{"id":253132,"date":"2017-03-28T05:54:27","date_gmt":"2017-03-28T12:54:27","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/css-tricks.com\/?p=253132"},"modified":"2017-03-28T05:54:27","modified_gmt":"2017-03-28T12:54:27","slug":"using-devtools-tweak-designs-browser","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/using-devtools-tweak-designs-browser\/","title":{"rendered":"Using DevTools to Tweak Designs in the Browser"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s look at some ways we can use the browsers DevTools to do design work. There are a few somewhat hidden tricks you mind find handy!<\/p>\n<p><!--more--><\/p>\n<h3>Toggling Classes With Checkboxes<\/h3>\n<p>This is useful when trying to pick a design from different options or to toggle the active state of an element without adding the class manually in DevTools. <\/p>\n<p>To achieve this, we could use different classes and scope styles inside them. So if we want to see different options for a banner design, we could so something like: <\/p>\n<pre rel=\"CSS\"><code class=\"language-css\">.banner-1 {\r\n  \/* Style variation *\/\r\n}\r\n\r\n.banner-2 {\r\n  \/* Style variation *\/\r\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>Google Chrome gives us the ability to add all of these classes and toggle (show\/hide) them with a checkbox to make a quick comparison between them.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/207830826\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>See the <a href=\"http:\/\/codepen.io\/shadeed\/pen\/e2a8f51691cad05bdfd5b14fb9365214?editors=0100\" rel=\"noopener\">demo Pen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Editing Content with designMode<\/h3>\n<p>Web content is dynamic, so our design should be flexible and we should test for various types and lengths of content. For example, entering a very long word might break a design. To check that, we can edit our design right in the browser with <code>document.designMode<\/code>.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/207835383\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This can help us test our design without editing the content manually in the source code. <\/p>\n<h3>Hiding Elements<\/h3>\n<p>Sometimes we need to hide elements in our design to check how it will look without them. Chrome DevTools give us the ability to inspect an element and type <code>h<\/code> from the keyboard to hide it by toggling CSS visibility property.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/207836443\" width=\"640\" height=\"401\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>This is very useful in case you want to hide some elements to take a screenshot and then discuss it with your team\/designer\/manager. Sometimes I use this feature to hide elements and then take a screenshot to mock a quick idea in Photoshop.<\/p>\n<h3>Screenshotting design elements<\/h3>\n<p>There is a useful feature in Firefox DevTools to take a screenshot of a specific element in the DOM. By doing that, we can compare our variations side by side to see which one is the best of our case.<\/p>\n<p>Follow the below steps:<\/p>\n<ol>\n<li>Open Firefox DevTools<\/li>\n<li>Right-click on an element and pick <strong>Screenshot Node<\/strong><\/li>\n<li>The screenshots are saved in the default downloads folder<\/li>\n<\/ol>\n<figure id=\"post-253133\" class=\"align-none media-253133\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firefox-screenshot.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>If you want to use Chrome for screenshotting, you can. There is a <a href=\"https:\/\/chrome.google.com\/webstore\/detail\/element-screenshot\/mhbapdljigafafoimcnnhagdclejnkcf\" rel=\"noopener\">plugin<\/a> called &#8220;Element Screenshot&#8221; that does almost the same job.<\/p>\n<h3>Changing Design Colors<\/h3>\n<p>In the early stages of every design projects, you might be exploring different color palettes. CSS&#8217; <code>hue-rotate<\/code> function is a powerful filter that provides us with the ability to change design colors right in the browser. It causes hue rotation for each pixel in an image or element. The value can be specified in <code>deg<\/code> or <code>rad<\/code>. <\/p>\n<p>In the below video, I added <code>filter: hue-rotate(value)<\/code> to the component, notice how all the colors change.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/207995530\" width=\"640\" height=\"528\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Notice that <em>every<\/em> design element got affected from applying <code>hue-rotate<\/code>. For example, the user avatar colors looks wrong. We can revert the normal look by applying the negative value of <code>hue-rotate<\/code>.<\/p>\n<pre rel=\"CSS\"><code class=\"language-css\">.bio__avatar {\r\n  filter: hue-rotate(-100deg);\r\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>See the <a href=\"http:\/\/codepen.io\/shadeed\/pen\/2d611749947ac7688c2710248c473e50?editors=0010\" rel=\"noopener\">demo Pen<\/a>.<\/p>\n<h3>Using CSS Variables (Custom CSS Properties)<\/h3>\n<p>Even if the support is still not <a href=\"http:\/\/caniuse.com\/#feat=css-variables\" rel=\"noopener\">perfectly cross-browser<\/a> friendly (it&#8217;s <a href=\"https:\/\/developer.microsoft.com\/en-us\/microsoft-edge\/platform\/status\/csscustompropertiesakacssvariables\/?q=css%20v\" rel=\"noopener\">currently<\/a> in development in Microsoft Edge), we can get the benefit of CSS variables today. Using them to define the spacing and color units will make it easy to make huge changes by changing tiny values on the fly.<\/p>\n<p>I defined the following for our web page:<\/p>\n<pre rel=\"CSS\"><code class=\"language-css\">:root {\r\n  --spacing-unit: 1em;\r\n  --spacing-unit-half: calc(var(--spacing-unit) \/ 2); \/* = 0.5em *\/\r\n  --brand-color-primary: #7ebdc2;\r\n  --brand-color-secondary: #468e94;\r\n}<\/code><\/pre>\n<p>These variables will be used throughout the website elements like links, nav items, borders and background colors. When changing a single variable from the dev tools, all the associated elements will be affected!<\/p>\n<figure id=\"post-253134\" class=\"align-none media-253134\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/Screen-Shot-2017-03-12-at-4.34.47-PM.jpg?ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n<h3>Invert elements with CSS <code>filter: invert()<\/code><\/h3>\n<p>This is useful when you have a white text on black background or vice versa. For instance, in the header, we have the page title in white on a black background, and by adding <code>filter: invert<\/code> to the element, all the colors will be inverted. <\/p>\n<figure id=\"post-253135\" class=\"align-none media-253135\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/invert-filter.gif?ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n<h3>CSS Visual Editor<\/h3>\n<p>This feature is becoming better every day. Safari has really nice UI tools for editing values. Chrome is adding similar things slowly to DevTools.