scale()

The scale() CSS function modifies the size of the element. It can either augment or decrease its size and as the amount of scaling is defined by a vector, it can do so more in one direction than in another one.

This transformation is characterized by a vector whose coordinates define how much scaling is done in each direction. If both coordinates of the vector are equal, the scaling is uniform, or isotropic, and the shape of the element is preserved. In that case, the scaling function defines a homothetic transformation.

When outside the [-1, 1] range, the scaling enlarges the element in the direction of the coordinate; when inside the range, it shrinks the element in that direction. When equal to 1 it does nothing and when negative it performs a point reflection and the size modification.

Syntax

scale(sx) or
scale(sx, sy)

Values

sx

Is a <number> representing the abscissa of the scaling vector.

sy

Is a <number> representing the ordinate of the scaling vector. If not present, its default value is sx, leading to a uniform scaling preserving the shape of the element.

Examples

Scaling the X and Y dimensions together

HTML

<p>foo</p>
<p class="transformed">bar</p>

CSS

p { 
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
  background-color: teal;
}

.transformed {
  /* the same as transform: scaleX(2) scaleY(2);*/
  transform: scale(2);
  background-color: blue;
}

Result

Scaling X and Y dimensions separately, and translating the origin

HTML

<p>foo</p>
<p class="transformed">bar</p>

CSS

p { 
  width: 50px;
  height: 50px;
  background-color: teal;
}

.transformed {
  /* same as scaleX(2) scaleY(0.5) */
  transform: scale(2, 0.5);
  transform-origin: left;
  background-color: blue;
}

Result