Is it possible to apply CSS to half of a character?

There’s no direct way in standard CSS to style exactly half of a single text character. CSS normally treats each glyph as an indivisible unit—there’s no built-in mechanism to apply color or effects to only a fraction of the character’s shape. However, you can achieve partial “split” effects through creative workarounds that rely on overlays, gradients, or carefully positioned elements. Below are a few approaches:

1. Use Two Overlapping Elements

One technique is to split the character into two separate elements, each containing the same character, aligned precisely on top of each other. Then style each element differently (e.g., color the left half of the overlapping character one color and the right half another).

<details> <summary>Example with two &lt;span&gt;s</summary>

<style>
  .container {
    position: relative;
    font-size: 40px;
    line-height: 1;
    width: 50px; /* just for demo */
    overflow: hidden; 
    margin: 1em auto; 
  }
  .char-half {
    position: absolute;
    left: 0;
    top: 0;
    color: red;
    /* place your normal text style here */
  }
  .char-half::after {
    content: "A"; /* The character you want to style */
  }

  /* The "left" half: mask out the right side using clip-path or a wide bounding box */
  .left-half {
    clip-path: inset(0 50% 0 0); /* keep only left 50% */
  }

  /* The "right" half: mask out the left side */
  .right-half {
    color: blue;
    clip-path: inset(0 0 0 50%); /* keep only right 50% */
  }
</style>

<div class="container">
  <span class="char-half left-half"></span>
  <span class="char-half right-half"></span>
</div>

• How it works:
  • Each span prints the same character.
  • We use clip-path to show only the left half in one span and only the right half in the other.
  • You can change colors, backgrounds, transforms, etc.
• Caveat: This approach requires careful positioning and may need adjustments depending on font, line-height, and desired text size.

</details>

2. Using background-clip: text with a Gradient

If you only need a color gradient applied across a character (e.g., left half red, right half blue), you can use background-clip: text; to create a gradient overlay. This doesn’t literally “clip” the glyph in half, but it can color half the glyph differently.

<details> <summary>Example gradient that transitions at 50%</summary>

.split-text {
  font-size: 40px;
  font-weight: bold;
  background: linear-gradient(to right, red 50%, blue 50%);
  -webkit-background-clip: text; 
  -webkit-text-fill-color: transparent; /* for Safari and Chrome */
  background-clip: text; /* modern spec */
  color: transparent;
}

<span class="split-text">A</span>

• How it works:
  • The linear-gradient abruptly changes color at 50%.
  • background-clip: text; causes the background to be painted only where the text appears.
  • The result is the left half of “A” in red, and the right half in blue.
• Caveat: This technique only works if a gradient effect is acceptable. If you look closely at glyph shapes (especially letters with curves), the exact “half” may not align perfectly as you’d expect with a bounding box approach.

</details>

3. SVG or Canvas Approach

If you need precise control over a character’s shape (like partial outlines or applying different effects to various regions), you can:

1. Convert the character to SVG paths (using a vector tool or online converter).
2. Split or manipulate the path directly in your SVG markup.
3. Apply different fills or strokes to each partial path.

Or you can dynamically draw text onto an HTML <canvas>, but that becomes less about CSS and more about canvas APIs.

4. JavaScript + <canvas> or <svg>

If you need interactive or more complex transformations, a script-based approach might be best:

• Draw or render the character in <canvas>, then fill or clip half of it.
• Or manipulate <svg> path segments programmatically.

This is more powerful but also more complex—useful for animations or special effects that go beyond basic CSS.

Conclusion

• Native CSS does not allow you to directly select or style a sub-portion of a single glyph.
• You can simulate partial styling using overlapping elements with clip-path or gradient-based coloring with background-clip: text.
• For truly precise partial manipulation (e.g., shapes, outlines), consider SVG or canvas approaches.

Ultimately, the best method depends on how exact your split must be, whether it’s purely a color effect or a shape manipulation, and how you plan to adapt for different fonts and screen sizes.