Purely CSS Callouts

This article explains how you can create callouts using CSS and without using a single image. This will use the CSS thick border technique for creating slant area. Look at the callouts below:

This callout is created only using CSS. The arrow shown in the callout is basically a DIV with thick up border and transparent left and right border. And its height and width are 0. You only see the border or the DIV which will create the arrow like effect.

Here is the complete CSS and html code of this:

Table of Contents

CSS Code


<style type="text/css">    
    .calloutUp
    {
        height: 0;
        width: 0;
        border-bottom: 12px solid #ffffff;
        border-left: 12px dotted transparent;
        border-right: 12px dotted transparent;
        left: 0px;
        top: 0px;
        margin-left: 20px;
        z-index: 10;
    }
    .calloutUp2
    {
        position: relative;
        left: -10px;
        top: 2px;
        height: 0;
        width: 0;
        border-bottom: 10px solid #9999ff;
        border-left: 10px dotted transparent;
        border-right: 10px dotted transparent;
        z-index: 11;
    }
    .calloutDown
    {
        height: 0;
        width: 0;
        border-top: 12px solid #ffffff;
        border-left: 12px dotted transparent;
        border-right: 12px dotted transparent;
        left: 0px;
        top: 0px;
        margin-left: 20px;
        z-index: 11;
    }
    .calloutDown2
    {
        position: relative;
        left: -10px;
        top: -12px;
        height: 0;
        width: 0;
        border-top: 10px solid #9999ff;
        border-left: 10px dotted transparent;
        border-right: 10px dotted transparent;
        z-index: 10;
    }
    .divContainerUp
    {
        background-color: #9999ff;
        border: solid 1px #ffffff;
        position: relative;
        top: -1px;
        z-index: 9;
        width: 500px;
        padding: 4px;
    }
    .divContainerDown
    {
        background-color: #9999ff;
        border: solid 1px #ffffff;
        position: relative;
        top: 1px;
        z-index: 3;
        width: 500px;
        padding: 4px;
    }
    .divContainerMain
    {
        background-color: #ccccff;
        padding: 8px;
    }
</style>

.calloutUp

{

height: 0;

width: 0;

border-bottom: 12px solid #ffffff;

border-left: 12px dotted transparent;

border-right: 12px dotted transparent;

left: 0px;

top: 0px;

margin-left: 20px;

z-index: 10;

}

.calloutUp2

{

position: relative;

left: -10px;

top: 2px;

height: 0;

width: 0;

border-bottom: 10px solid #9999ff;

border-left: 10px dotted transparent;

border-right: 10px dotted transparent;

z-index: 11;

}

.calloutDown

{

height: 0;

width: 0;

border-top: 12px solid #ffffff;

border-left: 12px dotted transparent;

border-right: 12px dotted transparent;

left: 0px;

top: 0px;

margin-left: 20px;

z-index: 11;

}

.calloutDown2

{

position: relative;

left: -10px;

top: -12px;

height: 0;

width: 0;

border-top: 10px solid #9999ff;

border-left: 10px dotted transparent;

border-right: 10px dotted transparent;

z-index: 10;

}

.divContainerUp

{

background-color: #9999ff;

border: solid 1px #ffffff;

position: relative;

top: -1px;

z-index: 9;

width: 500px;

padding: 4px;

}

.divContainerDown

{

background-color: #9999ff;

border: solid 1px #ffffff;

position: relative;

top: 1px;

z-index: 3;

width: 500px;

padding: 4px;

}

.divContainerMain

{

background-color: #ccccff;

padding: 8px;

}

</style>

Html Code


<div class="divContainerMain">
    <h3>
        Up Side Callout</h3>
    <div>
        <a href="#">Mike</a> Said</div>
    <div class="calloutUp">
        <div class="calloutUp2">
        </div>
    </div>
    <div class="divContainerUp">
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam dignissim tincidunt
        turpis. Mauris pede. Vestibulum gravida magna id nibh. In nec urna. Sed ut purus.
        Duis sit amet lacus ornare massa mattis consequat. Donec nec tellus. Nam quis nulla
        viverra diam faucibus dictum. Nulla facilisi. Donec sit amet dolor at sapien accumsan
        consectetuer.
    </div>
    <br />
    <br />
    <h3>
        Down Side Callout</h3>
    <div class="divContainerDown">
        Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetuer adipiscing elit. Aliquam dignissim tincidunt
        turpis. Mauris pede. Vestibulum gravida magna id nibh. In nec urna. Sed ut purus.
        Duis sit amet lacus ornare massa mattis consequat. Donec nec tellus. Nam quis nulla
        viverra diam faucibus dictum. Nulla facilisi. Donec sit amet dolor at sapien accumsan
        consectetuer.
    </div>
    <div class="calloutDown">
        <div class="calloutDown2">
        </div>
    </div>
    <div>
        <a href="#">Mike Crimdown</a> Said</div>
</div>