Check out this pen.

You will have to use two different containers, one for the background image and the other for your content.

In the example, I have created two containers, .background-image and .content.

Both of them are placed with position: fixed and left: 0; right: 0;. The difference in displaying them comes from the z-index values which have been set differently for the elements.

.background-image { position: fixed; left: 0; right: 0; z-index: 1; display: block; background-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/lL6tQfy.png'); width: 1200px; height: 800px; -webkit-filter: blur(5px); -moz-filter: blur(5px); -o-filter: blur(5px); -ms-filter: blur(5px); filter: blur(5px); } .content { position: fixed; left: 0; right: 0; z-index: 9999; margin-left: 20px; margin-right: 20px; }

Apologies for the Lorem Ipsum text.

Update

Thanks to Matthew Wilcoxson for a better implementation using .content::before https://codepen.io/akademy/pen/FlkzB

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pen

Abolishing the need for an extra element, along with making the content fit within the document flow rather than being fixed/absolute like other solutions.

Achieved using

.content { /* this is needed or the background will be offset by a few pixels at the top */ overflow: auto; position: relative; } .content::before { content: ""; position: fixed; left: 0; right: 0; z-index: -1; display: block; background-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/lL6tQfy.png'); background-size:cover; width: 100%; height: 100%; -webkit-filter: blur(5px); -moz-filter: blur(5px); -o-filter: blur(5px); -ms-filter: blur(5px); filter: blur(5px); }

EDIT If you are interested in removing the white borders at the edges, use a width and height of 110% and a left and top of -5%. This will enlarge your backgrounds a tad - but there should be no solid colour bleeding in from the edges. Thanks Chad Fawcett for the suggestion.

.content { /* this is needed or the background will be offset by a few pixels at the top */ overflow: auto; position: relative; } .content::before { content: ""; position: fixed; top: -5%; left: -5%; right: -5%; z-index: -1; display: block; background-image: url('https://i.imgur.com/lL6tQfy.png'); background-size:cover; width: 110%; height: 110%; -webkit-filter: blur(5px); -moz-filter: blur(5px); -o-filter: blur(5px); -ms-filter: blur(5px); filter: blur(5px); }

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As stated in other answers this can be achieved with:

A copy of the blurred image as the background.

A pseudo element that can be filtered then positioned behind the content.

You can also use backdrop-filter

There is a supported property called backdrop-filter, and it is currently supported in Chrome 76, Edge, Safari, and iOS Safari (see caniuse.com for statistics).

From Mozilla devdocs:

The backdrop-filter property provides for effects like blurring or color shifting the area behind an element, which can then be seen through that element by adjusting the element's transparency/opacity.

See caniuse.com for usage statistics.

You would use it like so. If you do not want content inside to be blurred use the utility class .u-non-blurred

.background-filter::after { -webkit-backdrop-filter: blur(5px); /* Use for Safari 9+, Edge 17+ (not a mistake) and iOS Safari 9.2+ */ backdrop-filter: blur(5px); /* Supported in Chrome 76 */ content: ""; display: block; position: absolute; width: 100%; height: 100%; top: 0; } .background-filter { position: relative; } .background { background-image: url('https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/62/Kermit_the_Frog.jpg'); width: 200px; height: 200px; } /* Use for content that should not be blurred */ .u-non-blurred { position: relative; z-index: 1; }

Update (12/06/2019): Chromium will ship with backdrop-filter enabled by default in version 76 which is due out 30/07/2019.

Update (01/06/2019): The Mozzilla Firefox team has announced it will start working on implementing this soon.

Update (21/05/2019): Chromium just announced backdrop-filter is available in chrome canary without enabling "Enable Experimental Web Platform Features" flag. This means backdrop-filter is very close to being implemented on all chrome platforms.

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You need to re-structure your HTML in order to do this. You have to blur the whole element in order to blur the background. So if you want to blur only the background, it has to be its own element.

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Please check the below code:-

.backgroundImageCVR{ position:relative; padding:15px; } .background-image{ position:absolute; left:0; right:0; top:0; bottom:0; background:url('http://www.planwallpaper.com/static/images/colorful-triangles-background_yB0qTG6.jpg'); background-size:cover; z-index:1; -webkit-filter: blur(10px); -moz-filter: blur(10px); -o-filter: blur(10px); -ms-filter: blur(10px); filter: blur(10px); } .content{ position:relative; z-index:2; color:#fff; }

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The following is a simple solution for modern browsers in pure CSS with a 'before' pseudo element, like the solution from Matthew Wilcoxson.

