span {

15

font-family: "Orbitron", sans-serif;

16

color: white;

17

font-size: 2.5rem;

18

font-weight: 600;

19

text-transform: uppercase;

20

letter-spacing: 0.1em;

21

22

}

We have positioned the button at the center using fixed:position so it stays in place when the background animates. This will ensure the glass effect is visually enhanced.

By default, the button has a solid background, we’ll replace it with a transparent gradient and a semi-transparent border to also enhance the glass illusion.

1

.glass-button {

2

  position: fixed;

3

  top: 50%;

4

  left: 50%;

5

  transform: translate(-50%, -50%);

6

  cursor: pointer;

7

  outline: none;

8

  width: 350px;

9

  height: 180px;

10

  border-radius: 999px;

11

  border: 1px solid rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3);

12

  background: linear-gradient(

13

    135deg,

14

    rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2) 0%,

15

    rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08) 50%,

16

    rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.03) 100%

17

  );

18

}

So far, the button looks like this:

We need to make it more glassy by adding SVG filters. 

Glass distortion 

To create the glass distortion effect with SVGs, we’ll use a combination of blur, displacement, and a texture map. Let’s start by defining the <filter> element where our primitives will be defined. 

1

<svg style="position: absolute; width: 0; height: 0;">

2

  <filter id="glassFilter">

3

  </filter>

4

</svg>

Next, we’ll add a Gaussian blur to the source graphic using the <feGaussianBlur> primitive. We’ll also ensure it’s available for use in the next chaining process by storing its output in the result attribute. 

1

<feGaussianBlur in="SourceGraphic" stdDeviation="0.02" result="blur" />

A good displacement map image should have high contrast and noticeable color variations. This is important because the distortion depends on the intensity of the color channels.

To ensure the displacement image covers the whole filter area, we have defined x,y, width, and height. Depending on the size of the element the filter will be applied to, you will need to adjust these values to achieve the desired result.

1

<feImage x="-50%" y="-50%" width="200%" height="200%" result="map"/>

As you can see in the <feImage> filter code above, we haven’t set the href directly because the base64-encoded version of the image would be very long. Instead, we’ll use JavaScript to set the href dynamically.

Add this code in your JavaScript file 

1

const feImage = document.querySelector('feImage');

2

fetch('https://essykings.github.io/JavaScript/map.png')

3

    .then((response) => {

4

        return response.blob();

5

    })

6

    .then((blob) => {

7

        const objURL = URL.createObjectURL(blob);

8

9

        feImage.setAttribute('href', objURL);

10

    });

Here, we first select the <feImage> element using querySelector, then we fetch the image from a hosted URL, convert the response into a Blob (a binary representation of the image), and then assign the objectURL as the href value of the <feImage>.

We now have the blurred content and the image map, so let’s combine them using the <feDisplacmentMap> filter to get the final glass distortion effect which will be added to the button.

1

<feDisplacementMap id="disp" in="blur" in2="map" scale="0.8" xChannelSelector="R" yChannelSelector="G"/>

Now, the final SVG filter looks like this:

1

<svg style="position: absolute; width: 0; height: 0">

2

  <filter id="glass" x="-50%" y="-50%" width="200%" height="200%" primitiveUnits="objectBoundingBox">

3

    <feImage x="-50%" y="-50%" width="200%" height="200%" result="map"/>

4

    <feGaussianBlur in="SourceGraphic" stdDeviation="0.02" result="blur"/>

5

    <feDisplacementMap id="disp" in="blur" in2="map" scale="0.8" xChannelSelector="R" yChannelSelector="G"/>

6

  </filter>

7

</svg>

Apply the SVG glass distortion effect on the button using the backdrop-filter property.

1

backdrop-filter: url(#glass);

Finally, to enhance the interactivity of the glass button, let’s add a zoom effect on hover. 

1

.glass-button:hover {

2

  transform: translate(-50%, -50%) scale(1.05);

3

}

Final result

Here is the final result of the glass button in action:

Conclusion

We have seen how powerful SVG filters can be, with just a few SVG filter primitives, we have created a  realistic glass distortion effect, similar to Apple’s Liquid Glass effect. Now you can use SVG filters to create visual styles directly in your browser. 

Our SVG viewer will have the following features:

• An editor that allows us to write, paste, and edit SVG code
• A validation mechanism that checks if the SVG Code is valid
• A preview area where we’ll see the SVG in real-time
• An export feature that will allow us to export the SVG

So, by the end of this tutorial, we’ll have something like this:

The SVG editor will have a text area to add, edit, or paste the SVG code.

1

<div class="editor">

2

   <div class="editor-header">SVG Code Editor</div>

3

   <textarea

4

      id="svgInput"

5

      placeholder="Paste your SVG code here and watch the magic happen..."

6

      ></textarea>

7

</div>

The preview area will have a preview container where the current SVG code will be injected for preview.

