The skew() CSS function defines a transformation that skews an element on the 2D plane. Its result is a <transform-function> data type.

skew(ax)  skew(ax, ay) 

skew()

The skew() CSS function defines a transformation that skews an element on the 2D plane. Its result is a <transform-function> data type.

This transformation is a shear mapping (transvection) that distorts each point within an element by a certain angle in the horizontal and vertical directions. The effect is as if you grabbed each corner of the element and pulled them along a certain angle.

The coordinates of each point are modified by a value proportionate to the specified angle and the distance to the origin. Thus, the farther from the origin a point is, the greater the value added to it.

Syntax

The skew() function is specified with either one or two values, which represent the amount of skewing to be applied in each direction. If you only specify one value it is used for the x-axis and there will be no skewing on the y-axis.

skew(ax)  skew(ax, ay) 

Values

ax

Is an <angle> representing the angle to use to distort the element along the x-axis (or abscissa).

ay

Is an <angle> representing the angle to use to distort the element along the y-axis (or ordinate). If not defined, its default value is 0, resulting in a purely horizontal skewing.

Cartesian coordinates on ℝ^2	Homogeneous coordinates on ℝℙ^2	Cartesian coordinates on ℝ^3	Homogeneous coordinates on ℝℙ^3
( 1 tan ( ax ) tan ( ay ) 1 )	( 1 tan ( ax ) 0 tan ( ay ) 1 0 0 0 1 )	( 1 tan ( ax ) 0 tan ( ay ) 1 0 0 0 1 )	( 1 tan ( ax ) 0 0 tan ( ay ) 1 0 0 0 0 1 0 0 0 0 1 )
	[1 tan(ay) tan(ax) 1 0 0]

Examples

Skewing on the x-axis only

HTML

<div>Normal</div> <div class="skewed">Skewed</div> 

CSS

body {   margin: 20px; }  div {   width: 80px;   height: 80px;   background-color: skyblue; }  .skewed {   transform: skew(10deg); /* Equal to skewX(10deg) */   background-color: pink; } 

Result

Skewing on both axes

HTML

<div>Normal</div> <div class="skewed">Skewed</div> 

CSS

body {   margin: 20px; }  div {   width: 80px;   height: 80px;   background-color: skyblue; }  .skewed {   transform: skew(10deg, 10deg);   background-color: pink; } 

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Transforms Module Level 1 # funcdef-transform-skew

See also

transform <transform-function> skewX() skewY()

Last modified: Jan 31, 2022, by MDN contributors

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