Pure JavaScript Lightbox – Vanilla JS Image Lightbox

A simple, lightweight (10kb unminified), and mobile-friendly pure JavaScript lightbox to show images in a popup box with a close button. This vanilla JavaScript lightbox plugin doesn’t require any external framework or library to work.

Code Features

• Easy to initialize.
• Responsive, fully mobile friendly.
• Debounced launch, default 500ms, the customs rate can be set with rate property of options object.
• A preloading spinner that is unset after onload event succeeds.
• Pure CSS Retina Ready UI images.
• Custom event callback functions.

How to Create a Pure JavaScript Lightbox

1. Include the img-lightbox‘s CSS and JavaScript files into your HTML document to create an image lightbox.

<!-- Lightbox CSS -->
<link rel="stylesheet" href="css/img-lightbox.css">

<!-- Lightbox JavaScript -->
<script src="js/img-lightbox.js"></script>

2. Create markup for your images as follows. Wrap your image in the anchor link of the full-width image and insert the thumbnail URL in img src.

<a href="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/955/27854475488_5f82a379ca_z.jpg" class="img-lightbox-link" aria-hidden="true" rel="lightbox">
   <img src="https://farm1.staticflickr.com/955/27854475488_5f82a379ca_z.jpg" alt="Image Lightbox" />
</a>

3. Finally, initialize the img-lightbox plugin in HTML <script> tag with all available options.

(function (root) {
	"use strict";
	if (root.imgLightbox) {
		imgLightbox("img-lightbox-link", {
			onCreated: function () {
				/* show your preloader */
			},
			onLoaded: function () {
				/* hide your preloader */
			},
			onError: function () {
				/* hide your preloader */
			},
			onClosed: function () {
				/* hide your preloader */
			},
			rate: 500 /* default: 500 */ ,
			touch: false /* default: false - use with care for responsive images in links on vertical mobile screens */
		});
	}
})("undefined" !== typeof window ? window : this);

That’s all! hopefully, you have successfully created an image lightbox. If you have any questions or facing any issues, feel free to comment below.

Asif Mughal

I code and create web elements for amazing people around the world. I like work with new people. New people new Experiences.
I truly enjoy what I’m doing, which makes me more passionate about web development and coding. I am always ready to do challenging tasks whether it is about creating a custom CMS from scratch or customizing an existing system.