<\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" src=\"https:\/\/player.vimeo.com\/video\/208011466\" width=\"640\" height=\"480\" frameborder=\"0\" webkitallowfullscreen mozallowfullscreen allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n<p>Chrome has some cool stuff for things like <code>box-shadow<\/code>, <code>background-color<\/code>, <code>text-shadow<\/code> and <code>color<\/code>.<\/p>\n<figure id=\"post-253136\" class=\"align-none media-253136\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/chrome-visual-css.gif?ssl=1\" alt=\"\" data-recalc-dims=\"1\" \/><\/figure>\n<p>I think this will be very useful for designers who doesn&#8217;t know much about CSS. Editing things visually like that will give them more control over some design details, they can tweak things in the browser and show the result to the developer to be implemented.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Let&#8217;s look at some ways we can use the browsers DevTools to do design work. There are a few somewhat hidden tricks you mind find handy!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":244130,"featured_media":253133,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_bbp_topic_count":0,"_bbp_reply_count":0,"_bbp_total_topic_count":0,"_bbp_total_reply_count":0,"_bbp_voice_count":0,"_bbp_anonymous_reply_count":0,"_bbp_topic_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_reply_count_hidden":0,"_bbp_forum_subforum_count":0,"sig_custom_text":"","sig_image_type":"featured-image","sig_custom_image":0,"sig_is_disabled":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"c2c_always_allow_admin_comments":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_is_tweetstorm":false,"jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":[]},"categories":[4],"tags":[692,1144],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firefox-screenshot.jpg?fit=1408%2C1115&ssl=1","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":377264,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/some-cross-browser-devtools-features-you-might-not-know\/","url_meta":{"origin":253132,"position":0},"title":"Some Cross-Browser DevTools Features You Might Not Know","date":"March 22, 2023","format":false,"excerpt":"I spend a lot of time in DevTools, and I\u2019m sure you do too. Sometimes I even bounce between them, especially when I\u2019m debugging cross-browser issues. DevTools is a lot like browsers themselves \u2014 not all of the features in one browser\u2019s DevTools will be the same or supported in\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2023\/02\/s_7E25E76B5C1A2A0120D43B477F8F8B0FA75578B215D36F3A918DC29D997AA0F4_1674721838803_Screenshot2023-01-26at14.00.01.png?fit=1200%2C862&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":281581,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/firefox-devtools-webconsole-2018-retrospective\/","url_meta":{"origin":253132,"position":1},"title":"Firefox DevTools WebConsole 2018 retrospective","date":"January 21, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"Here\u2019s a wonderful post by Nicolas Chevobbe on what the Firefox DevTools team was up to last year. What strikes me is how many improvements they shipped \u2014 from big visual design improvements to tiny usability fixes that help us make sure our code works as we expect it to\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Link&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/01\/firefox-devtools-redesign.png?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":279081,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/devtools-for-designers\/","url_meta":{"origin":253132,"position":2},"title":"DevTools for Designers","date":"November 29, 2018","format":false,"excerpt":"This is such an interesting conversation thread that keeps popping up year after year. The idea is that there could (and perhaps should) be in-browser tooling that helps web designers do their job. This tooling already exists to some degree. Let's check in on perspectives from a wide array of\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/devtools-paintbrush.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":284244,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/using-devtools-to-improve-the-ux-design-to-development-process\/","url_meta":{"origin":253132,"position":3},"title":"Using DevTools to Improve the UX Design to Development Process","date":"June 7, 2019","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019d like to tell you how I see code and design intersect and support one another. Specifically, I want to cover how designers can use code in their everyday work. I suggest this not because it\u2019s a required skill, but because even a baseline understanding of coding can make designs\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/11\/devtools-paintbrush.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":319499,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/comparing-browsers-for-responsive-design\/","url_meta":{"origin":253132,"position":4},"title":"Comparing Browsers for Responsive Design","date":"September 1, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"There are a number of these desktop apps where the goal is showing your site at different dimensions all at the same time. So you can, for example, be writing CSS and making sure it's working across all the viewports in a single glance. They are all very similar. For\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2020\/08\/Screen-Shot-2020-08-26-at-11.16.23-AM.png?fit=1200%2C748&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]},{"id":317687,"url":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/whats-new-in-devtools-2020\/","url_meta":{"origin":253132,"position":5},"title":"A Look at What&#8217;s New in Chrome DevTools in 2020","date":"July 31, 2020","format":false,"excerpt":"I\u2019m excited to share some of the newer features in Chrome DevTools with you. There\u2019s a brief introduction below, and then we\u2019ll cover many of the new DevTools features. We\u2019ll also look at what\u2019s happening in some other browsers. I keep up with this stuff, as I create Dev Tips,\u2026","rel":"","context":"In &quot;Article&quot;","img":{"alt_text":"","src":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2018\/02\/chrome-devtools.jpg?fit=1200%2C600&ssl=1&resize=350%2C200","width":350,"height":200},"classes":[]}],"featured_media_src_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/css-tricks.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2017\/03\/firefox-screenshot.jpg?fit=1024%2C811&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253132"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/244130"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=253132"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253132\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":253213,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/253132\/revisions\/253213"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/253133"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=253132"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=253132"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/css-tricks.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=253132"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}