How to add an inner glow to polygons with the ArcGIS API for JavaScript

By John Nelson and Anne Fitz

So you want a super slick inner glow effect for some polygons in your app, to no avail. Sure, an “inner glow” effect isn’t yet supported in the JavaScript API, nor is a buffer fill. But Picture strokes are supported, and you can bake all manner of visual shenanigans into those things…

Here is the CodePen where you can check it out and play with the parameters.
Here’s the blue glow graphic.
And here’s a version in red.

You can use these graphics as picture fills in ArcGIS Pro, as well. Here are some examples…

A picture stroke in ArcGIS Pro resembling an inner glow

Thanks to Anne Fitz for the collaboration, and setting up the CodePen!

Happy inner-glowing!

John Nelson

I have far too much fun looking for ways to understand and present data visually, hopefully driving product strategy and engaging users. I work in the ArcGIS Living Atlas team at Esri, pushing and pulling data in all sorts of absurd ways and then sharing the process. I also design user experiences for maps and apps. When I'm not doing those things, I'm chasing around toddlers and wrangling chickens, and generally getting into other ad-hoc adventures. Life is good. You might also like these Styles for ArcGIS Pro: esriurl.com/nelsonstyles

Anne Fitz

Anne Fitz is a Senior Product Engineer at Esri, working on the ArcGIS Maps SDK for JavaScript and ArcGIS Arcade. Her expertise primarily focuses on dynamic vector symbology (CIM symbols), data visualization, animation, ArcGIS Arcade integration, and widgets. Anne’s primary goal is to help developers succeed in building geospatial applications, providing them with the tools and knowledge they need to bring their ideas to life. She has been with Esri for over five years.

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David Semitekol(@davidmidamerica)

June 8, 2022 8:03 am

Your article seems to be lacking some detail. The app, do you mean a self hosted app on enterprise or can this be an AGOL web app? In ArcPro, are you just importing a picture as a symbol? A few step-by-steps would be awesome. Thanks!

Christoph Hoeser(@choeser)

April 3, 2025 11:09 pm

Thank you! Using ArcGIS Pro I wanted to produce an inner glow on the ocean along the shore (e.g. Ocean polygon 1:110m from NE). This worked out fine … until i decided to switch to Robinson projection: now I get a glow as well on ocean’s horizon (in my case date-line) left and right “edge”, where no feature is found. The solution was found in four simple steps: 1.) Use Land-area in stead of ocean –> now i need to have an OUTER glow on land to reproduce the inner-glow effect on the ocean along the shore 2.) select inner-glow.png… Read more »