# Pixel Reveal

> Lazy images come into focus: a flat placeholder holds their place, then the decoded image is drawn on a canvas in four pixel steps before turning sharp. Cached images show at once.

Image effects · image, lazy-load, pixel, canvas, loading, placeholder, wordpress · HTML, CSS, vanilla JS · no dependencies · updated 2026-11-05
Demo: https://kodza.dev/components/pixel-reveal/
Source on GitHub: https://github.com/kodza-dev/kodza/tree/main/components/pixel-reveal

## Files

The code below, served as files: byte for byte what the Kodza site copies (the CSS includes its theme guard).

- [`kodza-pixel-reveal.css`](https://kodza.dev/registry/pixel-reveal/kodza-pixel-reveal.css) · 6.0 KB
- [`kodza-pixel-reveal.js`](https://kodza.dev/registry/pixel-reveal/kodza-pixel-reveal.js) · 15.2 KB
- [`kodza-pixel-reveal.html`](https://kodza.dev/registry/pixel-reveal/kodza-pixel-reveal.html) · 0.5 KB · the markup, to adapt and paste into your page

**Can you run shell commands? Download the CSS and the JS, don't retype them.** Retyping costs thousands of tokens and can drop or change lines of the CSS. Put the files where your stack expects them (Use it says where: change the `-o` paths):

```bash
curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o kodza/kodza-pixel-reveal.css https://kodza.dev/registry/pixel-reveal/kodza-pixel-reveal.css
curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o kodza/kodza-pixel-reveal.js https://kodza.dev/registry/pixel-reveal/kodza-pixel-reveal.js
```

Then load the files from your page as Use it shows, instead of pasting the content. The HTML is the part you adapt (text, links, modifiers): paste it from the Code section. Copy the CSS and the JS from the Code section only if you can't run commands, exactly as they are. (Windows PowerShell: `curl.exe`.)

**Its images are free to use in what you ship** (Kodza house images, Kodza License). The HTML loads them from kodza.dev, whose addresses can change: copy them into the project and point each `src` to the copy (a Claude artifact embeds them instead, as Use it says).

```bash
curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o kodza/media/kz-arch-1400.webp https://kodza.dev/media/kz-arch-1400.webp
curl -fsSL --create-dirs -o kodza/media/kz-arch-2400.webp https://kodza.dev/media/kz-arch-2400.webp
```

## API

- Root: `.kodza-pixel-reveal`
- Variables (set them on the root element itself: it declares its own defaults):
  - `--kz-pixel-reveal-radius: calc(16px * var(--kz-radius-scale, 1))`
  - `--kz-pixel-reveal-muted: rgba(10, 10, 10, 0.62)`
  - `--kz-pixel-reveal-mono: var(--kz-font-mono, "Geist Mono", ui-monospace, "SF Mono", Menlo, monospace)`
- Attributes:
  - `data-target`
- Lifecycle: `kodza:init` / `kodza:destroy` on `document`, with `{ detail: { root } }` to target a container.

## Images

The shape of each image slot, measured in the demo at 1440 × 900 (desktop) and 390 × 844 (mobile). Where the shape is fixed, the frame crops the image to it: export in that shape, keep the subject near the centre, at twice the widest size shown (sharp on retina screens).

| Slot | Desktop | Mobile | Widest shown |
| --- | --- | --- | --- |
| `.kodza-pixel-reveal__image` | any: the frame follows the image | any: the frame follows the image | 340 px |

## Dark mode

The values Kodza uses on a dark background (`#0a0a0a`). For a page that follows the system theme, add them after the component's CSS:

```css
@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark) {
  .kodza-pixel-reveal {
    --kz-pixel-reveal-placeholder: rgba(255, 255, 255, 0.08);
    --kz-pixel-reveal-muted: rgba(242, 242, 240, 0.7);
  }
}
```

A site with its own theme switch puts the same rules under its dark selector instead (`[data-theme="dark"] .kodza-pixel-reveal { … }`); a single dark section, under that section's class.

Its images have dark versions next to them (`kz-arch-1400.webp` → `kz-arch-dark-1400.webp`). To swap them on a dark page: `<picture><source media="(prefers-color-scheme: dark)" srcset="…-dark-….webp"><img …></picture>`.