1

<div class="preview">

2

   <div class="preview-header">SVG Preview</div>

3

   <div class="preview-content">

4

      <div id="previewContainer" class="preview-container"></div>

5

   </div>

6

</div>

HTML Markup

Okay, let’s start with the building blocks. The HTML markup will look like this:

1

<div class="main">

2

  <header>

3

    <h1>SVG Preview Tool</h1>

4

    <p>Edit, preview, and export clean, scalable vector art</p>

5

  </header>

6

  <div class="container">

7

    <div class="editor">

8

      <div class="editor-header">SVG Code Editor</div>

9

10

      <textarea

11

        id="svgInput"

12

        placeholder="Paste your SVG code here and watch the magic happen..."

13

      ></textarea>

14

15

    </div>

16

    <div class="preview">

17

      <div class="preview-header">SVG Preview</div>

18

      <div class="preview-content">

19

        <div id="previewContainer" class="preview-container"></div>

20

      </div>

21

    </div>

22

  </div>

23

24

  <button id="exportBtn">Export SVG</button>

25

</div>

Styling with CSS

As you saw from the final demo, we want the editor and the preview to appear side by side on large screens and stack vertically on small devices.  We'll achieve this layout using Flexbox and media queries.  

Let's begin by applying some basic styles to the <body> and <header> elements as shown below.

1

@import url("https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=DM+Mono:ital,wght@0,300;0,400;0,500;1,300;1,400;1,500&display=swap");

2

3

* {

4

  margin: 0;

5

  padding: 0;

6

  box-sizing: border-box;

7

}

8

9

body {

10

  display: flex;

11

  min-height: 100vh;

12

  justify-content: center;

13

  padding: 20px;

14

  font-family: "DM Mono", monospace;

15

}

16

17

header {

18

  max-width: 420px;

19

  text-align: center;

20

  margin-bottom: 40px;

21

}

22

23

h1 {

24

  font-size: 30px;

25

  font-weight: 700;

26

  margin-bottom: 8px;

27

}

28

29

header p {

30

  font-size: 18px;

31

}

We'll apply the following styles to ensure all elements are stacked vertically. 

1

.main {

2

  display: flex;

3

  flex-direction: column;

4

  align-items: center;

5

  gap: 24px;

6

  width: 100%;

7

  max-width: 1000px;

8

  height: 90vh;

9

  min-height: 700px;

10

  margin-top: 50px;

11

}

12

.container {

13

  display: flex;

14

  height: calc(100% - 84px);

15

  gap: 20px;

16

  width: 100%;

17

}

We also want the text editor and the preview container to fill the available height of their parent containers.

1

.editor {

2

  border: 1px solid #7287f2;

3

}

4

5

.editor,

6

.preview {

7

  width: 50%;

8

  display: flex;

9

  flex-direction: column;

10

  border-radius: 16px;

11

  overflow: hidden;

12

  background: linear-gradient(135deg, #667eea 0%, #764ba2 100%);

13

}

14

15

.editor-header,

16

.preview-header {

17

  padding: 12px 20px;

18

  font-weight: 600;

19

  font-size: 14px;

20

  text-align: center;

21

  width: 100%;

22

  color: white;

23

24

}

25

26

textarea {

27

  /* width: 100%; */

28

  height: 100%;

29

  border: none;

30

  padding: 20px;

31

  font-size: 13px;

32

  resize: none;

33

  background: #2e3138;

34

  color: white;

35

  overflow-y: auto;

36

}

37

38

textarea:focus {

39

  outline: none;

40

}

41

42

.preview-container {

43

  width: 100%;

44

  height: 100%;

45

  border-radius: 16px;

46

  background-color: #f9fafb;

47

  overflow-y: auto;

48

}

49

50

.preview-content {

51

  flex: 1;

52

  padding: 16px;

53

  overflow: hidden;

54

}

55

56

.svg-container {

57

  display: flex;

58

  justify-content: center;

59

  overflow: hidden;

60

}

Finally, let's style the export button, add styles for displaying error messages, and apply media queries for responsiveness. 

1

.error-message {

2

  color: #dc2626;

3

  background: #fef2f2;

4

  border: 1px solid #fca5a5;

5

  padding: 16px;

6

  margin: 20px;

7

  border-radius: 6px;

8

  font-size: 13px;

9

}

10

11

button {

12

  margin-top: 40px;

13

  background: linear-gradient(135deg, #667eea 0%, #764ba2 100%);

14

  color: white;

15

  padding: 12px 30px;

16

  border: none;

17

  border-radius: 8px;

18

  cursor: pointer;

19

  width: 150px;

20

}

21

22

@media (max-width: 768px) {

23

  body {

24

    padding: 20px;

25

  }

26

27

  .main {

28

    width: 100%;

29

    height: 100vh;

30

  }

31

32

  .container {

33

    flex-direction: column;

34

    height: 100%;

35

  }

36

37

  .editor,

38

  .preview {

39

    width: 100%;

40

    height: 50%;

41

  }

42

}

Now the SVG  tool interface looks like this:

JavaScript functionality

In this section, we'll perform some SVG code validation to ensure that any SVG code added to the editor is parsed before being displayed.

We'll also add a sample SVG code in the editor and display it in the preview area by default.

