Set opacity of background image without affecting child elements

Question

Is it possible to set the opacity of a background image without affecting the opacity of child elements?

Example

All links in the footer need a custom bull

Answer 1

Another option is CSS Tricks approach of inserting a pseudo element the exact size of the original element right behind it to fake the opaque background effect that we're looking for. Sometimes you will need to set a height for the pseudo element.

div {
  width: 200px;
  height: 200px;
  display: block;
  position: relative;
}

div::after {
  content: "";
  background: url(image.jpg);
  opacity: 0.5;
  top: 0;
  left: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  right: 0;
  position: absolute;
  z-index: -1;   
}