## Use it

### Plain HTML page

- CSS: `kodza/kodza-pixel-reveal.css` next to the page (the Files commands as they are), linked in `<head>`: `<link rel="stylesheet" href="kodza/kodza-pixel-reveal.css">`. Without a shell, paste it in a `<style>` in `<head>` instead. It only touches `kodza-` classes.
- HTML: where the component goes. Paste it as many times as you need: instances never interfere.
- JS: `kodza/kodza-pixel-reveal.js`, loaded with `<script src="kodza/kodza-pixel-reveal.js" defer></script>` in `<head>`. Without a shell, paste it in a `<script>` before `</body>` (or in `<head>`: it waits for the page). One copy per page, whatever the number of instances.
- Restyle with the `--kz-…` variables, set on the component's root element itself (the root declares its own defaults, so a value on an ancestor is ignored), and with the modifiers / attributes listed under API.
- Font: it takes the page's own. A site with its own type sets it once for every Kodza component, on `:root`, never by editing the CSS (unset, nothing changes): `--kz-font-label`, the face of the small labels (meta, captions, counters, hints, footer links, button labels); `--kz-font-label-size`, their size, one for all of them (`11px`…); `--kz-font-label-weight`, their weight; `--kz-font-label-tracking`, their letter-spacing; `--kz-font-label-case`, their case (`uppercase`…; code and units keep theirs); `--kz-font-label-leading`, their line-height (`1.45`…; buttons, pills and keys keep their box); `--kz-font-mono`, the monospace face (code, labels, counters). The Kodza look is Geist: `<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Geist:wght@400;500;600;700&family=Geist+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap">`.
- Corners: a site with its own shapes sets them once for every Kodza component, on `:root`, never by editing the CSS (unset, nothing changes): `--kz-radius-scale` multiplies every corner (`0` square, `0.5` softer, `1` Kodza).
- Motion: a site sets its pace once for every Kodza component, on `:root`, never by editing the CSS or the JS: `--kz-motion-scale` multiplies every duration (`0.5` twice as fast, `2` twice as slow, `0` no motion at all, loops stopped, like reduced motion). Unset, nothing changes.
- Content added later (AJAX navigation, a SPA route, a builder preview): start it with `document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:init', { detail: { root: container } }))`; before removing it, the same call with `'kodza:destroy'` stops it and puts the original markup back.

### Claude artifact (claude.ai)

- Paste the CSS in a `<style>` and the JS in a `<script>` at the end, in the artifact itself: it loads stylesheets only from Google Fonts and scripts only from a few CDNs, so no `<link>` or `<script src>` to Kodza.
- Writing the artifact file with a shell? Insert the downloaded files (Files) with a command instead of retyping them: a line `KODZA-CSS` alone inside the `<style>`, `KODZA-JS` inside the `<script>`, then `sed -e '/^KODZA-CSS$/{r kodza/kodza-pixel-reveal.css' -e 'd' -e '}' -e '/^KODZA-JS$/{r kodza/kodza-pixel-reveal.js' -e 'd' -e '}' page.html > artifact.html`.
- Font: load Geist from Google Fonts (allowed): `<link rel="stylesheet" href="https://fonts.googleapis.com/css2?family=Geist:wght@400;500;600;700&family=Geist+Mono:wght@400;500&display=swap">`. A site with its own type sets it once for every Kodza component, on `:root`, never by editing the CSS (unset, nothing changes): `--kz-font-label`, the face of the small labels (meta, captions, counters, hints, footer links, button labels); `--kz-font-label-size`, their size, one for all of them (`11px`…); `--kz-font-label-weight`, their weight; `--kz-font-label-tracking`, their letter-spacing; `--kz-font-label-case`, their case (`uppercase`…; code and units keep theirs); `--kz-font-label-leading`, their line-height (`1.45`…; buttons, pills and keys keep their box); `--kz-font-mono`, the monospace face (code, labels, counters).
- Corners: a site with its own shapes sets them once for every Kodza component, on `:root`, never by editing the CSS (unset, nothing changes): `--kz-radius-scale` multiplies every corner (`0` square, `0.5` softer, `1` Kodza).
- Motion: a site sets its pace once for every Kodza component, on `:root`, never by editing the CSS or the JS: `--kz-motion-scale` multiplies every duration (`0.5` twice as fast, `2` twice as slow, `0` no motion at all, loops stopped, like reduced motion). Unset, nothing changes.
- Images: the artifact blocks every other host, `kodza.dev` included, without an error. Embed each one as a `data:` URI, with a command if you can run one (`curl -s <url> | base64`; the 1400 px files weigh 10 to 30 KB), never by typing base64 out. If you can't run commands, keep the `<img>` with its `width` and `height`, and tell the user the picture stays blank inside the artifact.
- Dark mode: the viewer sets `data-theme="dark"` or `"light"` on `<html>`, or nothing when it follows the system. Write the Dark mode rules twice: inside `@media (prefers-color-scheme: dark)` with `:root:not([data-theme="light"])` in front of each selector, and with `:root[data-theme="dark"]` in front of each selector.

