Bootstrap carousel with fixed height: center image horizontally or vertically based on image dimensions

Question

I have a bootstrap carousel with a fixed height. Here is the CSS:

.carousel-custom .carousel-outer {
  position: relative;
}


@media(min-width: 992px){
    .carousel-custom {
      margin-top: 20px;

    .carousel-inner {
      height: auto;
    .item {
        height:500px;
        line-height:300px;
      }
    }
  }
}

@media(max-width: 991px){
.carousel-custom {
      margin-top: 20px;

    .carousel-inner {
      height: auto;
    .item {
        height:300px;
        line-height:300px;
        text-align:center;

      }
    }
  }
}

And here is my markup:

    <div id="carousel-custom-1188" class="carousel slide carousel-custom" data-ride="carousel">
      <div class="carousel-outer">
        <!-- Wrapper for slides -->
        <div class="carousel-inner" role="listbox">
            <div class="item active">
              <img class="img-responsive" src="http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459261752/w8edcuvz1yl3uc4g4o34.jpg" alt="Jinallzupvfazqqr67nd">
              <div class="carousel-caption"></div>
            </div>
            <div class="item">
              <img class="img-responsive" src="http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459175684/w4ueot8o49dh2fyulv0x.jpg" alt="K1yov5hpur8mgsb9r15p">
              <div class="carousel-caption"></div>
            </div>
            <div class="item">
              <img class="img-responsive" src="http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459178926/fwlmuroj2wlz7czrsha0.jpg" alt="Lqfandhmutdkppjrl932">
              <div class="carousel-caption"></div>
            </div>
        </div>

        <!-- Controls -->
        <a class="left carousel-control" href="#carousel-custom-1188" role="button" data-slide="prev">
          <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-left" aria-hidden="true"></span>
          <span class="sr-only">Previous</span>
        </a>
        <a class="right carousel-control" href="#carousel-custom-1188" role="button" data-slide="next">
          <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right" aria-hidden="true"></span>
          <span class="sr-only">Next</span>
        </a>

        <!-- Indicators -->
        <ol class="carousel-indicators  mCustomScrollbar">
            <li data-target="#carousel-custom-1188" data-slide-to="0" class="active">
              <img style="height:50px; width: 50px;" class="img-responsive" src="http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459268139/jinallzupvfazqqr67nd.png" alt="Jinallzupvfazqqr67nd">
            </li>
            <li data-target="#carousel-custom-1188" data-slide-to="1" class="">
              <img style="height:50px; width: 50px;" class="img-responsive" src="http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459268146/k1yov5hpur8mgsb9r15p.png" alt="K1yov5hpur8mgsb9r15p">
            </li>
            <li data-target="#carousel-custom-1188" data-slide-to="2" class="">
              <img style="height:50px; width: 50px;" class="img-responsive" src="http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459268157/lqfandhmutdkppjrl932.png" alt="Lqfandhmutdkppjrl932">
            </li>
        </ol>
      </div>
    </div>

The issue is that I have images that are very wide, others very narrow and high, and others with a good ration height/width in the same carousel.

I'd like to have the wide images centered vertically (with a width of a 100%), high images centered horizontally (with a height of 100%) and "normal" images (with a decent ratio height/width) filling all the carousel.

Here is what I'm trying to do (first image is an example with a very wide image, second image with a very high one, and last one has a "decent" ratio).

How could I achieve this ? I've tried Make Bootstrap's Carousel both center AND responsive? and other tricks found on Google but none did this.

It's hard to help you since you share a non-proccessed code from a template. It's better if you share the rendered HTML code, and maybe there are easy solution. If I understand fine your question, you only need to perfect align center (vertical and horizontal) the images in the slider. — Marcos Pérez Gude, Mar 30 '16 at 15:20
@MarcosPérezGude thanks for your answer, I edited the post with the rendered HTML (for a carousel with 3 images). What I need is to perfectly center the image, but without stretching it if it's too wide or too narrow, and without having a part of it hidden (I've tried many solutions where part of the picture was hidden) — Graham Slick, Mar 30 '16 at 15:25

score 29 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 31 '16 at 07:26

Since the .item elements are relative positioned you could just position the img elements absolutely. Giving the .item elements a fixed height, will help to vertically and horizontally align the images inside.

I'm sure there are lots of different ways to do this, here is one example. Hope it helps.

@import url('https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.6/css/bootstrap.min.css');

body {
  background-color: black;
}

.carousel-inner > .item {
  height: 100vh;
}

.carousel-inner > .item > img {
  position: absolute;
  top: 50%;
  left: 50%;
  -webkit-transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
  -ms-transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
  transform: translate(-50%, -50%);
  max-height: 800px;
  width: auto;
}

.carousel-control.left,
.carousel-control.right {
  background-image: none;
}

<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
<script src="https://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.6/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>

<div class="container">

  <div id="carousel-example-generic" class="carousel slide" data-ride="carousel">

    <!-- indicators -->
    <ol class="carousel-indicators">
      <li data-target="#carousel-example-generic" data-slide-to="0" class="active"></li>
      <li data-target="#carousel-example-generic" data-slide-to="1"></li>
      <li data-target="#carousel-example-generic" data-slide-to="2"></li>
    </ol>

    <!-- inner -->
    <div class="carousel-inner" role="listbox">
      <div class="item active">
        <img src="http://placehold.it/1200x600/2c3e50/000" alt="">
      </div>
      <div class="item">
        <img src="http://placehold.it/600x1200/d35400/000" alt="">
      </div>
      <div class="item">
        <img src="http://placehold.it/600x600/c0392b/000" alt="">
      </div>
    </div>

    <!-- controls -->
    <a class="left carousel-control" href="#carousel-example-generic" role="button" data-slide="prev">
      <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-left" aria-hidden="true"></span>
      <span class="sr-only">Previous</span>
    </a>
    <a class="right carousel-control" href="#carousel-example-generic" role="button" data-slide="next">
      <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right" aria-hidden="true"></span>
      <span class="sr-only">Next</span>
    </a>
    
  </div>

</div>

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Mar 30 '16 at 16:30

Alright, I've been fiddling around for a while now. Ended up with the result below. Hope it helps and answers your question (at least for a small part).

