Disable opacity on child element when parent element has opacity

I have a container with an opacity of 0.8. At the background, I have an image that shines through the content div. Now, I have a photo of my client in this container. The problem is, that it uses the opacity of the parent element as the opacity for this image is just relative to the container and not to the body.

I have this code:

<div id="contentContainer" style="background: #FFFFFF; opacity: 0.8">
    Content ...
    <img src="..." style="opacity: 1.0" alt="Photo" />
</div>

This does not work, as explained below.

Has anybody an idea?

Solved this problem by changing it to the following:

<div id="contentContainer" style="background: rgba(255,255,255,0.8);">
    Content ...
    <img src="..." alt="Photo" />
</div>

Used just rgba alpha instead of opacity. Now it works.

As the other answers state, this is not possible using opacity, that is, with this method.

A workaround/hack would be to add position: relative; z-index:2; to the parent element contentContainer. Then to add another element which has the opacity and other stuff on it. This is particularly useful if you have an image as the background

So your markup should look a little like this:

HTML

<div id="contentContainer">
    Content ...
    <img src="..." alt="Photo" />
    <span id="contentBackground"></span>
</div>

CSS

#contentContainer { position: relative; z-index 2; }
#contentBackground {
    position: absolute;
    display: block;
    z-index: 1;
    top: 0;
    right: 0;
    bottom: 0;
    left: 0;
    background: /* stuff */;
}

Note the z-index property. These are important for making sure that the background element sits below the parent and doesn't overlap the content preventing click events.

This method could also be used with pseudo elements (:before or :after) for which you'd need to add content: '';.

This might help others who would want to use opacity, preventing a certain child element from getting opaque.

You can use :not() Selector. Take this sample.

<style type="text/css">
	.redbg{
		background-color:red;
	}
	.sample1 :not(.NonOpaque){
		opacity:0.5;
	}
	.sample2:not(.NonOpaque){
		opacity:0.5;
	}
</style>

<div style="background-color:rgb(63,72,204); padding:15px; margin:15px;">
	<div class="redbg sample1">
		<div>
			SAMPLE 1.
		</div>
		<div class="NonOpaque">
			I am not Opaque.
			Blah! Blah! Blah!
		</div>
		<div>
			I am Opaque.
			Blah! Blah! Blah!
		</div>
		<div>
			I am Opaque.
			Blah! Blah! Blah!
		</div>
	</div>
</div>

<div style="background-color:rgb(63,72,204); padding:15px; margin:15px;">
	<div>SAMPLE 2.</div>
	<div class="redbg sample2 NonOpaque">
		<div style="padding:5px; margin:3px;">
			I am not Opaque.
			Blah! Blah! Blah!
		</div>
	</div>
	<div class="redbg sample2">
		<div style="padding:5px; margin:3px;">
			We are all Opaque.
		</div>
	</div>
</div>

Output:

That’s not possible – opacity is for an element and all it’s content, and you can not “reverse” it.

0.8 times 1.0 is still 0.8, and higher values than 1 are not possible for opacity – so the only thing that you can try to do is take your image out of the container that has opacity, and try to make it look as if it was inside (by positioning it over it, in some way or another).

Opacity applies to the element and any children / content in the element.

For partially transparent colos use RGBA bg colours.

For partially transparent background images, a JS/JQ solution is required.

Use background: rgba(red,green,blue,alpha) may be a good solution ,but,when you use with disabled attribute , you may find it does not work any more in iPhone .