Cursor & Pointer · What the pointer touches
Image trail图片拖尾
- a string left behind
- each smaller
- like riffling pages
As the pointer sweeps across a row of thumbnails it leaves a string of small images behind, each smaller and fainter than the last, until they clear. The difference from a cursor preview is quantity: a preview is always one image, a trail is a sequence — the preview says “this is the one you are on”, the trail says “these are the ones you just passed”.
When to use it
Use it in browsing contexts where the content is the imagery — portfolios, galleries, menus — and it works best on desktop. Avoid it where the rows are text (a string of text blocks is a mess), and avoid it on touch: a finger cannot sweep fast enough to draw a trail.
Parameters
spawn every 60ms · life 700ms · transform: scale 1→0.42 · opacity 1→0 · linear · 16-item pool
Recipe
Image trail → spawn every 60ms · life 700ms · transform: scale 1→0.42 · opacity 1→0 · linear · 16-item pool
One sentence for your AI
Build an image trail: while the pointer moves, drop a small image at its position every 60ms; each shrinks from scale(1) to scale(0.42) and fades from 1 to 0 over 700ms. Recycle a pool of 16 elements rather than creating DOM each time. The spawn interval is the crux — too fast and it smears into a line, too slow and you get a few lonely cards.