3D Text Effect Preview

The 3D text effect preview builds an extruded look the way CSS actually does it: a stack of hard-edged shadows, one per depth step, plus an optional perspective transform for the vanishing direction. The readout reports the shadow count, which is the real cost of the effect.

What is 3D Text Effect Preview?

The 3D text effect preview takes a string, a size, a depth, a step, a direction and an optional perspective, then generates the shadow stack that draws the extruded text and exports the CSS.

• Depth runs from 1px to 40px and the step from half a pixel to 4px, and the number of layers is the depth divided by the step and rounded, so a 14px depth at a 1px step generates fourteen layers.
• Direction is an angle from 0 to 360 degrees, which sets the horizontal and vertical components of every layer's offset through cosine and sine.
• Perspective is off, a slight tilt at 12 degrees or a strong tilt at 24, applied as a rotation on an axis with a perspective distance set to six times the type size.
• Layers darken toward the front of the extrusion and fade toward the tail, with each layer's alpha derived from its position in the stack.
• The final layer adds a single one-pixel blur, which softens the last edge of the extrusion so the tail does not end in a hard line.

Each layer is a hard-edged shadow with no blur, which is what makes the extrusion read as a solid body rather than a smudge: the offsets step evenly along the chosen direction, so the shadows tile into a continuous side surface. The paint cost is the part the panel makes explicit. Every layer is a separate rasterised shadow, so the count is the number of times the text is drawn, and a 40px depth at a half-pixel step produces eighty layers against the browser's paint budget. Above 24 layers the readout calls the cost high and advises against animating that element, since a hero animation repaints every frame. The alternative when the effect has to move is an SVG text object extruded as geometry, which animates as a transform rather than as a repaint.

• The extrusion is flat: a real three-dimensional object has lit and shaded sides, and a stack of shadows has one uniform tone.
• The perspective option rotates the whole element rather than shearing the extrusion, so the body of the letters does not recede in the way a modelled object would.
• Only hard shadows and one soft tail layer are generated, so bevels, outlines and reflections are outside the tool.
• The paint cost warning is a threshold on layer count rather than a measurement of any particular page.
• The preview renders one line at a fixed weight of 800, so the effect is not tested over multiple lines.

Use it for a poster or hero treatment where the depth is part of the design, and check the layer count before deciding it can animate. If the effect is going to move, the depth should come down and the step up, since layer count is what governs the cost. Where the letter needs an edge rather than a body, the outlined text generator draws a stroke, the shadow text generator stacks a few soft layers for depth instead of an extrusion, and the neon text previewer builds the opposite treatment with glow rather than shade.

How to use 3D Text Effect Preview

1. Type the display string in caps or a heavy weight, since an extrusion on thin letterforms closes the counters.
2. Set the size, then choose a depth and a step: the depth sets how long the extrusion is and the step sets how smooth its edge reads.
3. Set the direction angle so the extrusion points away from the light, then try the perspective options if the letter needs to recede.
4. Read the layer count and the paint cost before copying the CSS, and reduce the depth if the element is going to be animated.

When to use 3D Text Effect Preview vs related tools

Reach for it when a hero heading or a poster line needs physical depth, when an existing text effect has to be sized without rebuilding it, or when someone has proposed animating a text effect and the layer count needs checking first. The cost readout is the part worth opening the tool for on its own. For an edge instead of a body, the outlined text generator draws an outline, the shadow text generator stacks a few soft layers, and the text gradient maker handles a fill that changes across the letter.

Privacy & Security

This tool runs entirely in your browser — no data ever leaves your device. There is no server round-trip, no upload, no logging, and no account required. Your input is processed locally using client-side JavaScript and is never stored, transmitted, or accessible to anyone else. When you close the tab, everything disappears.

Frequently asked questions about 3D Text Effect Preview