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perspective-origin

The perspective-origin CSS property determines the position at which the viewer is looking. It is used as the vanishing point by the perspective property.

Syntax

/* One-value syntax */
perspective-origin: x-position;

/* Two-value syntax */
perspective-origin: x-position y-position;

/* When both x-position and y-position are keywords,
   the following is also valid */
perspective-origin: y-position x-position;

/* Global values */
perspective-origin: inherit;
perspective-origin: initial;
perspective-origin: unset;

Values

x-position

Indicates the position of the abscissa of the vanishing point. It can have one of the following values:

<length-percentage> indicating the position as an absolute length value or relative to the width of the element. The value may be negative.
left, a keyword being a shortcut for the 0 length value.
center, a keyword being a shortcut for the 50% percentage value.
right, a keyword being a shortcut for the 100% percentage value.

y-position

Indicates the position of the ordinate of the vanishing point. It can have one of the following values:

<length-percentage> indicating the position as an absolute length value or relative to the height of the element. The value may be negative.
top, a keyword being a shortcut for the 0 length value.
center, a keyword being a shortcut for the 50% percentage value.
bottom, a keyword being a shortcut for the 100% percentage value.

Formal syntax

<position>where 
<position> = [ [ left | center | right ] || [ top | center | bottom ] | [ left | center | right | <length-percentage> ] [ top | center | bottom | <length-percentage> ]? | [ [ left | right ] <length-percentage> ] && [ [ top | bottom ] <length-percentage> ] ]
where 
<length-percentage> = <length> | <percentage>

Examples

Changing the perspective origin

This example shows cubes with popular perspective-origin values.

Result

HTML

<table>
  <tbody>
    <tr>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: top left;</code>
      </th>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: top;</code>
      </th>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: top right;</code>
      </th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube potl">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube potm">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube potr">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: left;</code>
      </th>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: 50% 50%;</code>
      </th>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: right;</code>
      </th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube poml">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube pomm">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube pomr">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: bottom left;</code>
      </th>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: bottom;</code>
      </th>
      <th>
        <code>perspective-origin: bottom right;</code>
      </th>
    </tr>
    <tr>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube pobl">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube pobm">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
      <td>
        <div class="container">
          <div class="cube pobr">
            <div class="face front">1</div>
            <div class="face back">2</div>
            <div class="face right">3</div>
            <div class="face left">4</div>
            <div class="face top">5</div>
            <div class="face bottom">6</div>
          </div>
        </div>
      </td>
    </tr>
  </tbody>
</table>

CSS

/* Shorthand classes for perspective-origin values */
.potl {
  perspective-origin: top left;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: top left;
}

.potm {
  perspective-origin: top;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: top;
}

.potr {
  perspective-origin: top right;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: top right;
}

.poml {
  perspective-origin: left;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: left;
}

.pomm {
  perspective-origin: 50% 50%;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: 50% 50%;
}

.pomr {
  perspective-origin: right;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: right;
}

.pobl {
  perspective-origin: bottom left;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: bottom left;
}

.pobm {
  perspective-origin: bottom;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: bottom;
}

.pobr {
  perspective-origin: bottom right;
  -webkit-perspective-origin: bottom right;
}

/* Define the container div, the cube div, and a generic face */
.container {
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  margin: 24px;
  border: none;
}

.cube {
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  backface-visibility: visible;
  perspective: 300px;
  transform-style: preserve-3d;
  -webkit-backface-visibility: visible;
  -webkit-perspective: 300px;
  -webkit-transform-style: preserve-3d;
}

.face {
  display: block;
  position: absolute;
  width: 100px;
  height: 100px;
  border: none;
  line-height: 100px;
  font-family: sans-serif;
  font-size: 60px;
  color: white;
  text-align: center;
}

/* Define each face based on direction */
.front {
  background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.3);
  transform: translateZ(50px);
  -webkit-transform: translateZ(50px);
}

.back {
  background: rgba(0, 255, 0, 1);
  color: black;
  transform: rotateY(180deg) translateZ(50px);
  -webkit-transform: rotateY(180deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.right {
  background: rgba(196, 0, 0, 0.7);
  transform: rotateY(90deg) translateZ(50px);
  -webkit-transform: rotateY(90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.left {
  background: rgba(0, 0, 196, 0.7);
  transform: rotateY(-90deg) translateZ(50px);
  -webkit-transform: rotateY(-90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

.top {
  background: rgba(196, 196, 0, 0.7);
  transform: rotateX(90deg) translateZ(50px);
  -webkit-transform: rotateX(90deg) translateZ(50px)
}

.bottom {
  background: rgba(196, 0, 196, 0.7);
  transform: rotateX(-90deg) translateZ(50px);
  -webkit-transform: rotateX(-90deg) translateZ(50px);
}

/* Make the table a little nicer */
th, p, td {
  background-color: #EEEEEE;
  padding: 10px;
  font-family: sans-serif;
  text-align: left;
}

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Transforms Level 2 The definition of 'perspective-origin' in that specification.	Editor's Draft	Initial definition.

Initial value	`50% 50%`
Applies to	transformable elements
Inherited	no
Percentages	refer to the size of bounding box
Media	visual
Computed value	for `<length>` the absolute value, otherwise a percentage
Animation type	simple list of length, percentage, or calc
Canonical order	One or two values, with length made absolute and keywords translated to percentages

Browser compatibilityUpdate compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari
Basic support	12 Prefixed 12 Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-	12 12 12 Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-	16 16 10 Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -moz- 49 Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit- 45 Prefixed Disabled Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit- Disabled From version 45: this feature is behind the `layout.css.prefixes.webkit` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	10	15 Prefixed 15 Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Yes Prefixed Yes Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-

	Mobile
	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Edge Mobile	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	iOS Safari	Samsung Internet
Basic support	3 Prefixed 3 Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-	?	Yes Yes Yes Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-	16 16 10 Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -moz- 49 Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit- 45 Prefixed Disabled Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit- Disabled From version 45: this feature is behind the `layout.css.prefixes.webkit` preference (needs to be set to `true`). To change preferences in Firefox, visit about:config.	Yes Prefixed Yes Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-	Yes Prefixed Yes Prefixed Prefixed Requires the vendor prefix: -webkit-	?