Let's start by getting the elements from the DOM and assigning them to variables for easy access.

1

const svgInput = document.getElementById("svgInput");

2

const previewContainer = document.getElementById("previewContainer");

3

const exportBtn = document.getElementById("exportBtn");

SVG Code Validation

The next step is to ensure that the SVG code is valid before adding it for preview. Create a function called loadSVG() that takes an SVG string as an argument. 

Inside this function, we will first check if the SVG string is empty. If its empty, we'll display an error message.

1

function loadSVG(svgCode) {

2

previewContainer.innerHTML = "";

3

if (!svgCode.trim()) {

4

  showErrorMessage("Enter SVG code to see preview");

5

  return;

6

}}

The second form of validation will be done using the DOMParser to ensure the SVG Code is well formatted XML code.

To parse the XML, first create an instance of the DOMParser API. Then, parse the SVG string using the ParseFromString() method and set "image/svg+xml" as the MIME type.

1

const parser = new DOMParser();

2

const doc = parser.parseFromString(svgCode, "image/svg+xml");

Check for errors by querying the <parserror> element. If there are no errors, we will extract the <svg> element and inject it into the preview.

1

function loadSVG(svgCode) {

2

    previewContainer.innerHTML = "";

3

    if (!svgCode.trim()) {

4

        showErrorMessage("Enter SVG code to see preview");

5

        return;

6

    }

7

8

    try {

9

        const parser = new DOMParser();

10

        const doc = parser.parseFromString(svgCode, "image/svg+xml");

11

        const parserError = doc.querySelector("parsererror");

12

        if (parserError)

13

            throw new Error("XML parsing error: " + parserError.textContent);

14

        const svgElement = doc.querySelector("svg");

15

        if (!svgElement) throw new Error("No valid SVG element found");

16

17

        const container = document.createElement("div");

18

        container.className = "svg-container";

19

        container.innerHTML = svgCode;

20

        previewContainer.appendChild(container);

21

    } catch (error) {

22

23

        showErrorMessage("Invalid SVG code: " + error.message);

24

    }

25

}

Add event listeners

We now have a function that validates and displays the SVG code, so the next step is to ensure it runs before the SVG code in the input changes.

Add two event listeners to the textarea element as shown below:

1

svgInput.addEventListener("input", function () {

2

    loadSVG(this.value);

3

  });

4

  svgInput.addEventListener("paste", function () {

5

    loadSVG(this.value);

6

  });

The input event will be triggered whenever you type, delete, or change the contents of the  text area, while the paste event will be triggered when you paste the content to the text area.

Load sample SVG and export SVG

The final step is to ensure that we have a default SVG when the tool opens. This is great to ensure the user sees how the tool works. 

Create a function called loadDefaultSVG() which looks like this:

1

function loadDefaultSVG() {

2

  const sampleSvg = `<svg xmlns="https://www.w3.org/2000/svg" width="160" height="190" viewBox="0 0 60 60"><defs><style>.cls-1{fill:#87e64b;}</style></defs><circle class="cls-1" cx="25.56" cy="61.15" r="2.86"/><path class="cls-1" d="M42,41.65l-16.13,1.73c-.3.03-.45-.34-.21-.53l15.78-12.29c1.02-.84,1.68-2.14,1.4-3.54-.28-2.14-2.05-3.54-4.29-3.26l-17.15,2.51c-.3.04-.46-.34-.22-.53l17-12.98c3.35-2.61,3.63-7.73.56-10.71-2.79-2.79-7.27-2.7-10.06.09L1.29,30.01c-1.02,1.12-1.49,2.61-1.21,4.19.47,2.52,2.98,4.19,5.5,3.73l14.77-3.01c.32-.07.49.36.22.54l-16.38,10.49c-2.05,1.3-2.98,3.63-2.33,5.96.65,3.07,3.73,4.84,6.71,4.1l24.49-6.03c.28-.07.48.25.3.47l-3.82,4.72c-1.02,1.3.65,3.07,2.05,2.05l12.58-10.34c2.24-1.86.75-5.5-2.14-5.22h-.03Z"/></svg>`;

3

4

  svgInput.value = sampleSvg;

5

  loadSVG(sampleSvg);

6

}

7

8

window.addEventListener("load", loadDefaultSVG);

In the code above, we set a default SVG string as the value of the editor (in the textarea), then we call the loadSVG() function which in turn renders the SVG in the preview area.

Export SVG

To export the SVG, we'll package it as an SVG file and trigger a download when the export button is clicked. 

1

function exportSVG() {

2

    const blob = new Blob([svgInput.value], {

3

        type: "image/svg+xml"

4

    });

5

    const url = URL.createObjectURL(blob);

6

    const a = document.createElement("a");

7

    a.href = url;

8

    a.download = "svg-viewer.svg";

9

    document.body.appendChild(a);

10

    a.click();

11

    document.body.removeChild(a);

12

    URL.revokeObjectURL(url);

13

}

14

exportBtn.addEventListener("click", exportSVG);

Final demo

And we’re done! Here’s a reminder of the final codepen demo:

We built a fully functional SVG viewer using HTML, CSS, and JavaScript. This simple, yet powerful tool will allow you to preview and export your SVG graphics for use in your projects. 

