Two-Column Layout Revisited

To create our overlay first we start with a two-column layout in CSS:

.floatl{float:left;}
.floatr{float:right;}
.widthr{width:459px;}
.widthl{width:259px;}
...
<div class="center">
	<div class="main left">
		<div class="floatr widthr">
			<img src="canoe459x310.jpg" width="459" height="310" alt="canoe in st lawrence" />
		</div>

		<div class="floatl widthl">
			<p>Text goes here</p>
			<div><img src="arrow-drop.gif" width="259" height="122" alt="arrow with drop shadow">
			</div>
		</div>
	</div>
</div>

This creates a two-column layout that works in Windows (IE6, Opera 8.53, and Firefox 1.07) and Mac (Safari). Mac IE 5.x is notorious for its partial and buggy support of CSS, and we find using absolute positioning to be the only way to make IE Mac behave. We'll address that later in this tutorial. Note that you must specify a width for the right DIV or Safari breaks this layout.

Creating the Overlay

Next we create the overlay by shifting the left column to the right, to overlap the arrow top on top of the image in the second column. To do this we add a class on our left DIV of "bumpright" which uses relative positioning to bump the column to the right. While we're at it we'll narrow the textual part of our left column so the shift won't overlap the text.

.floatl{float:left;}
.floatr{float:right;}
.widthr{width:459px;}
.widthl{width:259px;}
.width230{width:230px;}
.bumpright{position:relative;left:17px} /* mac ie5.x doesn't like position relative */
...
<div class="center">
	<div class="main left">
		<div class="floatr widthr">
			<img src="canoe459x310.jpg" width="459" height="310" alt="canoe in st lawrence" />
		</div>

		<div class="floatl widthl bumpright">
			<div class="width230">
				<p>Text goes here</p>
				<div><img src="arrow-drop.gif" width="259" height="122" alt="arrow with drop shadow">
				</div>
			</div>
		</div>
	</div>
</div>

Which looks like this.

Text goes here

Halo around Dropshadow

Note the halo of white anti-aliased pixels around the tip of our drop-shadowed arrow. The trick to avoid this is to create a non-antialiased monochromatic drop-shadow.

Overlay Text on the Overlay

Now we can overlay some text on top of our drop shadowed arrow. We do this by adding a block of text below our arrow, and bumping it up with relative positioning. We also create another class "up" to bump up the content that follows. Note that Mac IE5.x doesn't like relative positioning, so we zero it out later using conditional CSS.

.up{position:relative;top:-70px;}
.position2{position:relative;top:-105px;left:10px;text-align:left}
...
<div class="position2 bold red medium">
CSS Overlays<br>can create a peaceful<br>scene like this with<br>fewer HTTP requests<br>no slicing required!
</div>

Dealing with IE5.x Mac

If your client requires compatibility with IE 5.x Mac, you have some more work to do. Internet Explorer Mac (5.1 and 5.2 at least) doesn't fully support multiple floats and some relative positioning. My best advice is test your creations on different browsers and try different things. I used variations on the Tantek hack to hide some offending styles from IE 5.x Mac, and only show IE5.x-friendly styles to IE5.x Mac (namely absolute positioning). By adding another class to our left column (position3) to absolutely position this column and nullifying the "floatl," we effectively toggle the float left off, and absolutely position the column for only IE 5.x Mac.

/* ie5 mac positioning styles must be absolute, tantek hack follows */

/* Hide from IE-Mac \*/ 
.up{position:relative;top:-70px;}
.up2{position:relative;top:-80px;}
/* End hide */

/*\*//*/
.position3{position:absolute;top:265px;left:108px;}
.up{margin-top:0em;}
.up2{margin-top:0em;}
.floatl{};
/**/ 

<div class="floatl width259 bumpright position3">

The final code works in all version 5 browsers tested.

<style type="text/css">
<!--
.main3{width:718px;margin-left:auto;margin-right:auto;text-align:left}
.center{text-align:center}
.floatr{float:right}
.floatl{float:left}
.left{text-align:left}
.width459{width:459px;} /* must have width to work in safari */
.width259{width:259px;}
.width230{width:230px;}
.bold{font-weight:bold}
.medium{font-size:14px}
.position2{position:relative;top:-105px;left:10px;text-align:left}
.red{color:#a52742;}
.clear{clear:both;}

.bumpright{position:relative;left:17px} /* mac ie5.x doesn't like position relative */

.bumpup{margin-top:-5px;margin-bottom:4px;} /* for plus image to bump up to align w text and gap below */

/* ie5 mac positioning styles must be absolute, tantek hack follows */

/* Hide from IE-Mac \*/ 
.up{position:relative;top:-70px;}
/* End hide */

/*\*//*/
.position3{position:absolute;top:265px;left:108px;}
.up{margin-top:0em;}
.floatl{};
/**/ 

-->
</style>

<div class="center">
	<div class="main3 left">
		<div class="floatr width459">
			<img src="canoe459x310.jpg" width="459" height="310" alt="canoe in st lawrence" />
		</div>
		<div class="floatl width259 bumpright position3">
			<div class="width230">
				<h5>Figure 1: St. Lawrence Overlay</h5>
<p>A peaceful morning in the St. Lawrence is broken only by the gentle call of the loon. 
This effect shows a blue arrow overlaying a blue-toned scene with a canoe seemingly floating 
in space.</p>
			</div>
<div><img src="arrow-drop.gif" width="259" height="122" alt="arrow with drop shadow">
</div>
<div class="position2 bold red medium">
CSS Overlays<br>can create a peaceful<br>scene like this with<br>fewer HTTP requests<br>no slicing required!
</div>
			</div>
		</div>
	</div>
</div>

Conclusion

With careful use of CSS and some workarounds for IE 5.x Mac you can make CSS overlays work for modern browsers. CSS overlays use positioning to shift web objects vertically and horizontally to overlay other objects for a layered effect. Be sure to test your creation in other browsers.