### WordPress

- HTML: a **Custom HTML** block (or a pattern / template part). WordPress keeps this markup as it is only for users allowed to post unfiltered HTML (Administrators; Super Admins on multisite): for anyone else it strips tags such as `<svg>`, `<input>` or `<dialog>`, so add it from the theme (a pattern or template part) instead.
- CSS and JS: the downloaded files go in the theme, under `wp-content/themes/<your-theme>/kodza/` (the child theme if there is one), enqueued from its functions.php (or a code-snippets plugin):
  ```php
  add_action('wp_enqueue_scripts', function () {
    $dir = get_stylesheet_directory() . '/kodza/';
    $uri = get_stylesheet_directory_uri() . '/kodza/';
    wp_enqueue_style('kodza-pixel-reveal', $uri . 'kodza-pixel-reveal.css', [], filemtime($dir . 'kodza-pixel-reveal.css'));
    wp_enqueue_script('kodza-pixel-reveal', $uri . 'kodza-pixel-reveal.js', [], filemtime($dir . 'kodza-pixel-reveal.js'), true);
  });
  ```
  Scoped to `kodza-` classes, the CSS never touches the theme. One copy of the JS, whatever the number of blocks.
- No access to the theme files? The CSS can also go, as it is, in **Appearance → Customize → Additional CSS** (classic theme) or **Styles → Additional CSS** in the Site Editor (block theme).
- Theme with AJAX page transitions: fire `kodza:init` on the new content after each swap (and `kodza:destroy` on the old one).
- Performance plugin (WP Rocket, LiteSpeed Cache, Perfmatters…) with **Delay JavaScript execution** turned on: add `kodza` to the scripts it must not delay. Otherwise the component waits for the visitor's first scroll, tap or mouse move, and that first click can be lost.
- Colours: it takes the colour of the text around it (or keeps its own monochrome): nothing to point at the theme.
- WordPress turns straight quotes and `--` into typographic ones in the text of a Custom HTML block (not inside `<code>` or `<pre>`).

#### With Elementor

- HTML: an **HTML** widget (Elementor shows it to administrators only). It keeps the code exactly as pasted, straight quotes included.
- CSS and JS: as above. Elementor's Site Settings → Theme Style styles every button, field, link and image of the page, components included; the theme guard at the end of the CSS keeps the component's buttons, fields and link colours as they are.
- The Elementor editor redraws each widget after the page has loaded: without the script below, the component stays still in the editor preview (the published page works). Add it once per site, in the footer like the component's script (`kodza/elementor-editor.js`, or a code-snippets plugin):

```js
// Kodza in the Elementor editor: the editor redraws each HTML widget after the page has loaded.
// Start Kodza in what it draws, stop it in what it replaces or removes. Once per site.
window.addEventListener('elementor/frontend/init', () => {
  if (!elementorFrontend.isEditMode()) return;
  class KodzaWidget extends elementorModules.frontend.handlers.Base {
    onInit() {
      super.onInit();
      this.kodza = [...this.$element[0].children];
      document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:init', { detail: { root: this.$element[0] } }));
    }
    onDestroy() {
      super.onDestroy();
      this.kodza.forEach((root) => document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:destroy', { detail: { root } })));
    }
  }
  elementorFrontend.elementsHandler.attachHandler('html', KodzaWidget);
});
```

- No child theme: everything can go in the HTML widget instead, `<style>` with the CSS, the HTML, then `<script>` with the JS. It works on the page and in the editor without the script above.

### Shopify

- Files: `assets/kodza-pixel-reveal.css` and `assets/kodza-pixel-reveal.js` (the Files commands with `-o assets/…`).
- In the section: `{{ 'kodza-pixel-reveal.css' | asset_url | stylesheet_tag }}` and `<script src="{{ 'kodza-pixel-reveal.js' | asset_url }}" defer></script>`, then the HTML.
- The theme editor re-renders sections: restart them with
  `document.addEventListener('shopify:section:load', (e) => document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:init', { detail: { root: e.target } })));`
  and the same with `shopify:section:unload` → `kodza:destroy`.