By “color contrast” we’re referring to the difference in brightness between foreground and background colors. In simpler terms, it defines how easy it is for the human eye to recognize text or images on a coloured background.

The Web Content Accessibility Guidelines (WCAG) provide specific recommendations regarding color contrast for text to make web content accessible and visible to people with impaired vision.

It recommends a minimum contrast ratio of 4.5:1 for normal text. For larger text, the minimum recommended contrast ratio is 3:1. According to the WCAG,  larger text is defined as 24px or larger for normal-weight fonts and 18.66px or larger for bold text. 

For example, if you have a dark background with dark-colored text, the text will not be easily readable, as seen below.

How is contrast ratio calculated?

The contrast ratio between two colors is calculated using the following formula.

1

contrast ratio = (L1 + 0.05) /( L2+0.05)

L1 is the relative luminance of the lighter color, and L2 is the relative luminance of the darker color. While higher contrast is generally recommended to meet accessibility standards, moderate contrast is the best as it reduces eye strain. 

Luminance, on the other hand, is the perceived brightness of a color, and it's calculated based on RGB values of that color as shown below:

1

R0 = R/255

2

G0 = G/255

3

B0 = B/255

Once we obtain these values, we linearise each component as follows:

1

let r = R0 <= 0.03928 ? R0 / 12.92 : Math.pow((R0 + 0.055) / 1.055, 2.4);

2

let g = G0 <= 0.03928 ? G0 / 12.92 : Math.pow((G0 + 0.055) / 1.055, 2.4);

3

let b = B0 <= 0.03928 ? B0 / 12.92 : Math.pow((B0 + 0.055) / 1.055, 2.4);

Finally, we compute the relative luminance like so:

1

Luminance = 0.2126 * R0+0.07152* G0+0.0722*B0

Now that we know how to calculate the contrast ratio, let’s build our own color contrast tool!

Here’s what we’re working towards

HTML Structure

The HTML structure will have the following elements:

• Color pickers for selecting the foreground and background colors
• A display area to indicate whether the selected color combination meets the WCAG guidelines.
• A preview area that displays sample text to visually demonstrate readability.  
• A paragraph displaying the contrast ratio of the selected colors. 

The code for the HTML markup will look like this:

1

<div class="container">

2

  <h1>Color Contrast Checker</h1>

3

  <div class="color-pickers">

4

    <div class="color-picker">

5

      <label for="text-color">Text Color:</label>

6

      <input type="color" id="text-color" value="#000000" />

7

      <input type="text" id="text-color-hex" value="#000000" />

8

      <p id="text-color-error" class="error-message"></p>

9

    </div>

10

11

    <div class="color-picker">

12

      <label for="bg-color">Background Color:</label>

13

      <input type="color" id="bg-color" value="#FFFFFF" />

14

      <input type="text" id="bg-color-hex" value="#FFFFFF" />

15

      <p id="bg-color-error" class="error-message"></p>

16

    </div>

17

  </div>

18

19

  <div class="output">

20

    <div class="results">

21

      <div class="results-item">

22

        <h3>WCAG AA</h3>

23

        <p>Normal Text: <span id="normal_text_aa">Pass</span></p>

24

        <p>Large Text: <span id="large_text_aa">Pass</span></p>

25

      </div>

26

      <div class="results-item">

27

        <h3>WCAG AAA</h3>

28

        <p>Normal Text: <span id="normal_text_aaa">Pass</span></p>

29

        <p>Large Text: <span id="large_text_aaa">Pass</span></p>

30

      </div>

31

    </div>

32

33

    <div id="preview" class="preview">

34

      <p>This is a preview text</p>

35

    </div>

36

37

    <div class="ratio">

38

      <h2>Contrast Ratio: <span id="contrast-ratio"></span></h2>

39

    </div>

40

  </div>

41

42

  <div class="error">

43

    <p id="error-message"></p>

44

  </div>

45

</div>

Styling with CSS

We'll start by adding some basic styles to the body, the enclosing container, and the title.

1

body {

2

  background-color: #fff;

3

  padding: 20px;

4

}

5

.container {

6

  display: flex;

7

  flex-direction: column;

8

  align-items: center;

9

  max-width: 800px;

10

  margin: 0 auto;

11

  gap: 8px;

12

  border-radius: 8px;

13

14

}

15

h1 {

16

  text-align: center;

17

  margin-bottom: 32px;

18

  color: #333;

19

}

Align the color picker elements using Flexbox to ensure child elements (i.e. the input and label) are stacked vertically.

