CSS transform scale breaks image overlay

Question

HTML Markup:

<div class="item">
    <a href="url">
        <img src="photo.jpg" />
    </a>
</div>

This CSS zooms the image on hover:

.item a img {
   transition: all 0.2s linear;
}

.item a:hover img {
   transform: scale(1.05);
}

This CSS adds an overlay on hover:

.item a {
    position: relative;
}

.item a:before {
    content: "";
    display: block;
    position: absolute;
    top: 0;
    bottom: 0;
    left: 0;
    right: 0;
    background: none no-repeat center center;
    transition: all .3s linear;
}
.item a:hover:before {
    background:rgba(0,0,0, 0.5) url('img/zoom.png') no-repeat center center;
}

Each one works fine by itself. However, when I try to use both bits of CSS, only the zoom works; the overlay is broken.

Simply, how can I write the CSS to combine these two effects?

Answer 1

You could try adding z-index:1 to the the absolute positioned element.

.item a img {
  transition: all 0.2s linear;
}
.item a:hover img {
  transform: scale(1.05);
  vertical-align: top;
}
.item a {
  position: relative;
  display: inline-block;
}
.item a:before {
  content: "";
  display: block;
  position: absolute;
  top: 0;
  bottom: 0;
  left: 0;
  right: 0;
  background: none no-repeat center center;
  transition: all .3s linear;
  z-index: 1;
}
.item a:hover:before {
  background: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.5) url('//dummyimage.com/50') no-repeat center center;
}

<div class="item">
  <a href="url">
    <img src="//dummyimage.com/200" />
  </a>
</div>