Custom Text Highlighting with CSS
Tags: css, html, design, style
Published: 2020-04-26 16:45:17

---
title: Custom Text Highlighting with CSS
published: true
description: Creating a custom highlight for parts of your text with css
tags: css, html, design, style
---

![img](https://miro.medium.com/max/1400/0*vqUEZlvRDPNaME2i.png)

Some websites do different things to highlight specific text phrases. This could be text that the user should pay attention at (like a warning), or is just very important (like an item price). I was curious on how to do that.

The solution is very simple: via CSS, background image and inline span. First, you need to create the image that you want to put as a highlight behind your text. I just used Gimp and a brush tool until I was okay with the result. The image has to be exported as a scalable vector graphic (**svg**).

```html
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html lang="en">
  <head>
    <link href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Baloo+Bhaina+2:wght@600&display=swap" rel="stylesheet">
    <style type="text/css">
      body {
        font-family: 'Baloo Bhaina 2', cursive;
        background-color: #fffdf8;
      }
      .highlighted-text {
        background-image: url('data:image/svg+xml;base64,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');
        background-position: 50% 50%;
        padding-left: 20px;
        padding-right: 20px;
        padding-top: 5px;
        background-repeat: no-repeat;
        background-size: cover;
      }
    </style>
  </head>
  <body>
    <p>This is a <span class="highlighted-text">special</span> title</p>
  </body>
</html>
```

After the image is created, you could either keep it as a file or convert it to a base64 string to be used within css. Important is, that the `background-image` resizes by covering the element, does not repeat and is centred.