### React / Next.js

- Files, side by side (e.g. in `components/kodza/`): `PixelReveal.tsx` (below), the CSS block under Code saved as `pixel-reveal.css` and the JS block as `pixel-reveal.js`, both as they are. The HTML block is already inside the component: skip it.
- Use it: `import { PixelReveal } from '@/components/kodza/PixelReveal';` then `<PixelReveal />`. Props: `vars` (the `--kz-…` variables listed under API, e.g. `vars={{ '--kz-pixel-reveal-radius': … }}`), `className`, `style` and the other props of its `<figure>` (`onClick`, `aria-…`).
- Next.js App Router: it is a Client Component already (`'use client'`). Pages Router: Next.js takes global CSS only in `pages/_app`, so move the `import './pixel-reveal.css'` line there.
- Safe under StrictMode, client-side navigation and prop changes: when a prop changes, the `key` gives React a fresh element, `kodza:destroy` stops the script on the old one and `kodza:init` starts it on the new one.
- Built from your data (tabs, rows, options)? Add what the markup is made of to the `key`, as plain values (ids, text, numbers). What the visitor changes (the open tab, the sort, what they type) is the script's: follow it with `onClick` or `onInput` on the root, and change it from your code as a visitor would (click the tab; set the field's value, then dispatch a bubbling `input` event). Fields stay uncontrolled (`defaultValue`, `name`).

```tsx
'use client';
// Kodza — Pixel Reveal, for React. From https://kodza.dev/components/pixel-reveal/
// Kodza License: free to use, client work included. Not to resell or redistribute, ported or not: https://kodza.dev/docs/#print-license
// Next to this file: pixel-reveal.css and pixel-reveal.js, the component's CSS and JS from Kodza, as they are.
// Yours to edit: the markup is plain JSX below.
// The script changes this markup once React has rendered it (it adds layers, splits text, moves
// nodes), so React must not patch it afterwards. When a prop changes, the key gives React a fresh
// element: kodza:destroy stops the script on the old one, kodza:init starts it on the new one.
// data-kodza-manual keeps the script from starting it on its own: the effect below does, once
// React has hydrated the markup (on a page that streams in, the script can load first).
// Built from your data (tabs, rows, options)? Put what the markup is made of in the key, as plain
// values (ids, text, numbers): a change starts the script again on fresh markup. What the visitor
// changes (the open tab, the sort, what they type) is the script's: keep it out of the key, follow
// it with onClick or onInput on the root, and change it from your code as a visitor would (click
// the tab; set the field's value, then dispatch a bubbling input event).
import { useRef, useEffect, type ComponentPropsWithoutRef, type ComponentRef, type CSSProperties } from 'react';
import './pixel-reveal.css';

export type PixelRevealProps = Omit<ComponentPropsWithoutRef<'figure'>, "children" | "vars"> & {
  /** Settings, as CSS variables on the root */
  vars?: {
    /** default: calc(16px * var(--kz-radius-scale, 1)) */
    "--kz-pixel-reveal-radius"?: string | number;
    /** default: rgba(10, 10, 10, 0.62) */
    "--kz-pixel-reveal-muted"?: string | number;
    /** default: var(--kz-font-mono, "Geist Mono", ui-monospace, "SF Mono", Menlo, monospace) */
    "--kz-pixel-reveal-mono"?: string | number;
  };
  className?: string;
};

export function PixelReveal({ vars, className, style, ...rest }: PixelRevealProps) {
  const ref = useRef<ComponentRef<'figure'>>(null);
  const classes = ["kodza-pixel-reveal", className].filter(Boolean).join(' ');
  // Everything the markup is made of: when it changes, React gets a fresh element (see the top)
  const key = JSON.stringify([classes, vars, style, rest]);

  // Starts the script on this element once React has rendered it, stops it when it goes
  useEffect(() => {
    const root = ref.current;
    let live = true;
    // @ts-ignore: a plain script, no types to find
    import('./pixel-reveal.js').then(() => {
      if (live) document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:init', { detail: { root } }));
    });
    return () => {
      live = false;
      document.dispatchEvent(new CustomEvent('kodza:destroy', { detail: { root } }));
    };
  }, [key]);

  return (
    <figure key={key} {...rest} className={classes} data-kodza-manual style={{ ...vars, ...style } as CSSProperties} ref={ref}>
      <img className="kodza-pixel-reveal__image" src="https://kodza.dev/media/kz-arch-1400.webp" srcSet="https://kodza.dev/media/kz-arch-1400.webp 1400w, https://kodza.dev/media/kz-arch-2400.webp 2400w" sizes="(min-width: 760px) 360px, 100vw" width="1400" height="1400" alt="A concrete arch opening onto a pale sky" loading="lazy" decoding="async" />
      <figcaption className="kodza-pixel-reveal__caption">
        <span>Arch · Le Havre</span>
        {' '}
        <span>No fake loading</span>
      </figcaption>
    </figure>
  );
}
```

