Image Lightbox
Thumbnails zoom into a full-screen viewer. Swipe or use the arrow keys to move between images.
- Category: Display
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Image Lightbox
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
images | { src: string; alt: string }[] | — |
About Image Lightbox
Image Lightbox zooms thumbnails into a full-screen viewer with a shared-element transition. Swipe or use the arrow keys to move between images, Escape to close.
Image Lightbox is a display component 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 Image Lightbox
- Photo galleries.
- Product image viewers.
- Portfolio work.
- Documentation screenshots.
How it works
Thumbnails and the full image share a layoutId, so the zoom is continuous. The viewer is a modal dialog with focus trapping and keyboard navigation.
Interactive parts are buttons or links with accessible names, decorative layers are hidden from assistive tech, and everything is reachable by keyboard. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Image Lightbox
Every prop is documented in the API reference above with its type and default. The ones you will reach for first are listed here.
Style it with className like any other element. It only uses your theme's tokens, so it follows light and dark mode without extra work.
- images ({ src: string; alt: string }[]).
Goes well with Image Lightbox
These display pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.
- Tilt Card: A 3D tilt card for React that leans toward the pointer with a moving glare
- Spotlight Card: A React spotlight card: an accent glow follows the pointer across card and border
- Sortable List: A drag-to-reorder React list with lifted shadows and keyboard sorting
- Card Stack: A swipeable React card stack where the next card rises to meet you
- Image Compare: A React before and after image comparison slider you can drag anywhere
Install Image Lightbox
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/image-lightboxImage Lightbox 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 image-lightbox.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
- Does the lightbox support swipe on mobile?
- Yes. Swipe left or right to move between images, or use the arrow keys on desktop. Escape closes it and returns focus to the thumbnail.
- How do I install Image Lightbox?
- Image Lightbox is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/image-lightbox. It copies image-lightbox.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Image Lightbox free for commercial use?
- Image Lightbox 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 Image Lightbox 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 Image Lightbox?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Image Lightbox's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.