1

.color-pickers {

2

  display: flex;

3

  gap: 20px;

4

  justify-content: center;

5

  margin-bottom: 20px;

6

}

7

.color-picker {

8

  display: flex;

9

  flex-direction: column;

10

  width: 160px;

11

  gap: 4px;

12

}

Style the inputs and labels as shown below:

1

label {

2

  font-weight: 600;

3

  color: rgb(0, 0, 0, 0.7);

4

}

5

input[type="color"] {

6

  width: 100%;

7

  height: 40px;

8

  border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0, 0.05);

9

  border-radius: 4px;

10

  cursor: pointer;

11

}

12

input[type="text"] {

13

  padding: 8px 12px;

14

  border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0, 0.05);

15

  border-radius: 4px;

16

  text-transform: uppercase;

17

}

The display area will indicate whether the selected colors have passed the minimum contrast ratio requirement. If they fail, we will show a fail message, otherwise a pass message will be displayed.

 Here are the styles for the display area.

1

.results {

2

  margin-bottom: 20px;

3

  display: flex;

4

  gap: 20px;

5

  justify-content: center;

6

}

7

.results-item {

8

  text-align: center;

9

  padding: 15px;

10

  min-width: 130px;

11

  border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0, 0.05);

12

  border-radius: 8px;

13

}

14

.results-item h3 {

15

  margin-bottom: 10px;

16

  text-align: center;

17

  color: #333;

18

}

19

.results-item p {

20

  margin-bottom: 5px;

21

}

22

.pass {

23

  color: #38a169;

24

  font-weight: bold;

25

}

26

.fail,

27

.error-message {

28

  color: #e53e3e;

29

  font-weight: bold;

30

}

Add these styles to the preview and contrast ratio elements .

1

.preview {

2

  display: flex;

3

  align-items: center;

4

  justify-content: center;

5

  min-height: 100px;

6

  margin-bottom: 20px;

7

  font-size: 24px;

8

  border: 1px solid rgb(0, 0, 0, 0.05);

9

  width: 100%;

10

  max-width: 600px;

11

}

12

13

.ratio {

14

  text-align: center;

15

  font-style: italic;

16

  color: #333;

17

}

We'll also have  styles for error messages.

1

.error {

2

  color: #e53e3e;

3

}

4

.error-message {

5

  display: none;

6

}

Our simple interface now looks like this:

Color contrast functionality with JavaScript

To get accurate color contrast ratios, we'll use the WCAG contrast checker API, which provides an easy way to check the contrast between any two colors. The color contrast ratio is obtained by providing the foreground and background color values to the API, as shown below.

1

https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/?fcolor=0000FF&bcolor=FFFFFF&api

Here we are using black for the text and white for the background.

The output is a JSON object that looks something like this:

1

{

2

  "ratio": "8.59",

3

  "AA": "pass",

4

  "AALarge": "pass",

5

  "AAA": "pass",

6

  "AAALarge": "pass"

7

}

A ratio of 8.59 means the two colors pass the minimum color contrast guidelines. The pass status means the colors also pass the WCAG requirements for both normal text (AA) and large text (AA). 

The pass on AAA means the contrast ratio passes the most strict compliance level. 

Select all the elements we'll be working with. 

1

const textColorInput = document.getElementById("text-color");

2

const bgColorInput = document.getElementById("bg-color");

3

4

const textColorHex = document.getElementById("text-color-hex");

5

const bgColorHex = document.getElementById("bg-color-hex");

6

const textColorError = document.getElementById("text-color-error");

7

const bgColorError = document.getElementById("bg-color-error");

8

const normal_text_aa = document.getElementById("normal_text_aa");

9

const large_text_aa = document.getElementById("large_text_aa");

10

const normal_text_aaa = document.getElementById("normal_text_aaa");

11

const large_text_aaa = document.getElementById("large_text_aaa");

12

const preview = document.getElementById("preview");

13

const contrastRatio = document.getElementById("contrast-ratio");

Next, we'll  get the currently selected color values from each of the color picker inputs. Create a function called updateColors which looks like this:

1

 function updateColors() {

2

    const textColor = textColorInput.value;

3

    const bgColor = bgColorInput.value;

4

5

    preview.style.color = textColor;

6

    preview.style.backgroundColor = bgColor;

7

8

  }

This function gets the current values and applies them to the preview. The selected background color is used as the preview's background while the selected foreground color is applied to the text.

Invoke the updateColors function to ensure the preview visually reflects how the text appears on the chosen background. 

1

updateColors();

Color validation

Before calculating the contrast ratio of the selected colors, we'll first need to validate and sync the color values. This will ensure that when a color is selected using the color picker, the corresponding HEX input value is updated and vice versa. 

To do that, we'll create two functions, one for validating the foreground and another for validating the background color. 

Create a function called  updateTextColorFromHex .

1

function updateTextColorFromHex() {}

Get the current hex value from the text color input.

1

let hexValue = textColorHex.value;

Check if the value provided starts with the # symbol, if it doesn't, append the symbol at the start of the value. 

1

if (hexValue.charAt(0) !== "#") {

2

      hexValue = "#" + hexValue;

3

}

Perform another validation to ensure the provided HEX value is a valid and existing color. 

1

if (!isValidHex(hexValue)) {

2

      textColorError.textContent = "incorrect color";

3

      return;

4

}

If the hex value of the color provided is invalid, show a message and exit the function. If it's a valid color, clear the error message and sync the input value and the color picker to ensure the text input and the color input both show the same color.