## Code

```html
<figure class="kodza-pixel-reveal">
  <img class="kodza-pixel-reveal__image" src="https://kodza.dev/media/kz-arch-1400.webp" srcset="https://kodza.dev/media/kz-arch-1400.webp 1400w, https://kodza.dev/media/kz-arch-2400.webp 2400w" sizes="(min-width: 760px) 360px, 100vw" width="1400" height="1400" alt="A concrete arch opening onto a pale sky" loading="lazy" decoding="async">
  <figcaption class="kodza-pixel-reveal__caption">
    <span>Arch · Le Havre</span>
    <span>No fake loading</span>
  </figcaption>
</figure>
```

```css
/* Kodza License: free to use, client work included. Not to resell or redistribute, ported or not: https://kodza.dev/docs/#print-license */
/* Kodza — Pixel Reveal
   A lazy image does not drop in: it comes into focus, from big pixels to sharp. The script draws
   the steps on a canvas laid over the image; this file only styles the figure, its caption and
   that canvas. Everything is tuned with the --kz-pixel-reveal-* variables, the steps with the
   constants at the top of the script; with data-target, the images of a content already on the
   page (a WordPress post) are taken over, the empty root stays out of sight. */
.kodza-pixel-reveal {
  --kz-pixel-reveal-placeholder: rgba(10, 10, 10, 0.06); /* the flat colour that holds the place until the image is there */
  --kz-pixel-reveal-radius: calc(16px * var(--kz-radius-scale, 1));
  --kz-pixel-reveal-muted: rgba(10, 10, 10, 0.62);
  --kz-pixel-reveal-mono: var(--kz-font-mono, "Geist Mono", ui-monospace, "SF Mono", Menlo, monospace);

  display: block;
  width: 100%;
  margin: 0;
}

/* data-target: the root is only a pointer to the content, never seen */
.kodza-pixel-reveal[data-target] {
  display: none;
}

/* The image: a real one, its width and height attributes holding its place, never stretched */
.kodza-pixel-reveal__image {
  display: block;
  width: 100%;
  max-width: none;
  height: auto;
  margin: 0;
  border-radius: var(--kz-pixel-reveal-radius);
  object-fit: cover;
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal__caption {
  display: flex;
  justify-content: space-between;
  gap: 16px;
  margin: 12px 0 0;
  font-family: var(--kz-font-label, var(--kz-pixel-reveal-mono));
  font-size: var(--kz-font-label-size, 11.5px);
  font-weight: var(--kz-font-label-weight, 500);
  letter-spacing: var(--kz-font-label-tracking, 0.04em);
  text-transform: var(--kz-font-label-case, uppercase);
  line-height: var(--kz-font-label-leading, 16px);
  color: var(--kz-pixel-reveal-muted);
}

/* The canvas the script lays over an image, shown only while it arrives: the flat colour, then
   the steps, each pixel a sharp square. Out of use it stays in the figure, hidden and 1 px wide */
.kodza-pixel-reveal__canvas {
  position: absolute;
  z-index: 1;
  display: block;
  box-sizing: border-box;
  max-width: none;
  margin: 0;
  padding: 0;
  border: 0;
  background-color: transparent;
  background-image: linear-gradient(var(--kz-pixel-reveal-placeholder, rgba(10, 10, 10, 0.06)), var(--kz-pixel-reveal-placeholder, rgba(10, 10, 10, 0.06)));
  image-rendering: pixelated;
  visibility: hidden;
  pointer-events: none;
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal__canvas.is-on {
  visibility: visible;
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal__canvas.is-drawn {
  background-image: none;
}

/* kodza-guard c964d518cc90 — generated by Kodza, do not edit.
   Theme guard: keeps a site's own CSS (WordPress themes, Bootstrap, CSS resets…) off this
   component. :not(#_) is always true and weighs as much as an id, so these lines win over
   theme rules made of classes and tags. Customise the component through its --kz-* variables. */

/* What the browser gives, on everything the component leaves to it */

.kodza-pixel-reveal:not(#_) {
  border: revert;
  padding: revert;
  border-radius: revert;
  outline: revert;
  text-decoration: revert;
  transition: revert;
  list-style: revert;
  box-sizing: revert;
  position: revert;
  background-color: revert;
  background-image: revert;
  box-shadow: revert;
  outline-offset: revert;
  appearance: revert;
  max-height: revert;
  color: revert;
  font-family: revert;
  font-size: revert;
  font-weight: revert;
  font-style: revert;
  line-height: revert;
  letter-spacing: revert;
  text-transform: revert;
  text-underline-offset: revert;
  text-align: revert;
  text-indent: revert;
  text-shadow: revert;
  vertical-align: revert;
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal__image:not(#_) {
  border: revert;
  padding: revert;
  outline: revert;
  text-decoration: revert;
  transition: revert;
  list-style: revert;
  box-sizing: revert;
  float: revert;
  position: revert;
  background-color: revert;
  background-image: revert;
  box-shadow: revert;
  outline-offset: revert;
  appearance: revert;
  max-height: revert;
  color: revert;
  font-family: revert;
  font-size: revert;
  font-weight: revert;
  font-style: revert;
  line-height: revert;
  letter-spacing: revert;
  text-transform: revert;
  text-underline-offset: revert;
  text-align: revert;
  text-indent: revert;
  text-shadow: revert;
  vertical-align: revert;
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal__caption:not(#_) {
  border: revert;
  padding: revert;
  border-radius: revert;
  outline: revert;
  text-decoration: revert;
  transition: revert;
  list-style: revert;
  box-sizing: revert;
  float: revert;
  position: revert;
  background-color: revert;
  background-image: revert;
  box-shadow: revert;
  outline-offset: revert;
  appearance: revert;
  max-width: revert;
  max-height: revert;
  font-style: revert;
