Can grid motion use text instead of images?

Yes. Items can be image URLs or plain text, so a grid of words works as well as a grid of photos.

How do I install Grid Motion?

Grid Motion is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/grid-motion. It copies grid-motion.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.

Is Grid Motion free for commercial use?

Grid Motion needs a Charcoal UI Pro seat, monthly or a one-time lifetime price. A seat covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, including client work, and every future Pro component.

Does Grid Motion work with Next.js?

Yes. It is a client component for React 19 styled with Tailwind CSS 4, so it works in the Next.js App Router and Pages Router, Vite, Remix and Astro.

Can an AI coding agent install Grid Motion?

Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Grid Motion's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Grid Motion

Rows of image and text tiles on a tilted plane that slide in alternating directions as the pointer crosses the section. Rows drift on their own, so it is never frozen.

Category: Backgrounds
Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge

Examples

Grid Motion

Sweep the pointer left and right; the rows follow with a lag and settle back.

API reference

Prop	Type	Default	Description
`items`	`string[]`	—	Image URLs or short strings; mixed is fine. Each row cycles through the whole list.
`rows`	`number`	`4`
`speed`	`number`	`1`	Idle drift and pointer travel multiplier. 0 stops the drift.
`skew`	`number`	`-8`	Tilt of the plane in degrees.
`gap`	`number`	`12`	Gap between tiles in px.
`className`	`string`	—

About Grid Motion

Grid Motion lays rows of image and text tiles on a tilted plane that slide in alternating directions as the pointer crosses the section. Rows drift on their own too.

Grid Motion is an animated background for React 19, styled with Tailwind CSS 4 and animated with Motion. It drops into Next.js, Vite, Remix or Astro through the shadcn CLI as a single file you own.

When to use Grid Motion

Portfolio and agency heroes.
Template and theme galleries.
Customer showcases.
Event photo walls.

How it works

Rows translate on springs from pointer position and a slow drift. Tiles can be images or text, and the plane's skew is a prop.

The whole layer is decorative and aria-hidden, sits behind your content without taking pointer events it does not need, and pauses when scrolled off screen. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.

Customizing Grid Motion

Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.

The Customize panel next to the preview lets you change rows, speed, skew, gap live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.

items (string[]): Image URLs or short strings; mixed is fine. Each row cycles through the whole list.
rows (number, default 4).
speed (number, default 1): Idle drift and pointer travel multiplier. 0 stops the drift.
skew (number, default -8): Tilt of the plane in degrees.
gap (number, default 12): Gap between tiles in px.

The example on this page

Grid Motion: Sweep the pointer left and right; the rows follow with a lag and settle back.

Goes well with Grid Motion

These backgrounds pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.

Ember Field: An animated React ember background: glowing embers drift up and flicker as they cool
Smoke: A slow React smoke background: blurred plumes drifting over dark sections, CSS only
Aurora: An animated React aurora background: soft light bands drifting across a section
Grid Beams: A React grid background with beams of light running along its lines
Meteors: A React meteor shower background: streaks falling diagonally, CSS only

Install Grid Motion

npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/grid-motion

Grid Motion is part of Charcoal UI Pro. One seat unlocks all 300 Pro components, 107 landing-page sections and 100 full templates, for every personal and client project, with updates included. Add the @charcoal registry once with your access token, then the command above copies grid-motion.tsx into components/ui and installs clsx, tailwind-merge.

You own the file you install: no runtime package, no lock-in, nothing to keep in sync. Change it however your product needs.

See Charcoal UI Pro pricing · Pro setup

Frequently asked questions

Can grid motion use text instead of images?: Yes. Items can be image URLs or plain text, so a grid of words works as well as a grid of photos.
How do I install Grid Motion?: Grid Motion is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/grid-motion. It copies grid-motion.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
Is Grid Motion free for commercial use?: Grid Motion needs a Charcoal UI Pro seat, monthly or a one-time lifetime price. A seat covers unlimited personal and commercial projects, including client work, and every future Pro component.
Does Grid Motion work with Next.js?: Yes. It is a client component for React 19 styled with Tailwind CSS 4, so it works in the Next.js App Router and Pages Router, Vite, Remix and Astro.
Can an AI coding agent install Grid Motion?: Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Grid Motion's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.

Grid Motion as Markdown · llms.txt