1

textColorError.textContent = "";

2

textColorError.style.display = "block";

3

textColorInput.value = hexValue;

4

textColorHex.value = hexValue;

The helper isValidHex function uses a regular expression to test the input value and it looks like this:

1

 function isValidHex(hex) {

2

    return /^#([A-Fa-f0-9]{6}|[A-Fa-f0-9]{3})$/.test(hex);

3

  }

We'll perform a similar validation for the background color.

1

  function updateBgColorFromHex() {

2

    let hexValue = bgColorHex.value;

3

    if (hexValue.charAt(0) !== "#") {

4

      hexValue = "#" + hexValue;

5

    }

6

7

    if (!isValidHex(hexValue)) {

8

      bgColorError.textContent = "incorrect color";

9

      bgColorError.style.display = "block";

10

11

12

      return;

13

    }

14

    bgColorError.textContent = "";

15

    bgColorInput.value = hexValue;

16

    bgColorHex.value = hexValue;

17

    updateColors()

18

  }

Event listeners 

It is also important to ensure that when the color or text input  change, the corresponding values are updated. We do this by adding input event listeners to the elements. 

1

textColorHex.addEventListener("input", updateTextColorFromHex);

2

bgColorHex.addEventListener("input", updateBgColorFromHex);

3

4

textColorInput.addEventListener("input", function () {

5

  textColorHex.value = textColorInput.value;

6

  updateColors();

7

});

8

9

bgColorInput.addEventListener("input", function () {

10

  bgColorHex.value = bgColorInput.value;

11

  updateColors();

12

});

• 

  An Introduction to JavaScript Event Listeners for Web Designers

  

  Anna Monus

  25 Jul 2023

Contrast checker

The next step is to pass the current foreground and background hex color values to the API.

Create a function called getContrastRatio, which takes two arguments namely, foreground and background.

1

function getContrastRatio(foreground, background) {

2

//logic goes here

3

4

}

Since the API takes the values without the # symbol, we'll remove the # character using the replace() method, as shown below.

1

const fcolor = foreground.replace("#", "");

2

const bcolor = background.replace("#", "");

Here, we are replacing the # symbol with an empty string. For example, if the hex value is #FFFFFF, the output will be FFFFFF.

Append the values to the API string.

1

const apiUrl = `https://webaim.org/resources/contrastchecker/?

2

                fcolor=${fcolor}&bcolor=${bcolor}&api`;

Using fetch(), make a network request to the WebAIMi API and handle any occurring errors gracefully.

1

fetch(apiUrl)

2

  .then((response) => {

3

    if (!response.ok) {

4

      throw new Error("Network response was not ok");

5

    }

6

    return response.json();

7

  })

Update the results

If the API response is successful, we'll get a JSON object containing the contrast ratio and the output of the contrast check, either a fail or a pass in this format.

1

{

2

  "ratio": "8.59",

3

  "AA": "pass",

4

  "AALarge": "pass",

5

  "AAA": "pass",

6

  "AAALarge": "pass"

7

}

where:

• AA - normal text
• AALarge - large text
• AAA - strict compliance for normal text
• AAALarge - strict compliance for large text

We'll then update the results to the page by appending them to the appropriate elements.

1

normal_text_aa.textContent = data.AA === "pass" ? "Pass" : "Fail";

2

normal_text_aa.className = data.AA === "pass" ? "pass" : "fail";

3

4

large_text_aa.textContent = data.AALarge === "pass" ? "Pass" : "Fail";

5

large_text_aa.className = data.AALarge === "pass" ? "pass" : "fail";

6

7

normal_text_aaa.textContent = data.AAA === "pass" ? "Pass" : "Fail";

8

normal_text_aaa.className = data.AAA === "pass" ? "pass" : "fail";

9

10

large_text_aaa.textContent = data.AAALarge === "pass" ? "Pass" : "Fail";

11

large_text_aaa.className = data.AAALarge === "pass" ? "pass" : "fail";

Here, each result is displayed as either a Pass or Fail, accompanied by styling that uses red for fail and green for pass.

The final step is to update the updateColors() function to ensure the selected colors are passed to the getContrastRatio() function.

1

function updateColors() {

2

  const textColor = textColorInput.value;

3

  const bgColor = bgColorInput.value;

4

  preview.style.color = textColor;

5

  preview.style.backgroundColor = bgColor;

6

  getContrastRatio(textColor, bgColor);

7

}

Don’t forget to update the contrast ratio by setting the ratio value as the text content.

1

 contrastRatio.textContent = parseFloat(data.ratio);

The final demo

Here is the final demo!

Conclusion

That's a wrap for this tutorial! We have learned how to build a tool that checks contrast ratios to help adhere to WCAG guidelines. Hopefully, you now feel equipped to create more accessible and user-friendly designs.