  text-underline-offset: revert;
  text-align: revert;
  text-indent: revert;
  text-shadow: revert;
  vertical-align: revert;
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal__caption span:where(:not([class*="kodza-"])):not(#_) {
  box-sizing: revert;
}

/* The component's own rules, one step stronger: real buttons and fields, what it sets on tags themes style (links, lists, headings, images…), and the root width (a theme may narrow it, never widen it) */

.kodza-pixel-reveal:where(figure):not(#_) {
  display: block;
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal[data-target]:where(figure):not(#_) {
  display: none;
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal__image:not(#_) {
  display: block;
  max-width: none;
  margin: 0;
  border-radius: var(--kz-pixel-reveal-radius);
}

.kodza-pixel-reveal__caption:not(#_) {
  display: flex;
  margin: 12px 0 0;
  font-family: var(--kz-font-label, var(--kz-pixel-reveal-mono));
  font-size: var(--kz-font-label-size, 11.5px);
  font-weight: var(--kz-font-label-weight, 500);
  letter-spacing: var(--kz-font-label-tracking, 0.04em);
  text-transform: var(--kz-font-label-case, uppercase);
  line-height: var(--kz-font-label-leading, 16px);
  color: var(--kz-pixel-reveal-muted);
}
```

```js
// Kodza License: free to use, client work included. Not to resell or redistribute, ported or not: https://kodza.dev/docs/#print-license
// Kodza — Pixel Reveal
// A lazy image comes into focus instead of dropping in. Until its file is there, a canvas laid
// over it (hidden the rest of the time) holds its place in a flat colour; once it has really
// arrived (decode()), the canvas draws it in big pixels, then finer, four steps in half a
// second, and melts into the sharp image. An image already there (from the cache), or that arrives out of view, shows sharp at
// once: no fake loading. On a figure, its own images; with data-target, every image of a content
// already on the page (a WordPress post). The steps are the constants below, the flat colour is
// --kz-pixel-reveal-placeholder, and kodza:replay plays it again on the images already there.
(() => {
  const SELECTOR = '.kodza-pixel-reveal';
  const BLOCKS = [32, 16, 8, 4]; // the size of a pixel at each step, in CSS px, big to fine
  const STEP = 120; // ms each step stays on screen
  const FADE = 160; // ms of the last step melting into the sharp image
  const WAIT = 120; // ms an image must be watched still loading to earn the effect (a wait, not motion)
  const REPLAY_HOLD = 500; // ms of flat colour before a replay (a wait, not motion)
  const MIN_SIZE = 64; // px: anything smaller (an icon, an emoji) loads as usual
  const TARGET = 'article, main, .entry-content'; // what data-target looks for when left empty
  const reduceMotion = window.matchMedia('(prefers-reduced-motion: reduce)').matches;
  // The site's pace, --kz-motion-scale (set on :root, read on the instance): every duration of the
  // script times it, and 0 moves nothing, like reduced motion
  const paceOf = (el) => {
    const pace = parseFloat(getComputedStyle(el).getPropertyValue('--kz-motion-scale'));
    return pace >= 0 ? pace : 1;
  };
  // An image is taken by one root only, even when two of them point at the same post
  const taken = new WeakSet();

  // data-target: the content whose images it takes over, the one the root sits in, or else the
  // nearest one found from the root up
  const contentOf = (root) => {
    const selector = root.dataset.target || TARGET;
    const inside = root.closest(selector);
    if (inside) return inside;
    let scope = root.parentElement;
    while (scope && !scope.querySelector(selector)) scope = scope.parentElement;
    return scope?.querySelector(selector);
  };

  // While it loads, the image is held back (inline and important, over any lazy-load plugin):
  // half a file never paints. Its own inline opacity, if it had one, comes back after
  const hide = (img) => {
    const before = [img.style.getPropertyValue('opacity'), img.style.getPropertyPriority('opacity')];
    img.style.setProperty('opacity', '0', 'important');
    return () => {
      img.style.removeProperty('opacity');
      if (before[0]) img.style.setProperty('opacity', ...before);
      if (!img.getAttribute('style')) img.removeAttribute('style');
    };
  };

  const sheet = (width, height) => Object.assign(document.createElement('canvas'), { width, height });

  // Where the image is drawn in its box, as the page draws it (object-fit, object-position)
  const fitOf = (img, w, h) => {
    const style = getComputedStyle(img);
    let sx = w / img.naturalWidth;
    let sy = h / img.naturalHeight;
    if (style.objectFit === 'cover') sx = sy = Math.max(sx, sy);
    if (style.objectFit === 'contain') sx = sy = Math.min(sx, sy);
    if (style.objectFit === 'scale-down') sx = sy = Math.min(1, sx, sy);
    if (style.objectFit === 'none') sx = sy = 1;
    const dw = img.naturalWidth * sx;
    const dh = img.naturalHeight * sy;
    const [x, y] = style.objectPosition.split(' ');
    const offset = (value = '50%', room) => (value.endsWith('%') ? (room * parseFloat(value)) / 100 : parseFloat(value) || 0);
    return [offset(x, w - dw), offset(y, h - dh), dw, dh];
  };

  // The image at the size of its box, then halved again and again: each half averages four
  // pixels, so a big square keeps the true colour of its patch, not one stray pixel of it
  const levelsOf = (img, w, h) => {
    const levels = [sheet(w, h)];
    const ctx = levels[0].getContext('2d');
    ctx.imageSmoothingQuality = 'high';
    ctx.drawImage(img, ...fitOf(img, w, h));
