You can use Masonry layouts for organizing content properly in the grid, where elements fit in the available vertical space. You can use it in image galleries, portfolios, or blogs to create an attractive web design with easy navigation. In older days, people were dependent on JavaScript and Bootstrap for this process. But now, you can do this with CSS, by creating a masonry layout without JavaScript, that will work even for responsive masonry layout CSS designs, such as image gallery masonry CSS or portfolio grids. Let us discuss it in detail.
Table of Contents:
What is Masonry Layout?
A masonry layout is a flexible grid that makes the items fit in the available space without simply aligning in rows and columns. You can use this layout for aligning the elements in a design with elements having different heights, which makes sure no space is wasted and gives you a clean layout.
A simple CSS masonry layout example will help you to visualize how different-sized boxes align within the available grid space.
Why Use CSS-Only Masonry?
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You can use CSS-only solutions over JavaScript libraries like Masonry.js, which gives you many advantages. It helps you enhance performance by reducing the runtime and speeding up page load times from JavaScript. You can also use CSS to make the code look simpler without using external libraries. It is considered to be accessible and works better with screen readers. You can also update it easily compared to JavaScript.
Methods to Create CSS-Only Masonry Layouts
You can use methods like CSS Grid, masonry layout, and CSS columns layout for achieving a flexible masonry layout without JavaScript. Let us discuss them below:
Method 1: CSS Grid with Auto-Placement
You can use CSS Grid as a layout tool for controlling. The CSS grid masonry layout method gives you better control over the placement of the elements, which allows a responsive layout suitable for galleries and blogs.
Example:
Output:
Method 2: CSS Columns for Masonry Effect
This CSS columns layout approach gives an alternative that can be used for creating a simple and responsive masonry layout without JavaScript. You can use this method if you want to arrange the items in a vertical column. But controlling property is not precise for positioning the elements. It is most suitable for simpler layouts.
Example:
Output:
Advantages and Disadvantages of Each Approach
| Approach |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
| CSS Grid |
It can give you more control and better alignment. It works well with variable content sizes. |
It requires careful grid span management. |
| CSS Column |
It is simple and works well for text-heavy content. |
It gives you limited control over element placement, and it can lead to uneven gaps. |
Advanced Use Cases of Masonry Layout with CSS
Below are the advanced use cases where Masonry Layout with CSS is used:
1. Image Galleries: CSS masonry layouts are best for organizing the images of different sizes without leaving any empty space. You can create a clean and visually appealing image gallery masonry CSS that adapts to different heights of the images.
2. Portfolio Grids: Designers and developers can show their work in a CSS grid masonry layout or a CSS columns layout, by letting their project fit into the space that is available vertically. This approach will give us a modern and professional look.
3. Blog or News Layouts: The blogs or news websites have posts having different lengths. A responsive masonry layout CSS will ensure that all the posts are aligned properly without having large gaps in between. This will improve the readability and experience of the user.
4. Product Listings / E-Commerce: E-commerce websites can display the products with different content heights. Using a masonry layout without JavaScript will also help you to improve the page load speed while keeping the grid visually balanced.
5. Dynamic Content Sections: Many dashboards, social feeds, or the sections that have heavy content can benefit from CSS-only masonry layouts. It will allow all the items to flow according to their content size without using any extra script, and will also maintain a flexible design.
Best Practices
Below are the best practices one should follow while using Masonry Layout with CSS:
1. Use Media Queries for Smaller Screens: You can also use media queries to enable you to program the number of columns or the level of a grid based on the width of the screen. This will make sure that your layout appears clean and balanced on smaller window browsers, tablets, or phones.
2. Avoid Fixed Heights: As elements do not need a fixed height, they should be allowed to decide their own height. This enables the content of all sizes to be placed, and your masonry setup will become more attractive to look at.
3. Test Across Devices: In case of a responsive masonry layout CSS, do not ignore testing of your design on several screen sizes. This is how your CSS masonry layout example will fit the devices without overlapping or uneven gaps.
4. Keep Aspect Ratios: To get a balanced appearance to your objects in your webpage, you can apply aspect ratio constraints to your objects, mainly in the case of image galleries. It does not allow tall or wide pictures to interrupt your layout.
5. Browser Fallbacks: Not every browser supports CSS Grid or Columns. If a browser does not support these features, you can provide a simple fallback layout so that your masonry still works, even if it is not perfectly styled.
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Conclusion
You can use CSS-only masonry layouts to create a good-looking design for image galleries, portfolios, or blogs. You can use CSS Grid with auto-placement or CSS Columns to create a flexible layout without depending on JavaScript or external libraries. It can also improve performance and provide better alignment. Whether you are creating a responsive masonry layout CSS for an image gallery, masonry CSS, or blog grid, both CSS grid masonry layout and CSS columns layout methods let you build a masonry layout without JavaScript.
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CSS-only Masonry Layout – FAQs
Q1. What is a Masonry Layout?
It is a flexible layout where you can arrange the items to fit in the available space by avoiding empty spaces.
Q2. Why should I use CSS-only Masonry instead of JavaScript?
You can use CSS-only Masonry layouts to improve performance, and it also reduces the dependency on JavaScript, which gives a faster page load time.
Q3. Are CSS-only Masonry Layouts responsive?
Yes, it is responsive. You can use a media query for grid and column size depending on the screen width.
Q4. Can I create a Masonry Layout if the browser doesn’t support CSS Grid or Columns?
Yes, you can create a masonry layout if the browser doesn’t support CSS Grid or Columns to make sure the design looks clean.
Q5. Are there any best practices for CSS Masonry Layouts?
You can use aspect-ratio for a balanced look, and you can also test on different screens for a responsive layout.