Parallax Scrolling and Image Overlays in EverWeb

January 7th, 2021

EverWeb 3.4 introduced the exciting new Parallax Scrolling effect. When you apply parallax scrolling as you scroll the page up and down, the foreground object moves and background image also moves, but at a slower speed. This gives the visual impression of motion and is a great effect to use in your website!

Prerequisites For Use Parallax Scrolling

To use Parallax Scrolling in your website you will need EverWeb 3.4 or higher. The effect can be used in any page layout type – Centered, Left Aligned or Responsive. The only other thing you will need is an appropriate image to use as a full width background image.

Choosing a Great Background Image

Perhaps the most important thing to consider when using Parallax Scrolling is the image itself. There are no specific rules in this respect but there are some useful hints that are good to remember:

  1. A simple page design will bring out the best in the Parallax Scrolling effect as the visual will be front and center and so more attention grabbing for anyone visiting the page.
  2. Use the most visually interesting images towards the top of the page if possible. This is a good way to hook visitors so that they continue to scroll down the page.
  3. Any ‘Call to Actions’, such as buttons on the page, should also be more towards the top of the page if possible.
  4. An image is a great way to tell a story so make sure that you use images that effectively do this. Using Parallax Scrolling at various points in your page is a perfect way to tell stories. Check out any news websites to see how they use this technique for in-depth stories on people or events.
  5. Check how the effect looks on different devices as Parallax Scrolling will look different on a mobile phone than on a desktop screen!

Setting Up Parallax Scrolling

Once you have found your image(s), you can drag and drop them in to the Assets List of your EverWeb project file. Alternatively, you can add these files in to your project when creating the Parallax Scrolling effect.

You can apply a Parallax Scrolling effect to any full width object has a background image. Begin by selecting the full width object that you want to add a background image to. This could be e.g. a full width TextBox, Shape or widget such as a Responsive Row widget.

After selecting the object that you want, go to the Shape Options tab in the Inspector Window. In the Fill section, click on the dropdown menu below the word ‘Fill’. By default, this dropdown menu is set to ‘None’. Change the option to ‘Image Fill’.

Use the Fill ‘Type’ dropdown menu to select the type of fill that you want. For Parallax Scrolling to be available, you must use either the ‘Scale to Fill’, ‘Stretch’ or ‘Tile’ option. When you select one of these options, the Parallax Scrolling section becomes available. By default, Parallax Scrolling is enabled.

Note that when you have Parallax Scrolling selected, you will not see the effect. To see the effect in action, Preview or Publish your site.

Image Overlays

The introduction of Parallax Scrolling to EverWeb, was accompanied by the introduction of a second feature useful image manipulation feature: image overlays. An image overlay is a color that is placed on top of the image. The opacity of the overlaid color can be altered to achieve the effect that you want.

This effect is often used when the background image needs ‘toning down’ so that the objects in the foreground become more visible. Previously in EverWeb you would have had to have covered the image with a rectangle shape and change the shape’s opacity to achieve the same effect.

EverWeb’s new Parallax Scrolling and Image Overlay features give you two new ways to create an even better website effortlessly!

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