• 

  Building an Inclusive Web: Why Accessibility Matters

  

  Sami Keijonen

  03 Dec 2017
• 

  Accessibility Basics: Designing for Visual Impairment

  

  Graeme Fulton

  13 Jun 2022
• 

  How to Use the Contrast Checker in Chrome DevTools

  

  Kezz Bracey

  22 Oct 2018

1. What’s the frequency Kenneth? Define your mood

Before you get cracking on the cinematography, writing dialogue, or thinking about what character arcs you might have, you need to decide what mood you want to get across. It’s the core to any emotionally driven story and that, plus the tone, will influence your overall style and delivery.

The emotional core

Ask yourself:

• What is the main emotion you’d like your audience to experience?

• How will the mood change through the narrative?

• How do you want the audience to feel at key moments in the story?

• How do your various characters respond to the emotions in the narrative?

• What sounds and visuals could reinforce the emotions you’re aiming for?

• How does the setting of your story contribute to the mood?

Two “moody” films with totally different feels to them are Lost in Translation (2003) that has a sort of gentle yearning through the film, and The Witch (2015) that keeps us feeling dread and fear throughout.

Choosing influences

Check out some films that have mood as their primary storytelling tool. We’ve got some suggestions for you at the end of the article, but you could try looking at specific directors too, like Andrei Tarkovsky, Jane Campion, and David Lynch who are really great at using cinematic techniques to get their desired mood across.

Consistency in the tone

Once you’ve chosen your mood(s) then you need to make sure the tone fits with it. This could be something surreal, like Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004) or maybe more of a slow burn like The Green Knight (2021). Whatever it is, make sure you set out your stall early on and keep it consistent throughout.

2. Cinematography and composition

Camera movements and framing

Camera movements and placement can really help with the pacing and emotional weight. Slow, lingering shots make us think, while handheld, jittery camerawork might make us feel tense or uneasy. Some quick examples are:

• The Turin Horse (2011) uses long takes and very minimal camera movement which keeps us immersed in a world of stillness and despair.

• The Blair Witch Project (1999) was the poster child for shaky, handheld footage to make us feel frightened and like we’re right there in the story.

• A Ghost Story (2017) has a lot of static shots and uses symmetrical compositions to feel timeless.

• 20 Types of Camera Movements and Shots to Master
• Grief Hangs Around At Home In 'A Ghost Story'

Lighting and colour

We all know that light and colour influence mood; a dimly lit hallway will make us feel something entirely different to a field bathed in golden sunlight. Here’s a refresher on the basics:

• Low key lighting creates tension, unease, and sometimes mystery.

• Pastel colours and warm tones are great for nostalgia, romance, or melancholy.

• Desaturating your colours gives the audience a feeling of distance and bleakness.

• A brief history of colour in film

Blocking and space

Positioning the characters are within the frame can help to reinforce whatever emotional undercurrents you’ve got going on. In Her (2013) Joaquin Phoenix’s character is quite often in empty spaces, which is supposed to underline his loneliness. If you think about The Lighthouse (2019), there are a lot of tight, claustrophobic compositions that help to intensify the tension between the two main characters. This is also why they chose to shoot in a 1.19:1 aspect ratio, which is even tighter than 4:3 (1.33:1).

3. Engaging characters without action

Internal conflict

In the types of films and TV shows we’re talking about, the main characters usually have some sort of deep, internal dilemma… because they’re not reacting to dramatic events. Back to Lost in Translation, both main characters are having existential crises; Bob is coming to the end of his career, and Charlotte is drifting, without knowing what to do next. Both characters are looking for purpose and connection, and it's this that plays out through the mood, the small interactions between the characters, and even through the moments of quiet.

Impactful dialogue

It’s quality over quantity here because mood-driven stories often benefit from minimal dialogue, but that dialogue needs to really hit home. There are tons of ways for characters to express themselves without using words, such as through their body language or facial expressions.

4. Embrace the stillness

It’s oh so quiet…

Silence and being still can be just as powerful as dialogue. Get comfortable with letting the characters exist in their world and develop through interactions and other techniques we’ve mentioned, rather than needing to drive the plot forwards.

Repetition and rhythm. Repetition and rhythm.

Bringing back the same imagery or music motifs can be a great way to reinforce your emotions. Repetition isn’t always literal either, it could be represented by a character stuck in their ways or thoughts, or by a cycle of behaviour. It could also be literal of course!

There might be a place the character goes to, they might perform the same routines… and so on. The rhythm comes from how these scenes feel and how they dictate the mood. If the narrative progresses slowly and smoothly it might reflect an introspective journey, and if it was disjointed then it might show us the person is feeling fragmented or unstable.

5. Mood through sound design

It’s not just what you show, what we hear can also manipulate how an audience feels. The score for a film or show should complement the mood you’re going for, without overwhelming it. It’s not just music either, think about sound effects, ambient sound and even the lack of any of those.

Non-diegetic sound: Sound that is added for the audience but doesn’t exist in the world of the characters. This is usually much of the film score.

Diegetic sound: Sound that the characters can hear and is part of their world. For example, if someone was listening to the radio or watching TV, that’s diegetic.

• What is the difference between diegetic sound and non diegetic sound?

