Ripple Distortion
Water over a photo: a height-field ripple simulation offsets every pixel by the local slope, so the pointer drags rings across the picture and a click drops a stone in. Canvas 2D.
- Category: Image
- Licence: Charcoal UI Pro
- Built with: React 19, Tailwind CSS 4, Motion
- Dependencies: motion, clsx, tailwind-merge
Examples
Ripple Distortion
API reference
| Prop | Type | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|---|
src | string | — | |
alt | string | — | |
strength | number | 0.6 | |
damping | number | 0.96 | How quickly ripples die out. |
radius | number | 3 | Touch radius in simulation cells. |
resolution | number | 160 | Simulation cells across; lower is faster. |
className | string | — |
About Ripple Distortion
Ripple Distortion puts water over a photo: a height-field simulation offsets every pixel by the local slope, so the pointer drags rings across the picture and a click drops a stone.
Ripple Distortion is an image effect 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 Ripple Distortion
- Water, travel and spa brands.
- Photography heroes.
- Interactive art.
- Summer campaigns.
How it works
The wave equation runs on a small grid each frame and redraws the image with offsets, all on canvas 2D.
Images keep their alt text, controls are keyboard operable, and the effect never hides the content it decorates. With prefers-reduced-motion on, it holds still or settles instantly instead of animating.
Customizing Ripple Distortion
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 strength, damping, radius live, and the Code tab updates to match, so the snippet you copy already carries your values.
- src (string).
- alt (string).
- strength (number, default 0.6).
- damping (number, default 0.96): How quickly ripples die out.
- radius (number, default 3): Touch radius in simulation cells.
- resolution (number, default 160): Simulation cells across; lower is faster.
Goes well with Ripple Distortion
These image pieces share its tokens and motion language, so they sit together on one page without clashing.
- Parallax Image: A React parallax image that drifts slower than the page as you scroll
- Pixelate Reveal: A React pixelate reveal: images resolve from chunky pixels to full detail
- Image Reveal: A React image reveal: a clip-path wipe uncovers the image as it settles
- Zoom Lens: A React zoom lens: a magnifier follows the pointer over product images
- Ken Burns: A React Ken Burns slideshow: slow pan and zoom crossfading through images
Install Ripple Distortion
npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/ripple-distortionRipple Distortion 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 ripple-distortion.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 ripple distortion need WebGL?
- No. It runs a small wave simulation and redraws the image with offsets on canvas 2D, so it works wherever canvas does.
- How do I install Ripple Distortion?
- Ripple Distortion is part of Charcoal UI Pro. Add the @charcoal registry to components.json with your access token, then run npx shadcn@latest add @charcoal/ripple-distortion. It copies ripple-distortion.tsx into components/ui and installs motion, clsx, tailwind-merge.
- Is Ripple Distortion free for commercial use?
- Ripple Distortion 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 Ripple Distortion 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 Ripple Distortion?
- Yes. Connect the Charcoal UI MCP server (https://charcoalui.com/mcp) to Claude Code, Cursor or any MCP client; get_component returns Ripple Distortion's props and get_install_command returns the exact command.