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Shadows

What box-shadow makes this card look lifted rather than smudged?

A single box-shadow looks like a smudge; real depth is several layers with different offsets and blurs. This builds up to six of them, previews them over three grounds - because a shadow that works on white can vanish on a dark surface - and then puts the exact declaration on an element of the page you are looking at, so the judgement is made in the design it is for and not on a grey square.

Reach it Press ⌘ + K on any tab and type shadows. Ctrl + K on Windows and Linux

A layered shadow tuned over three grounds, then put on a real card
reads the element you select
writes a live box-shadow, undone in one press
sends nothing
layers up to six, with inset
grounds light, dark and brand
copies CSS and a Tailwind arbitrary value
plan free
section#about

What this actually is

When a card, a menu or a modal needs to sit above the page and the design file only says "shadow: medium". The elevation ladder builds a whole set of levels from one colour, which is where a design system's shadows usually start.

section#asked

Asked about this tool

Does applying it change the site?

No. It is a live edit to the page in this tab, with its own undo row. The row's cross, Clear LoupeKit changes and a reload all take it off, and nothing is written anywhere.

Why several layers rather than one shadow?

Light does not cast one blur. A tight, dark layer close to the element and a wide, faint one further out is what reads as height; one shadow either looks flat or looks dirty.

What is the elevation ladder?

A set of levels built from one shadow colour, each lifting the element further. Load one into the editor to tune it, or use them as the first draft of a design system's shadow scale.

how to use shadows

  1. Open Shadows and start from a preset, or tune each layer's offset and blur.
  2. Switch the preview ground between light, dark and brand to see where it fades.
  3. Select an element on the page and apply the shadow to judge it in place.
  4. Copy it as CSS or as a Tailwind arbitrary value.