In June 2025 Apple revealed its new visible language, together with the beta launch of iOS 26. Liquid Glass was the identify given to their “new and expressive materials”, bending mild, and distorting UIs. It obtained a blended response, and simply weeks after its launch we’ve seen Apple dial down their glassy results to a point.

We’ve lined CSS glass results on Tuts+ earlier than, however right now we’re going to do issues a bit in a different way. Let’s dive into SVG filters!

What’s an SVG filter?

CSS supplies us with the filter property that permits us to use visible results reminiscent of blur, brightness, distinction, saturation, and different results to HTML parts. 

Nonetheless, for extra superior, nearly cinematic results, SVG filters are a better option. Not like CSS filters, SVG filters are composed of modular constructing blocks referred to as primitives. When these primitives are mixed, they produce highly effective visible results which might not be doable with CSS alone.

A number of the results that may be utilized utilizing filters embody customized blurs, water or ripple results, lifelike drop shadows, lighting results, and so on. 

SVG filters are created utilizing the aspect whose syntax seems like this:

Identical to every other  SVG aspect, the aspect accepts a number of attributes that management the way it behaves and the way a lot area it covers. These attributes decide components reminiscent of place, dimension, and blur of the filter.

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width="200" peak="200">

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   id="myFilter" x="0" y="0" width="100%" peak="100%" filterUnits="objectBoundingBox" primitiveUnits="userSpaceOnUse"/>

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• id: used to determine the filter.
• x , y are the positions of the filter relative to the goal aspect.
• width and peak: specify the dimensions to be lined by the filter.
• filterUnits is the coordinate system for x, y, width, and peak.
• primitiveUnits defines the coordinate system contained in the filter primitives

Contained in the aspect is the place you outline the primitives. Primitives are additionally SVG parts and so they embody , , , , and so on.

On this tutorial, we’ll solely give attention to the and filters. These two are generally used collectively to create results reminiscent of glass distortion, ripples, and frosted backgrounds.

For instance, to blur a component, we use the primitive which seems like this:

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 in="SourceGraphic" stdDeviation="5" end result="blur" />

The in attribute defines the enter supply of the filter primitive whereas the stDeviation determines the energy of the blur. As soon as we outline the SVG filter, we’ll apply it to an HTML aspect or one other SVG by referencing its id utilizing the filter property.

In motion

So for instance, suppose now we have a inexperienced SVG circle that appears like this:

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width="200" peak="200">

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   cx="100" cy="100" r="80" fill="inexperienced" />

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If we would have liked to use a blur to the SVG circle,  we might create a filter containing a primitive, after which apply the filter to the circle as proven under.

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width="200" peak="200">

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   id="blur">

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     in="SourceGraphic" stdDeviation="20"/>

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   cx="100" cy="100" r="80" fill="inexperienced" filter="url(#blur)"/>

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SVG primitives usually have each an enter(in) in addition to an output(end result). The output of 1 primitive is used as enter of one other primitive therefore creating a series of primitives for extra superior results.

On this code snippet, in=sourceGraphic signifies that the blur will likely be utilized to the unique graphic, on this case, the inexperienced circle, whereas the stdDeviation attribute controls the energy of the blur. The upper the worth, the extra intense and unfold out the blur impact turns into.

feImage Filter Component

The filter primitive is used to deliver an exterior picture or SVG fragment into the filter chain. It doesn’t apply any results, quite it hundreds a picture from a URL or base64 knowledge. 

The output is then utilized by different primitives just like the to create customized results reminiscent of distortions, lighting, mixing,  and so on. 

For instance, to load a picture URL into the filter primitive, we’ll have one thing like this:

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  href="https://instance.com/picture.png"

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  x="0" y="0"

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  width="100%" peak="100%"

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  end result="map" />

feDisplacementMap Filter Component

The   filter primitive is accountable for creating distortion results in SVG. It does this by distorting the colour values utilizing the pixels of a displacement map( loaded utilizing the filter) to shift pixels of the unique graphic.

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  id="disp"

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  in="blur"

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  in2="map"

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  scale="0.8"

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  xChannelSelector="R"

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  yChannelSelector="G"

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>

For instance, within the code above, the filter primitive takes 2 inputs the place:

• in="blur" is the output of the Gaussian blur
• in2="map" is the displacement map picture

The xChannelSelector attribute specifies which shade channel from the displacement picture is used to displace pixels alongside the x-axis whereas the yChannelSelector attribute specifies which shade channel from the displacement picture is used to displace pixels alongside the y-axis.

These channels can both be R(Crimson), G(Inexperienced) B(Blue) and A(Alpha). The size attributes decide the depth of the distortion impact.

Now that we all know how SVG filters work and easy methods to create them, we are able to create a liquid glass distortion impact and apply it to an HTML aspect.

Create a Liquid Glass button with SVG filters

We’ll begin with the HTML markup, a easy button and a span aspect.

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 class="glass-button">

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    CRYSTAL

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Styling with CSS

To create a practical glass button, we’d like three key substances:

• A background blur to blur no matter is behind the button and create a translucent frosted look. We are going to obtain this utilizing the feGaussian filter.
• A background picture will improve the realism of the blur. 
• Transparency; we have to make the button partially see-through. With out the semi-transparent background, the button can be stable, therefore hiding the blur impact. 

Let’s add a background picture to the web page.