Must-watch films and TV shows that are mood-driven

1. The Leftovers (2014-2017)

This is a really weighty series that’s very emotionally driven and introspective. 2% of the population disappears without explanation and the show focuses on the people left behind and how they cope.

2. Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind (2004)

Joel has a procedure to wipe out all his memories of his ex-girlfriend Clementine. This is a great example of a fragmented narrative because it jumps about all over the place between reality and a memory that’s breaking down.

3. Melancholia (2001)

As a disaster film you’d think this would be packed with action, but nope, it’s all about two sisters, Justine and Claire unravelling in their own ways as a planet called Melancholia is on course to collide with earth.

4. Top of the Lake (2013-2017)

A crime drama by Jane Campion but very much a slow burn with minimal action. It’s all about mood, atmosphere, and exploring the characters and their relationships. There’s a lovely slow pacing to this and you end up not really focusing on whether the crime is solved.

5. Field of Dreams (1989)

This is a gentle, nostalgic look at faith and redemption. Ray is a farmer who hears a voice telling him to build a baseball diamond in his cornfield (I know, I know). It’s very sappy, mushy nonsense but it’s still kinda great for that.

More free film articles

• 

  What is hyperrealism in film?

  

  Marie Gardiner

  11 Feb 2025
• 

  Director feature: Alfred Hitchcock

  

  Marie Gardiner

  04 Feb 2025
• 

  What do we mean by “non-linear storytelling” in film?

  

  Marie Gardiner

  17 Jan 2025
• 

  Cyborgs and cinema 🤖 How films have evolved in their depiction of cyborgs

  

  Marie Gardiner

  06 Jan 2025

About this page

This page was written by Marie Gardiner. Marie is a writer, author, and photographer. It was edited by Andrew Blackman. Andrew is a freelance writer and editor, and is a copy editor for Envato Tuts+.

Envato AI ImageGen is the first tool available on Envato Labs, the testing ground for AI image generation tools that are being created for Envato subscribers. (Hint: be on the lookout for more tools soon!)

ImageGen is Envato’s new text-to-image generator designed to help Envato subscribers generate unique, high-quality images for their projects using AI. And it’s available now to try for free!

Advantages of Envato AI ImageGen

How does it work?

Using Envato AI ImageGen is really easy. You just need to log in to your Envato account and visit labs.envato.com, or click on “AI Labs” right next to the search bar in Envato and then click on "Generate Images". 

Once you're there, all that’s left is to do is type whatever you wish to create in the search bar and click Generate. For the following example, the prompt was "cat cooking an omelette".

ImageGen will then provide a few styles using the prompt. If you're drawn to a specific style, you can click on an image and then click on Use Style to get new images based on it. 

If you're happy and wish to download it, simply click on the Download button and you'll automatically get a JPG file.

Additionally, if you want to generate a different prompt, you only need to write it in the bar at the bottom of the screen, and you'll get the new styles to choose from. Your previous prompts will be shown below, so you won’t lose any work.

Pro tips for writing the best prompts

Start with simple prompts. Initially, use basic terms like “sunset,” “forest,” or “cat.” This approach helps you understand the range of styles and capabilities of the tool. Once you're familiar with it, you can start experimenting with more complex ideas and describing the subject in more detail, e.g describe the scene, time of day, elements you want included, or expressions.

But maybe you're wondering, "How can I get the specific image I have in mind?" Once you know what you’re looking for, refine your prompt by adding more detail. Describe the scene, mood, objects, and any specific elements you want to include. The more detailed your description, the closer the result will be to your vision. For example, instead of just “cat,” try “a fluffy white cat under a blooming cherry tree at sunrise.”

To improve the quality of the images you generate, practice and experimentation are key. Vary your prompts, observe the outcomes, and adjust accordingly. Detailed and creative descriptions often yield the most striking images.

And that's it!

Now you know how easy it is to create unique AI-generated images with your Envato subscription. Make sure to keep exploring the new tool and playing with different prompts. If you'd like to learn more about AI tools, we've got the best content for you:

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  What Is Stable Diffusion?

  

  MissChatz

  06 Jan 2024
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  What Is Midjourney?

  

  Abbey Esparza

  14 Nov 2023
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  Ashlee Harrell

  18 Sep 2023
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  What Is LimeWire?

  

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  05 Oct 2023
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  Best AI Tips and Tricks for Creatives

  

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  26 Oct 2023
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  How the Content Authenticity Initiative Is Changing the Game

  

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Looking to create your next AI masterpiece? Or do you simply want to discover fantastic assets to use in your next creative project? Finding the best AI tool for graphic design will help you take your ideas to the next level, and many of the latest and best AI image generators are not only easy to use but often free to try out as well.

Here, creative people can find our edit of the best AI image generators of 2025, from Midjourney to ImageGen, as well as tips for using AI design apps like Adobe Firefly or an image generator from photo to integrate imagery into your own designs.

Tap into the top 2025 AI design trends with these AI tools for graphic design, photography, and advanced image editing, and see your projects come to life!

The best AI image generators in 2025