clip

The clip CSS property defines what portion of an element is visible. The clip property applies only to absolutely positioned elements, that is elements with position:absolute or position:fixed.

/* Keyword value */
clip: auto;

/* <shape> values */
clip: rect(1px 10em 3rem 2ch);
clip: rect(1px, 10em, 3rem, 2ch);

/* Global values */
clip: inherit;
clip: initial;
clip: unset;

Syntax

Values

<<shape>()>

A rectangular <<shape>()> of the form rect(<top>, <right>, <bottom>, <left>) or rect(<top> <right> <bottom> <left>) (which is a more backwards-compatible syntax). The <top> and <bottom> values specify offsets from the inside top border edge of the box, while <right> and <left> specify offsets from the inside left border edge of the box — that is, the extent of the padding box.

The <top>, <right>, <bottom>, and <left> values may be either a <length> or auto. If any side's value is auto, the element is clipped to that side's inside border edge.

auto

The element does not clip (default value). Note that this is distinct from rect(auto, auto, auto, auto), which does clip to the inside border edges of the element.

Formal syntax

<shape> | auto
where 
<shape> = rect(<top>, <right>, <bottom>, <left>)

Examples

CSS

.dotted-border { 
  border: dotted;  
  position: relative; 
  width: 536px;
  height: 350px;
}

#top-left, #middle, #bottom-right {
  position: absolute;
  top: 0px;
}

#top-left {
  left: 360px;
  clip: rect(0px, 175px, 113px, 0px); 
}


#middle {
  left: 280px;
  clip: rect(119px, 255px, 229px, 80px); 
  /* standard syntax, unsupported by Internet Explorer 4-7 */
}

#bottom-right {
  left: 200px;
  clip: rect(235px 335px 345px 160px);
  /* non-standard syntax, but supported by all major browsers*/
}

HTML

<p class="dotted-border">
  <img src="https://developer.mozilla.org/@api/deki/files/3613/=hut.jpg" title="Original graphic">
  <img id="top-left" src="https://developer.mozilla.org/@api/deki/files/3613/=hut.jpg" title="Graphic clipped to upper left">
  <img id="middle" src="https://developer.mozilla.org/@api/deki/files/3613/=hut.jpg" title="Graphic clipped towards middle">
  <img id="bottom-right" src="https://developer.mozilla.org/@api/deki/files/3613/=hut.jpg" title="Graphic clipped to bottom right">
</p>

Result

Specifications

Browser compatibility

See also

• This property is deprecated. Use clip-path instead.
• Related CSS properties: text-overflow, white-space, overflow-x, overflow-y, overflow, display, position