Grayscale image with CSS on Safari 5.x

Question

I am trying to show some images on a page where they should be shown in grayscale, except on mouse hover when they smoothly transition into color. I\'ve ma

Answer 1

It's really simple, actually:

• http://www.karlhorky.com/2012/06/cross-browser-image-grayscale-with-css.html
• http://jsfiddle.net/KDtAX/487/

I tried using the javascript fallback, but it really made no sense, and it was really slow on large images. This made a lot more sense. Note that there is a new syntax for grayscale, and I had to manually edit the resulting minified CSS from LESS.

Here's my mixin:

.filter (...) {
    -webkit-filter: @arguments;
    -moz-filter: @arguments;
    -ms-filter: @arguments;
    -o-filter: @arguments;
    filter: @arguments;
}

And my class:

.grayscale-hover, .home-image {
    filter: url("data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns=\'http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\'><filter id=\'grayscale\'><feColorMatrix type=\'matrix\' values=\'0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0 0 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0 0 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0 0 0 0 0 1 0\'/></filter></svg>#grayscale"); /* Firefox 10+, Firefox on Android see http://jsfiddle.net/KDtAX/487/*/
    .filter(grayscale(1) blur(1px));
    filter: gray; /* IE6-9 */
    -webkit-backface-visibility: hidden; /* Fix for transition flickering */
    &:hover {
        .filter(none);
        filter: url("data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns=\'http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\'><filter id=\'grayscale\'><feColorMatrix type=\'matrix\' values=\'1 0 0 0 0, 0 1 0 0 0, 0 0 1 0 0, 0 0 0 1 0\'/></filter></svg>#grayscale");
    }
}

Works and tested in IE 6+, Firefox, Chrome.

Answer 2

This is something like that:

.grayscale {    
   filter: url(css/grayscale.svg#greyscale);    
   -webkit-filter: grayscale(1);    
   -moz-filter: grayscale(100%);    
   -ms-filter: grayscale(100%);    
   -o-filter: grayscale(100%);    
} 

You need to download the svg file either.

Answer 3

This one worked great for me:

---

img { float:left;
filter: url("data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns=\'http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\'><filter id=\'grayscale\' filterRes=\'800\'><feColorMatrix type=\'matrix\' values=\'0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0 0 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0 0 0.3333 0.3333 0.3333 0 0 0 0 0 1 0\'/></filter></svg>#grayscale"); /* Firefox 10+ */
    filter: gray; /* IE6-9 */
    -webkit-filter: grayscale(100%); /* Chrome 19+ & Safari 6+ */
    -webkit-backface-visibility: hidden; /* Fix for transition flickering */
    -webkit-transition: all 1.5s ease;
       -moz-transition: all 1.5s ease;
        -ms-transition: all 1.5s ease;
         -o-transition: all 1.5s ease;
            transition: all 1.5s ease;
            z-index: 40 !important;
             display:block;

 }

img:hover { 
  filter: url("data:image/svg+xml;utf8,<svg xmlns=\'http://www.w3.org/2000/svg\'><filter id=\'grayscale\' filterRes=\'800\'><feColorMatrix type=\'matrix\' values=\'1 0 0 0 0, 0 1 0 0 0, 0 0 1 0 0, 0 0 0 1 0\'/></filter></svg>#grayscale");
    -webkit-filter: grayscale(0%);}

---

The images looks really overexposed in Safari however (But they are in greyscale). And the transition isn't supported by Firefox.

Answer 4

As you can see on caniuse.com , CSS3 filters are supported by very few browsers at the moment.

There are many JavaScript/jQuery fallback if you Google "javascript grayscale plugin". Here are some:

• Grayscale.js
• jQuery GreyScale plugin
• Hoverizr
• Do it with canvas (tutorial)

But i've no experience with them, so i can't suggest you which one is the best.

I tried jQuery Black And White long time ago, and it gave me a lot of issues with relative/absolute positioned images, so maybe avoid it.

---

Including this Modernizr build into your pages, you can target browser not supporting filters via Javascript:

if(!Modernizr.css_filters){
    /* javascript fallback here */
}

or CSS:

.no-css_filters .element {
    /* css fallback here */
}

---

Oh, and don't forget dowebsitesneedtolookexactlythesameineverybrowser?