Create CSS clip-path shapes visually with live preview. Supports polygon, circle, ellipse, and inset — with 10 preset shapes including star, arrow, hexagon, and cross. Free online clip-path builder.
CSS Clip-Path Generator is a free online visual editor that lets you create complex CSS clip-path shapes without writing coordinates by hand. It supports polygon shapes with preset templates (triangle, hexagon, star, arrow, cross, and more), circle, ellipse, and inset clipping regions. The live preview shows exactly how the clip-path looks on a gradient background, and you get clean, copy-ready CSS output instantly. Everything runs in your browser with no data sent to any server.
Use the Clip-Path Generator when you need non-rectangular shapes for images, hero sections, dividers, or decorative elements. Clip-path is the modern CSS way to mask elements into circles, polygons, and organic shapes without using SVG masks or image editing software. It is commonly used for creative landing pages, portfolio image grids, section dividers with angled or wave-like edges, and profile picture cropping.
Front-end developers use CSS clip-path to create angled section transitions on marketing pages, crop hero images into non-rectangular shapes, build geometric portfolio layouts with hexagonal or diamond image grids, create floating shapes for background decorations, and design unique button or card shapes that stand out. Designers use it to prototype complex masking effects before committing to SVG-based solutions.
The CSS clip-path property creates complex shapes using four main functions. polygon() defines custom shapes with coordinate pairs — ideal for diagonal sections, arrows, and decorative borders. circle() and ellipse() create rounded clips with configurable radius and position. inset() creates rectangular clips with optional rounded corners. Unlike overflow: hidden, clip-path works on the element itself without requiring a wrapper, and it can be animated with CSS transitions for reveal effects and morphing animations.
Essential terms and definitions related to CSS Clip-Path Generator.
A CSS property that defines a visible region for an element using geometric shapes. Everything inside the clipping path is visible; everything outside is hidden. Clip-path accepts shape functions (polygon, circle, ellipse, inset) or references to SVG clipPath elements via url().
A clip-path shape defined by a series of x% y% coordinate pairs that form a closed polygon. The coordinates are relative to the element's reference box (border-box by default). polygon(50% 0%, 0% 100%, 100% 100%) creates a triangle. More points create more complex shapes like stars, arrows, and crosses.
The box model reference used to calculate clip-path coordinates. By default, clip-path uses the element's border-box. You can change this with keywords: content-box, padding-box, border-box, margin-box, fill-box, stroke-box, or view-box. For example, clip-path: circle(50%) padding-box clips relative to the padding box dimensions.
A clip-path shape that creates a rectangular clipping region defined by offsets from each edge: inset(top right bottom left). It optionally supports rounded corners: inset(10% round 20px). Inset is useful for cropping borders or creating rounded-rectangle clips that differ from border-radius behavior.
CSS clip-path is a property that defines a clipping region for an element — only the portion of the element inside the region is visible, and the rest is hidden. It supports four shape functions: polygon() for any multi-point shape, circle() for circular clips, ellipse() for oval clips, and inset() for rectangular clips with optional rounded corners. Unlike overflow: hidden or border-radius, clip-path can create truly arbitrary shapes.
clip-path uses geometric shapes (polygons, circles) defined by coordinates to create hard-edged clipping boundaries. CSS mask uses images (gradients or SVGs) as alpha channels, allowing soft edges, transparency gradients, and complex textures. Use clip-path when you need precise geometric shapes; use mask when you need gradient-based or image-based masking effects.
Yes. CSS clip-path is animatable with CSS transitions and animations, but only between shapes of the same type with the same number of points. For example, you can animate between two polygon() values that both have 6 points, or between two circle() values. Animating between different shape types or different point counts will not interpolate smoothly — the change will be instant.
clip-path only affects the visual rendering — the element still occupies its original rectangular space in the layout. However, pointer events (clicks, hovers) are affected: areas outside the clip-path are not interactive. This means the clickable area matches the visible clipped shape, which is the expected behavior for most use cases.
Yes. CSS clip-path with basic shapes (polygon, circle, ellipse, inset) is supported in all modern browsers: Chrome 55+, Firefox 54+, Safari 9.1+, and Edge 79+. This covers over 97% of global users. The only caveat is that Safari requires the -webkit-clip-path prefix for versions before 13.1, but all current Safari versions support the unprefixed property.
Common errors developers encounter and how to resolve them.
Clip-path not visible: element appears completely hidden Check that your polygon coordinates are within the 0%-100% range. Coordinates outside this range will clip beyond the element boundaries. Also verify that the element has explicit width and height — clip-path requires dimensions to calculate the clipping region. If using percentage values, they are relative to the element's own dimensions, not the viewport.
Clip-path animation not smooth: shape jumps instead of transitioning CSS can only interpolate between clip-path shapes of the same type with the same number of points. polygon(50% 0%, 0% 100%, 100% 100%) can smoothly transition to polygon(0% 0%, 50% 100%, 100% 0%), but not to circle(50%). If you need to animate between different point counts, add degenerate points (duplicate an existing point) to equalize the count.
Clip-path not working in Safari: shape not applied Safari versions before 13.1 require the -webkit- prefix: -webkit-clip-path alongside the standard clip-path property. Add both properties for maximum compatibility. Also note that clip-path: path() (using SVG path data) has more limited browser support than basic shapes — use polygon() for the widest compatibility.