LayerwiseLayerwise
  • Features
  • Pricing
  • Templates
  • Docs
DownloadDownload
FeaturesPricingTemplatesDocsAI Website BuilderVibe CodingPersonal Software
DownloadDownload
  1. Glossary
  2. /
  3. Transforms

Translate

Also called translateX or translateY

A CSS transform that moves an element along the x or y axis while the layout around it stays exactly where it was.

import { Toast } from '@base-ui/react/toast';

export function SaveToast() {
  return (
    <Toast.Provider>
      <SaveButton />
      <Toast.Portal>
        <Toast.Viewport className='fixed right-4 bottom-4 flex w-80 flex-col gap-2'>
          <ToastList />
        </Toast.Viewport>
      </Toast.Portal>
    </Toast.Provider>
  );
}

function SaveButton() {
  const toastManager = Toast.useToastManager();
  return (
    <button
      type='button'
      onClick={() =>
        toastManager.add({
          title: 'Changes saved',
          description: 'Your profile is up to date.'
        })
      }
      className='rounded-full bg-primary px-4 py-2 text-sm font-medium text-primary-foreground'
    >
      Save changes
    </button>
  );
}

function ToastList() {
  const { toasts } = Toast.useToastManager();
  return toasts.map((toast) => (
    <Toast.Root
      key={toast.id}
      toast={toast}
      // Enter from 16px below and leave the same way. Reduced motion keeps only the fade.
      className='rounded-xl border bg-background p-4 shadow-lg transition-[opacity,translate] duration-250 ease-[cubic-bezier(0.23,1,0.32,1)] data-ending-style:opacity-0 data-starting-style:opacity-0 motion-safe:data-ending-style:translate-y-4 motion-safe:data-starting-style:translate-y-4'
    >
      <Toast.Title className='text-sm font-medium' />
      <Toast.Description className='text-sm text-muted-foreground' />
    </Toast.Root>
  ));
}
Make the toast slide up into view: start it 16px below its final spot at opacity 0, then animate transform to translateY(0) and opacity to 1 over 250ms with cubic-bezier(0.23, 1, 0.32, 1). Animate only transform and opacity, never top or margin, and use a plain fade when prefers-reduced-motion is set.

Paste into Layerwise or any AI coding tool.

What is Translate?

transform: translate(40px, -20px) shifts where an element is drawn: 40px to the right and 20px up. Its original slot in the layout stays reserved, so neighbors never move and the element can slide over them. Percentages are based on the element's own size, which is why translate(-50%, -50%) centers an element on a point.

Translate powers most movement in interfaces: toasts sliding up, drawers sliding in, a card lifting a few pixels on hover, an item following your finger while you drag it. Browsers can usually move a transformed element without recalculating layout, so animating translate is much smoother than animating top, left, or margin.

Keep UI distances short, around 4 to 16px for entrances, so motion feels quick. Modern CSS also has a standalone translate property (translate: 0 8px) that you can set separately from transform. For people who prefer reduced motion, swap long slides for a simple fade.

Often confused with

Slide in
A slide-in is an entrance animation. Translate is the transform that usually moves the element during it.

Related terms

All terms

Scale

A CSS transform that draws an element larger or smaller around its transform origin, without pushing neighboring elements.

Slide in

An entrance animation where an element moves into place from one side, often while fading in, so people see where it came from.

GPU acceleration

A browser technique where the graphics chip moves, fades, or scales an element on its own layer instead of redrawing the page every frame.

Layout thrashing

A slowdown caused by code that alternates style changes with size reads, forcing the browser to recalculate layout many times in one frame.

Build it with Layerwise

Describe your app, watch it run in a live preview, and publish it with a database, storage, and sign-in built in.

DownloadDownloadRead the docs
LayerwiseLayerwise

Build full-stack web apps in minutes with AI.

Product

  • Features
  • Pricing
  • Download
  • Templates

Solutions

  • AI Website Builder
  • Vibe Coding
  • Personal Software

Resources

  • Documentation
  • Changelog
  • Blog
  • Vibe Coding Glossary
  • llms.txt
  • llms-full.txt

Company

  • About
  • Contact

Legal

  • Privacy
  • Analytics Privacy
  • Terms
  • Security
  • Abuse

© 2026 Layerwise. All rights reserved.