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physique {

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  peak: 150vh;

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  background: url("https://photos.unsplash.com/photo-1683657535824-5b570c7a1749?q=80&w=764&auto=format&match=crop&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fApercent3Dpercent3D");

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  background-size: cowl;

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}

We’ll additionally add a easy keyframe animation that may change the background’s place over time, therefore making a easy floating animation.

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physique {

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  peak: 150vh;

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  background: url("https://photos.unsplash.com/photo-1683657535824-5b570c7a1749?q=80&w=764&auto=format&match=crop&ixlib=rb-4.1.0&ixid=M3wxMjA3fDB8MHxwaG90by1wYWdlfHx8fGVufDB8fHx8fApercent3Dpercent3D");

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  background-size: cowl;

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  animation: floatBG 15s ease-in-out infinite;

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}

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@keyframes floatBG {

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  0%,

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  100% {

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    background-position: middle middle;

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  }

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  25% {

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    background-position: 30% 70%;

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  }

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  50% {

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    background-position: 70% 30%;

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  }

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  75% {

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    background-position: 40% 60%;

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  }

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}

Add these types to the button. 

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.glass-button {

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place: mounted;

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high: 50%;

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left: 50%;

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rework: translate(-50%, -50%);

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cursor: pointer;

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define: none;

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width: 350px;

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peak: 180px;

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border-radius: 999px;

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}

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.glass-button span {

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font-family: "Orbitron", sans-serif;

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shade: white;

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font-size: 2.5rem;

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font-weight: 600;

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text-transform: uppercase;

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letter-spacing: 0.1em;

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}

We’ve got positioned the button on the middle utilizing mounted:place so it stays in place when the background animates. This may make sure the glass impact is visually enhanced.

By default, the button has a stable background, we’ll exchange it with a clear gradient and a semi-transparent border to additionally improve the glass phantasm.

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.glass-button {

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  place: mounted;

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  high: 50%;

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  left: 50%;

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  rework: translate(-50%, -50%);

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  cursor: pointer;

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  define: none;

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  width: 350px;

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  peak: 180px;

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  border-radius: 999px;

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  border: 1px stable rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.3);

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  background: linear-gradient(

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    135deg,

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    rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.2) 0%,

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    rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08) 50%,

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    rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.03) 100%

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  );

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}

To date, the button seems like this:

We have to make it extra glassy by including SVG filters. 

Glass distortion 

To create the glass distortion impact with SVGs, we’ll use a mix of blur, displacement, and a texture map. Let’s begin by defining the aspect the place our primitives will likely be outlined. 

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type="place: absolute; width: 0; peak: 0;">

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   id="glassFilter">

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Subsequent, we’ll add a Gaussian blur to the supply graphic utilizing the primitive. We’ll additionally guarantee it’s accessible to be used within the subsequent chaining course of by storing its output within the end result attribute. 

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 in="SourceGraphic" stdDeviation="0.02" end result="blur" />

A very good displacement map picture ought to have excessive distinction and noticeable shade variations. That is necessary as a result of the distortion is dependent upon the depth of the colour channels.

To make sure the displacement picture covers the entire filter space, now we have outlined x,y, width, and peak. Relying on the dimensions of the aspect the filter will likely be utilized to, you have to to regulate these values to realize the specified end result.

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 x="-50%" y="-50%" width="200%" peak="200%" end result="map"/>

As you possibly can see within the filter code above, we haven’t set the href straight as a result of the base64-encoded model of the picture can be very lengthy. As an alternative, we’ll use JavaScript to set the href dynamically.

Add this code in your JavaScript file 

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const feImage = doc.querySelector('feImage');

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fetch('https://essykings.github.io/JavaScript/map.png')

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    .then((response) => {

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        return response.blob();

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    })

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    .then((blob) => {

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        const objURL = URL.createObjectURL(blob);

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        feImage.setAttribute('href', objURL);

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    });

Right here, we first choose the aspect utilizing querySelector, then we fetch the picture from a hosted URL, convert the response right into a Blob (a binary illustration of the picture), after which assign the objectURL because the href worth of the .

We now have the blurred content material and the picture map, so let’s mix them utilizing the filter to get the ultimate glass distortion impact which will likely be added to the button.

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 id="disp" in="blur" in2="map" scale="0.8" xChannelSelector="R" yChannelSelector="G"/>

Now, the ultimate SVG filter seems like this:

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type="place: absolute; width: 0; peak: 0">

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   id="glass" x="-50%" y="-50%" width="200%" peak="200%" primitiveUnits="objectBoundingBox">

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     x="-50%" y="-50%" width="200%" peak="200%" end result="map"/>

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     in="SourceGraphic" stdDeviation="0.02" end result="blur"/>

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     id="disp" in="blur" in2="map" scale="0.8" xChannelSelector="R" yChannelSelector="G"/>

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Apply the SVG glass distortion impact on the button utilizing the backdrop-filter property.

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backdrop-filter: url(#glass);

Lastly, to reinforce the interactivity of the glass button, let’s add a zoom impact on hover. 

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.glass-button:hover {

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  rework: translate(-50%, -50%) scale(1.05);

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}

Remaining end result

Right here is the ultimate results of the glass button in motion:

Conclusion

We’ve got seen how highly effective SVG filters might be, with just some SVG filter primitives, now we have created a  lifelike glass distortion impact, much like Apple’s Liquid Glass impact. Now you should use SVG filters to create visible types straight in your browser.