You can put the graphic in a pseudo-element with its own dimensional context:
#graphic {
position: relative;
width: 200px;
height: 100px;
}
#graphic::before {
position: absolute;
content: '';
z-index: -1;
width: 200px;
height: 50px;
background-image: url(image.jpg);
}
#graphic {
width: 200px;
height: 100px;
position: relative;
}
#graphic::before {
content: '';
position: absolute;
width: 200px;
height: 50px;
z-index: -1;
background-image: url(http://placehold.it/500x500/); /* Image is 500px by 500px, but only 200px by 50px is showing. */
}
<div id="graphic">lorem ipsum</div>
Browser support is good, but if you need to support IE8, use a single colon :before
. IE has no support for either syntax in versions prior to that.