Entrances & exits

  • Fade in
  • Slide in
  • Scale in
  • Pop in
  • Blur in
  • Reveal animation
  • Enter and exit animations

Timing & sequencing

  • Duration
  • Delay
  • Keyframes
  • Tweening
  • Stagger
  • Orchestration
  • Fill mode
  • Stepped animation
  • Looping animation
  • Yoyo animation

Easing

  • Easing
  • Linear easing
  • Ease-in
  • Ease-out
  • Ease-in-out
  • Cubic-bezier
  • Asymmetric easing
  • Overshoot easing

Springs & physics

  • Spring animation
  • Stiffness
  • Damping
  • Mass
  • Bounce
  • Velocity
  • Momentum
  • Interruptible animation
  • Rubber-banding

Transforms

  • Translate
  • Scale
  • Rotate
  • Skew
  • 3D flip
  • Perspective
  • Transform origin
  • Origin-aware animation

State transitions

  • Crossfade
  • Morph
  • Shared element transition
  • Layout animation
  • Height auto animation
  • Direction-aware transition
  • Continuity transition
  • Page transition
  • View Transitions API

Scroll effects

  • Scroll reveal
  • Scroll-driven animation
  • Parallax scrolling
  • Scrollytelling
  • Scroll pinning
  • Horizontal scroll section
  • Scroll progress bar
  • Scroll snap
  • Smooth scrolling

Interaction feedback

  • Hover effect
  • Press feedback
  • Ripple effect
  • Shake animation
  • Hold to confirm
  • Drag gesture
  • Drag to reorder
  • Swipe to dismiss
  • Pull to refresh
  • Magnetic button
  • Custom cursor
  • 3D tilt card
  • Spotlight card

Text effects

  • Typewriter effect
  • Text scramble
  • Split text animation
  • Text morph
  • Rotating words
  • Gradient text
  • Shimmer text
  • Number ticker
  • Tabular numbers
  • Underline animation

Loops & ambient motion

  • Marquee
  • Pulse animation
  • Float animation
  • Orbit animation
  • Idle animation
  • Particle background
  • Border beam
  • Confetti
  • Animated gradient

Visual effects

  • Blur
  • Clip-path
  • Mask
  • Before/after slider
  • SVG line drawing
  • Lottie animation

Motion principles

  • Purposeful animation
  • Anticipation
  • Follow-through
  • Squash and stretch
  • Perceived performance
  • Frequency of use
  • Spatial consistency
  • Reduced motion

Animation performance

  • Frame rate (FPS)
  • Jank
  • GPU acceleration
  • will-change
  • Layout thrashing

Layout

  • Hero section
  • Above the fold
  • Sticky header
  • Sidebar
  • Bento grid
  • Card
  • Flexbox
  • CSS Grid
  • Padding vs margin
  • Responsive design
  • Container
  • Masonry layout
  • Split screen
  • Z-index
  • Overflow

Components

  • Button variants
  • Modal
  • Drawer
  • Popover
  • Tooltip
  • Dropdown menu
  • Context menu
  • Toast notification
  • Tabs
  • Segmented control
  • Accordion
  • Carousel
  • Command palette
  • Combobox
  • Toggle switch
  • Checkbox
  • Radio button
  • Date picker
  • Breadcrumb
  • Pagination
  • Infinite scroll
  • Badge
  • Avatar stack
  • Empty state
  • Skeleton screen
  • Spinner
  • Progress bar
  • Data table
  • Stepper
  • Floating label
  • Inline validation
  • Alert banner
  • Tag input

States & patterns

  • Interaction states
  • Focus ring
  • Loading state
  • Optimistic UI
  • Debounce
  • Lazy loading
  • Dark mode
  • Micro-interaction
  • Affordance
  • Undo
  • Drag and drop
  • Keyboard shortcut

Visual styles

  • Glassmorphism
  • Liquid glass
  • Neumorphism
  • Claymorphism
  • Neo-brutalism
  • Skeuomorphism
  • Flat design
  • Mesh gradient
  • Aurora background
  • Grain texture
  • Glow effect
  • Drop shadow
  • Border radius
  • Grid background
  • Typographic hierarchy
  • Accent color
  • Color contrast

Vibe coding & AI

  • Vibe coding
  • Prompt
  • Context window
  • Token
  • AI agent
  • Tool call
  • Hallucination
  • Diff
  • Live preview
  • Checkpoint
  • Git commit
  • Deploy
  • Frontend and backend
  • API
  • Database
  • Rules file
  • MCP
  • Plan mode
  • Visual edit

translate(56px, -44px)