    while (levels.at(-1).width > 2 && levels.at(-1).height > 2) {
      const last = levels.at(-1);
      const half = sheet(Math.ceil(last.width / 2), Math.ceil(last.height / 2));
      half.getContext('2d').drawImage(last, 0, 0, half.width, half.height);
      levels.push(half);
    }
    return levels;
  };

  // The canvas on the image, whatever the layout around it: sized to it, then moved by the gap
  // measured between the two, in the parent's own pixels (a parent scaled by a transform)
  const place = (canvas, img) => {
    const w = img.offsetWidth;
    canvas.style.width = `${w}px`;
    canvas.style.height = `${img.offsetHeight}px`;
    canvas.style.borderRadius = getComputedStyle(img).borderRadius;
    canvas.style.transform = 'none';
    const from = canvas.getBoundingClientRect();
    const to = img.getBoundingClientRect();
    const scale = to.width / w || 1;
    canvas.style.transform = `translate(${(to.left - from.left) / scale}px, ${(to.top - from.top) / scale}px)`;
  };

  // One instance, with its own state: two copies on a page never interfere. Everything it
  // starts is tied to `signal` (listeners get { signal }, observers and timers stop on its
  // 'abort' event), so kodza:destroy stops it all.
  function mount(root, signal) {
    const pace = paceOf(root);
    const still = reduceMotion || !pace; // the still path: no motion asked, by the visitor or the site
    const targeted = root.hasAttribute('data-target');
    const content = targeted ? contentOf(root) : root;
    if (!content) return;
    const images = [...content.querySelectorAll('img')].filter((img) => (targeted ? !img.closest(SELECTOR) : img.closest(SELECTOR) === root) && !taken.has(img));
    // Out of the root, a canvas does not inherit its colour: it gets it from the root
    const placeholder = getComputedStyle(root).getPropertyValue('--kz-pixel-reveal-placeholder');
    const covers = new Map(); // image → { canvas, timers, pending, fade }
    const seen = new Map(); // image → when it came into view, 0 while out of it
    const big = (img) => img.offsetWidth >= MIN_SIZE && img.offsetHeight >= MIN_SIZE;

    // Each image gets its canvas once, hidden until it is needed: the markup is the same whether
    // the file was in the cache or not
    const canvases = new Map(); // image → its canvas
    const canvasOf = (img) => {
      const canvas = sheet(1, 1);
      canvas.className = 'kodza-pixel-reveal__canvas';
      canvas.setAttribute('aria-hidden', 'true');
      if (targeted) canvas.style.setProperty('--kz-pixel-reveal-placeholder', placeholder);
      canvas.style.borderRadius = getComputedStyle(img).borderRadius;
      (img.parentElement?.tagName === 'PICTURE' ? img.parentElement : img).before(canvas);
      canvases.set(img, canvas);
    };

    // The flat colour over an image, at its size; the image itself waits under it, hidden, so
    // half a file never paints
    const cover = (img, pending) => {
      const canvas = canvases.get(img);
      canvas.width = canvas.height = 1;
      canvas.classList.remove('is-drawn');
      canvas.classList.add('is-on');
      const entry = { canvas, timers: [], pending, show: hide(img) };
      covers.set(img, entry);
      place(canvas, img);
      return entry;
    };

    // Back to the plain image: the canvas hides, back to 1 px (a hidden box still widens the
    // page if a resize left it bigger than its column), the image shows
    const drop = (img) => {
      const entry = covers.get(img);
      if (!entry) return;
      covers.delete(img);
      entry.timers.forEach(clearTimeout);
      entry.fade?.cancel();
      const { canvas } = entry;
      canvas.classList.remove('is-on', 'is-drawn');
      canvas.width = canvas.height = 1;
      ['width', 'height', 'transform'].forEach((prop) => canvas.style.removeProperty(prop));
      entry.show();
    };

    // Big pixels to sharp: one step every STEP ms, then the last one melts into the image
    const play = (img, entry) => {
      const w = img.offsetWidth;
      const h = img.offsetHeight;
      if (!img.naturalWidth || !big(img)) return drop(img);
      const { canvas } = entry;
      const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
      const levels = levelsOf(img, w, h);
      const later = (fn, ms) => entry.timers.push(setTimeout(fn, ms * pace));
      BLOCKS.forEach((block, i) => later(() => {
        const cols = Math.max(1, Math.round(w / block));
        const rows = Math.max(1, Math.round(h / block));
        canvas.width = cols;
        canvas.height = rows;
        ctx.imageSmoothingQuality = 'high';
        ctx.drawImage(levels.findLast((level) => level.width >= cols && level.height >= rows) || levels[0], 0, 0, cols, rows);
        canvas.classList.add('is-drawn');
        place(canvas, img);
      }, i * STEP));
      later(() => {
        entry.show();
        entry.fade = canvas.animate([{ opacity: 1 }, { opacity: 0 }], { duration: FADE * pace, easing: 'ease-out' });
        entry.fade.finished.then(() => drop(img), () => {});
      }, BLOCKS.length * STEP);
    };

    // The file is in. Once decoded (no jank on the first step), it plays if the visitor watched
    // the flat colour long enough; arrived out of view, or in a blink, it just shows
    const arrive = async (img) => {
      const entry = covers.get(img);
      if (!entry?.pending) return;
      entry.pending = false;
      await img.decode().catch(() => {});
      if (covers.get(img) !== entry) return;
      const since = seen.get(img);
      if (still || !since || performance.now() - since < WAIT) return drop(img);
      play(img, entry);
    };

