What does the object-fit property do in CSS?

The object-fit property in CSS is specifically designed to manage how content, particularly images and videos, is resized and positioned within their assigned containers. When you apply object-fit to an image or video element, you can dictate how the content should fill or fit into its parent element, without distorting the aspect ratio.

For instance, with values such as cover, contain, or fill, object-fit allows the designer to specify whether the content should completely cover the container, maintain its proportions while fitting within the container, or stretch to fill the container entirely. This makes it an essential tool for responsive web design, where maintaining visual integrity across different screen sizes is crucial.

The other options pertain to different functionalities in CSS; for example, controlling visibility relates to display properties, changing opacity involves the opacity property, and animating transformations is done with transition or animation properties. These aspects do not relate to how images and videos are sized within their containers, thus highlighting the unique purpose of object-fit.