To avoid the need of accessing the pseudo element for changing the image and other attributes in JavaScript, simply use inherit as the value and access them via the parent element (here body).

body::before {
    content: ""; /* Important */
    z-index: -1; /* Important */
    position: inherit;
    left: inherit;
    top: inherit;
    width: inherit;
    height: inherit;
    background-image: inherit;
    background-size: cover;
    filter: blur(8px);
}

body {
  background-image: url("xyz.jpg");
  background-size: 0 0;  /* Image should not be drawn here */
  width: 100%;
  height: 100%;
  position: fixed; /* Or absolute for scrollable backgrounds */
}

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In the .content tab in CSS change it to position:absolute. Otherwise, the page rendered won't be scrollable.

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Of course, this is not a CSS-solution, but you can use the CDN Proton with filter:

body {
    background: url('https://i0.wp.com/IMAGEURL?w=600&filter=blurgaussian&smooth=1');
}

It is from https://developer.wordpress.com/docs/photon/api/#filter

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Although all the solutions mentioned are very clever, all seemed to have minor issues or potential knock on effects with other elements on the page when I tried them.

In the end to save time I simply went back to my old solution: I used Paint.NET and went to Effects, Gaussian Blur with a radius 5 to 10 pixels and just saved that as the page image. :-)

HTML:

<body class="mainbody">
</body

CSS:

body.mainbody
{
    background: url('../images/myphoto.blurred.png');
    -moz-background-size: cover;
    -webkit-background-size: cover;
    background-size: cover;
    background-position: top center !important;
    background-repeat: no-repeat !important;
    background-attachment: fixed;
}

EDIT:

I finally got it working, but the solution is by no means straightforward! See here:

filter: blur(1px); doesn't work in firefox, IE, and opera

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All you actually need is "filter":

blur(«WhatEverYouWantInPixels»);"

body { color: #fff; font-family: Helvetica, Arial, sans-serif; } #background { background-image: url('https://cdn2.geckoandfly.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/03/ios-11-3840x2160-4k-5k-beach-ocean-13655.jpg'); background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover; width: 100vw; height: 100vh; overflow: hidden; position: absolute; top: 0; left: 0; z-index: -1; /* START */ /* START */ /* START */ /* START */ /* You can adjust the blur-radius as you'd like */ filter: blur(3px); }

Lorem Ipsum

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Now this become even simpler and more flexible by using CSS GRID.You just have to overlap the blured background(imgbg) with the text(h2)

<div class="container">
 <div class="imgbg"></div>
 <h2>
  Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet consectetur, adipisicing elit. Facilis enim
  aut rerum mollitia quas voluptas delectus facere magni cum unde?:)
 </h2>
</div>

and the css:

.container {
        display: grid;
        width: 30em;
      }

.imgbg {
        background: url(bg3.jpg) no-repeat center;
        background-size: cover;
        grid-column: 1/-1;
        grid-row: 1/-1;
        filter: blur(4px);
      }


     .container h2 {
        text-transform: uppercase;
        grid-column: 1/-1;
        grid-row: 1/-1;
        z-index: 2;
      }

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CSS grid is easier for me to understand. :)

html, body { width: 100%; height: 100%; } .container { width: 100%; height: 100%; display: grid; grid-template-columns: 1fr 6fr 1fr; grid-template-rows: 1fr 6fr 1fr; grid-template-areas: '. . .' '. content .' '. . .'; justify-content: center; align-items: center; } .backbround { width: 100%; height: 100%; grid-area: 1/1/5/5; background-image: url(https://i.imgur.com/aUhpEz3.jpg); filter: blur(5px); background-position: center; background-repeat: no-repeat; background-size: cover; } .content { height: 200px; position: relative; grid-area: content; display: flex; justify-content: center; align-items: center; color: white; }

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This answer is for a Material Design horizontal card layout with dynamic height and an image.

To prevent distortion of the image due to the dynamic height of the card, you could use a background placeholder image with blur to adjust for changes in height.

Explanation

The card is contained in a