🔧 Getting Started: Setup Tailwind CSS 4.1 Without a Build Tool

To keep things simple, we’ll use Tailwind via the CDN—no frameworks, no build tools.

Tailwind 4.1 Demo

You can now use all of Tailwind’s new features right in your HTML.

🎨 1. Drop Shadow with Color

Standard shadows often fall flat, especially in dark mode. Tailwind 4.1 adds color drop shadows to give your elements more punch.

💡 Example:

To control intensity, use shade values like drop-shadow-red-500, drop-shadow-blue-300, etc.

✨ 2. Text Shadows (with Color!)

Text shadows bring another layer of depth, especially on headings and banners.

💡 Example:

Spooky Red Glow

You can go from text-shadow-2xs to text-shadow-lg, and add color variants like text-shadow-blue-400.

🖼️ 3. Mask Utilities for Images

You can now mask images or elements using directional gradients.

💡 Example:

This creates a soft fade from bottom to top or vice versa. You can tweak directions with classes like mask-top, mask-left, mask-right.

⚠️ Mask gradients might look different in dark mode.

⚙️ 4. Seamless Dark Mode

Tailwind 4.1 improves dark mode handling—just use the dark: prefix, no extra configuration needed.

💡 Example:

✅ Other Notable Improvements

* Text wrapping control via overflow-wrap

* Improved browser compatibility

* Less need for configuration files

* CSS @import now works for simpler integrations

📹 Video Description (for YouTube)

Tailwind CSS 4.1 is packed with awesome new features—from colored drop shadows and text shadows to masking utilities and dark mode improvements.

In this video, we:

✅ Set up Tailwind 4.1 without build tools

✅ Explore drop shadows with color

✅ Try out text shadows (yes, with color!)

✅ Add image masks using mask-gradient

✅ Tweak dark mode designs easily

🙌 Conclusion

Tailwind CSS 4.1 brings subtle but powerful tools to elevate your designs. Whether you're building a dark mode dashboard or fine-tuning text styling, there's a feature here for you.

👉 Which feature are you most excited about? Let me know in the comments or over on YouTube!

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