    const watched = new IntersectionObserver((entries) => entries.forEach((entry) => {
      seen.set(entry.target, entry.isIntersecting ? performance.now() : 0);
    }));
    const sizes = new ResizeObserver(() => covers.forEach((entry, img) => place(entry.canvas, img)));

    images.forEach((img) => {
      taken.add(img);
      if (!big(img)) return;
      watched.observe(img);
      sizes.observe(img);
      if (img.parentElement) sizes.observe(img.parentElement);
      img.addEventListener('load', () => arrive(img), { signal });
      img.addEventListener('error', () => covers.get(img)?.pending && drop(img), { signal });
      canvasOf(img);
      // There already (from the cache), or broken: left as it is. With no file yet (a lazy
      // loader that sets src later), it waits like the others
      if (img.complete && (img.naturalWidth || img.currentSrc)) return;
      cover(img, true);
    });

    root.addEventListener('kodza:replay', () => {
      if (still) return;
      images.forEach((img) => {
        if (!img.complete || !img.naturalWidth || !big(img) || covers.get(img)?.pending) return;
        drop(img);
        const entry = cover(img, false);
        entry.timers.push(setTimeout(() => play(img, entry), REPLAY_HOLD));
      });
    }, { signal });

    signal.addEventListener('abort', () => {
      watched.disconnect();
      sizes.disconnect();
      [...covers.keys()].forEach(drop);
      canvases.forEach((canvas) => canvas.remove());
      images.forEach((img) => taken.delete(img));
    });
  }

  // Kodza lifecycle, the same in every component: `kodza:init` starts the instances inside
  // event.detail.root (the whole page by default), `kodza:destroy` stops them and puts their
  // markup back. For themes and apps that swap content without a page load. Each running root
  // keeps its markup as written under KODZA, shared by every Kodza script on the page: a Kodza
  // component inside another one is saved as written, not half-started, and stopped with it. Two
  // components on one root (a reveal on a stat card) both start, and stop together.
  const KODZA = Symbol.for('kodza');
  const RUNNING = Symbol.for(`kodza ${SELECTOR}`); // a root this component runs on, for every copy of this script
  const instances = new WeakMap();
  const find = (scope = document) => [scope, ...scope.querySelectorAll(SELECTOR)].filter((el) => el.matches?.(SELECTOR));
  const attrsOf = (el) => [...el.attributes].map((a) => [a.name, a.value]);
  const put = (el, saved) => {
    [...el.attributes].forEach((a) => el.removeAttribute(a.name));
    saved.attrs.forEach(([name, value]) => el.setAttribute(name, value));
    el.innerHTML = saved.html;
  };
  // The markup inside a root as written: Kodza components already running in it give back their own
  const written = (root) => {
    const all = [...root.querySelectorAll('*')];
    if (!all.some((el) => el[KODZA])) return root.innerHTML;
    const copy = root.cloneNode(true);
    const twins = copy.querySelectorAll('*');
    let last = null;
    all.forEach((el, i) => {
      if (!el[KODZA] || last?.contains(el)) return;
      last = el;
      put(twins[i], el[KODZA]);
    });
    return copy.innerHTML;
  };
  const init = (scope) => find(scope).forEach((root) => {
    // Already running, maybe from another copy of this script. Marked is-ready with no Kodza component
    // running on it, a root is a copy of a started one (a cloned slide): it is left as it is
    if (root[RUNNING] || (root.classList.contains('is-ready') && !root[KODZA])) return;
    // Rendered by React (data-kodza-manual): React starts it, with an init aimed at that markup once
    // it has hydrated it. Any earlier start would change markup React has not taken over yet
    const owner = root.closest('[data-kodza-manual]');
    if (owner && !(scope && owner.contains(scope))) return;
    const controller = new AbortController();
    // Another Kodza component already running on this root: its markup as written is kept, and the
    // two stop together
    const before = root[KODZA];
    const saved = { html: before ? before.html : written(root), attrs: before ? before.attrs : attrsOf(root), stop: () => destroy(root) };
    if (before) before.above = saved;
    instances.set(root, { controller, saved, before });
    root[KODZA] = saved;
    root[RUNNING] = true;
    mount(root, controller.signal);
    root.classList.add('is-ready');
  });
  const destroy = (scope) => find(scope).forEach((root) => {
    const instance = instances.get(root);
    if (!instance) return;
    instances.delete(root);
    instance.saved.above?.stop(); // a Kodza component started after it on the same root stops first
    // The Kodza components running inside it stop first: once its markup is put back, their own
    // script could not find them any more
    root.querySelectorAll('*').forEach((el) => el[KODZA]?.stop());
    instance.controller.abort();
    delete root[RUNNING];
    // Started on top of another one: that one stops next, and puts the markup back
    if (instance.before) {
      delete instance.before.above;
      root[KODZA] = instance.before;
      return instance.before.stop();
    }
    delete root[KODZA];
    put(root, instance.saved);
  });
  document.addEventListener('kodza:init', (event) => init(event.detail?.root));
  document.addEventListener('kodza:destroy', (event) => destroy(event.detail?.root));
  init();
  // Loaded in <head>, the script runs before the markup exists: once more when it is parsed
  if (document.readyState === 'loading') document.addEventListener('DOMContentLoaded', () => init(), { once: true });
})();
```

Free to use, from Kodza (https://kodza.dev).