<head>
    <title>Bootstrap Carousel</title>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <meta name="viewport" content="width=device-width, initial-scale=1">
    <link rel="stylesheet" href="http://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.6/css/bootstrap.min.css">
    <script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/1.12.0/jquery.min.js"></script>
    <script src="http://maxcdn.bootstrapcdn.com/bootstrap/3.3.6/js/bootstrap.min.js"></script>
    <style>
    html,
    body {
        height: 100%;
    }

    .carousel,
    .item,
    .active {
        height: 100%;
    }

    .carousel-inner {
        height: 100%;
    }

    /* Background images are set within the HTML using inline CSS, not here */

    .fill {
        width: 100%;
        height: 100%;
        background-position: center;
        -webkit-background-size: cover;
        -moz-background-size: cover;
        background-size: cover;
        -o-background-size: cover;
    }

    footer {
        margin: 50px 0;
    } 

    .tester {
        height: 100%;
    }
    </style>
</head>
<body>
    <div class="tester">
    <!-- Full Page Image Background Carousel Header -->
    <header id="myCarousel" class="carousel slide">
        <!-- Indicators -->
        <ol class="carousel-indicators">
            <li data-target="#myCarousel" data-slide-to="0" class="active"></li>
            <li data-target="#myCarousel" data-slide-to="1"></li>
            <li data-target="#myCarousel" data-slide-to="2"></li>
        </ol>
        <!-- Wrapper for Slides -->
        <div class="carousel-inner">
            <div class="item active">
                <!-- Set the first background image using inline CSS below. -->
                <div class="fill" style="background-image:url('http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459268139/jinallzupvfazqqr67nd.png');"></div>
                <div class="carousel-caption">
                    <h2>Caption 1</h2>
                </div>
            </div>
            <div class="item">
                <!-- Set the second background image using inline CSS below. -->
                <div class="fill" style="background-image:url('http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459268146/k1yov5hpur8mgsb9r15p.png');"></div>
                <div class="carousel-caption">
                    <h2>Caption 2</h2>
                </div>
            </div>
            <div class="item">
                <!-- Set the third background image using inline CSS below. -->
                <div class="fill" style="background-image:url('http://res.cloudinary.com/dltbqhact/image/upload/v1459268157/lqfandhmutdkppjrl932.png');"></div>
                <div class="carousel-caption">
                    <h2>Caption 3</h2>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
        <a class="left carousel-control" href="#myCarousel" data-slide="prev">
            <span class="icon-prev"></span>
        </a>
        <a class="right carousel-control" href="#myCarousel" data-slide="next">
            <span class="icon-next"></span>
        </a>
    </header>
    <script>
    $('.carousel').carousel({
        interval: 5000 //changes the speed
    })
    </script>
    </div>
</body>

Again, hope it helps!

Ismail Farooq · Answer 3 · 2016-04-06T07:42:09.360

simply use image on absolute if your slider height is fixed

<div id="carousel-example-generic" class="carousel slide" data-ride="carousel">
  <!-- Indicators -->
  <ol class="carousel-indicators">
    <li data-target="#carousel-example-generic" data-slide-to="0" class="active"></li>
    <li data-target="#carousel-example-generic" data-slide-to="1"></li>
    <li data-target="#carousel-example-generic" data-slide-to="2"></li>
  </ol>

  <!-- Wrapper for slides -->
  <div class="carousel-inner" role="listbox">
    <div class="item active">
      <div class="middle">
        <img src="http://placehold.it/1920x500">
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="item">
      <div class="middle">
        <img src="http://placehold.it/1920x300">
      </div>
    </div>
    <div class="item">
      <div class="middle">
        <img src="http://placehold.it/600x900">
      </div>
    </div>
  </div>

  <!-- Controls -->
  <a class="left carousel-control" href="#carousel-example-generic" role="button" data-slide="prev">
    <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-left" aria-hidden="true"></span>
    <span class="sr-only">Previous</span>
  </a>
  <a class="right carousel-control" href="#carousel-example-generic" role="button" data-slide="next">
    <span class="glyphicon glyphicon-chevron-right" aria-hidden="true"></span>
    <span class="sr-only">Next</span>
  </a>
</div>

css

.carousel {
  width: 500px;  /*test width*/
  height: 300px; /*what ever height */
}

.middle {
  position: relative;
  height: 300px; /*what ever height */
}

.middle img {
  max-width: 100%;
  max-height: 100%; /*what ever height */
  margin: auto;
  position: absolute;
  left: 0;
  right: 0;
  top: 0;
  bottom: 0;
}

see fiddle

score -3 · Answer 4 · answered Apr 06 '16 at 00:09

If you try to achieve this in bootstrap carousel, you will end up with black bars in top and bottom...I was stuck with similar problem and ended up using "flickity" js library..it works lot better than tryig to achieve this on something not meant for this....

Bootstrap carousel with fixed height: center image horizontally or vertically based on image dimensions

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