Fading out text on overflow with css if the text is bigger than allowed

Question

I am trying to create a text fade-out effect when the amount of text is bigger than the row can handle. I am achieving this with the mixture of max-height,

Answer 1

I think your are looking for something like this, right?

http://jsfiddle.net/QPFkH/

.text {
    position:relative;
    width:200px;
    max-height:10em;
    overflow:hidden;
}
.shadow {
    position:absolute;
    top:8em;
    width:100%;
    height:2em;
    background: -webkit-linear-gradient(transparent, white);
    background: -o-linear-gradient(transparent, white);
    background: -moz-linear-gradient(transparent, white);
    background: linear-gradient(transparent, white);
}

Answer 2

If you don't need to rely on percentage values, use box-shadow instead of background-image. It makes it possible to let the user interact with the elements behind your fading-thingy, without the need of pointer-events: none (http://caniuse.com/#feat=pointer-events):

box-shadow: 0 0 2em 1em #f00;
height: 0;

But be warned, box-shadow can slow down scrolling:

• http://nerds.airbnb.com/box-shadows-are-expensive-to-paint