This is a tutorial on how to create a typing effect overlay on images. It was done with pure CSS and JS without any additional libraries. The result is this:

{% codepen codepen.io/charalambosioannou/pen/LYNYrVm %}

Here the typing effect was added on a hero image. A hero image is a large image that is prominently placed on a web page (Source: wikipedia). It is used to immediately attract a visitor’s attention.

Sections:

Step 1 - Finding the image
Step 2 - Beautify it using CSS
Step 3 - Creating the typing effect using JS
1. Explanation of JS code
Full code (codepen)

Step 1 - Finding the image

To start with, we first find a hero image that best suits our needs. My go to website for getting free stock images is pexels.com. Once you have found your image, create a new HTML file and add the following script inside the body tag. Replace the hero_image.jpg with the path and name of your own image.

<div class="container">
        <img src="hero_image.jpg" alt="Hero Image">
        <div class='console-container'>
            <span id='text'></span>
            <div class='console-underscore' id='cursor'>|</div>
        </div>
    </div>

Now your page should look like this:

Step 2 - Beautify it using CSS

Now we will add some CSS to make our image look like a hero image and attract more attention. Add the following code in your CSS file or in a style tab inside the HTML.

        @import url('https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Open+Sans:wght@700&display=swap');

        .console-container {
            font-family: 'Open Sans', sans-serif;
            font-size: 4vw;
            position: absolute;
            top: 50%;
            left: 50%;
            transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
        }

        .console-underscore {
            display: inline-block;
            position: relative;
            color: white;
        }

        .container {
            position: relative;
            text-align: center;
        }
        img {
            width:100%;
        }

Now your page should look like this:

Don't mind the vertical bar. We will animate it and use it as a cursor in the next step

Step 3 - Creating the typing effect using JS

The final step is to add the text we want to animate and actually animate it using JavaScript. To do that add the following block of code which is a function we can call:

Important: Place this script below the div tags which contain the image. Otherwise the typing effect will not work.

function typing_effect(words, colors) {

      var cursor = document.getElementById('cursor'); //cursor
      var text = document.getElementById('text') //text

      var blink = true;
      var wait = false;
      var letters_count = 1;
      var temp = 1;

      text.style.color = colors[0]
      window.setInterval(function () { //wait between words when it starts writting
        if (letters_count === 0 && wait === false) {
          wait = true;

          text.innerHTML = '' // leave a blank
          window.setTimeout(function () {
            var usedColor = colors.splice(0, 1)[0] //remove first element and get it as str
            colors.push(usedColor);
            var usedWord = words.splice(0, 1)[0]
            words.push(usedWord);
            temp = 1;
            text.style.color = colors[0]
            letters_count += temp;
            wait = false;
          }, 1000)
        } else if (letters_count === words[0].length + 1 && wait === false) {
          wait = true;
          window.setTimeout(function () { //wait a bit until words finished and start deleting
            temp = -1;
            letters_count += temp;
            wait = false;
          }, 1000)
        } else if (wait === false) { //write words                    
          text.innerHTML = words[0].substr(0, letters_count)
          letters_count += temp;
        }
      }, 120)
      window.setInterval(function () {
        if (blink) {
          cursor.style.opacity = "0";
          blink = false;
        } else {
          cursor.style.opacity = "1";
          blink = true;
        }
      }, 400)
    }

The call to the function is: typing_effect(words , colors). These parameters are lists. The first parameter is a list of strings containing all the phrases that will be displayed. The second parameter is a list of strings containing the colors that each phrase will have. Note: The two lists don't have to have the same length. The call in my example is:

typing_effect(['Hello World', 'My name is Harry', 'I am a programmer', 'This is a JS+CSS example'],
            ['#FFFFFF', 'orange', 'blue', 'yellow']);

Explanation of JS code

If you want to skip the explanation of the code just click here to go to the next section.

Parameters

The code is a single function that takes 2 input parameters. They have been explained in the previous section.

The call to the function is: typing_effect(words , colors). These parameters are lists. The first parameter is a list of strings containing all the phrases that will be displayed. The second parameter is a list of strings containing the colors that each phrase will have. Note: The two lists don't have to have the same length.

Variables

var cursor= document.getElementById('cursor'); - gets the cursor var text= document.getElementById('text'); - gets the area which we will add the text var blink= true; - flag that shows/hides cursor var wait= false;- flag that waits between phrases var letters_count= 1; - int which counts the letters var temp= 1; - int used to increment/decrement letters_count

Function

The function consists of 2 setTimeout and 2 setInterval functions. The first setInterval is used to type the phrases, delete them and then type the next one. This block of code waits between phrases before starting to type the next phrase.

  if (letters_count === 0 && wait === false) {
          wait = true;

          text.innerHTML = '' // leave a blank
          window.setTimeout(function () {
            var usedColor = colors.splice(0, 1)[0] 
            colors.push(usedColor);
            var usedWord = words.splice(0, 1)[0]
            words.push(usedWord);
            temp = 1;
            text.style.color = colors[0]
            letters_count += temp;
            wait = false;
          }, 1000)
}

This block of code waits 1 second after the phrase is typed and starts deleting it.

 else if (letters_count === words[0].length + 1 && wait === false) {
          wait = true;
          window.setTimeout(function () {
            temp = -1;
            letters_count += temp;
            wait = false;
          }, 1000)
        }

This block of code simply types the words

else if (wait === false) {                    
          text.innerHTML = words[0].substr(0, letters_count)
          letters_count += temp;
        }

Lastly this block of code makes the cursor blink to simulate the cursor when typing.

window.setInterval(function () {
        if (blink) {
          cursor.style.opacity = "0";
          blink = false;
        } else {
          cursor.style.opacity = "1";
          blink = true;
        }
      }, 400)

Full Code

The full code in codepen is here:

{% codepen codepen.io/charalambosioannou/pen/LYNYrVm %}

THAT’S IT!!! I hope you find this easy and useful.

Hope you enjoyed it 😄.

Happy Exploring!!

Awesome typing effect overlay on images (CSS+JS)