HTML Canvas Graphics

The HTML <canvas> element is used to draw graphics on a web page.

The graphic to the left is created with <canvas>. It shows four elements: a red rectangle, a gradient rectangle, a multicolor rectangle, and a multicolor text.


What is HTML Canvas?

The HTML <canvas> element is used to draw graphics, on the fly, via JavaScript.

The <canvas> element is only a container for graphics. You must use JavaScript to actually draw the graphics.

Canvas has several methods for drawing paths, boxes, circles, text, and adding images.


Browser Support

The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the <canvas> element.

Element
<canvas>4.09.02.03.19.0

Canvas Examples

A canvas is a rectangular area on an HTML page. By default, a canvas has no border and no content.

The markup looks like this:

<canvas id=”myCanvas” width=”200″ height=”100″></canvas>

Note: Always specify an id attribute (to be referred to in a script), and a width and height attribute to define the size of the canvas. To add a border, use the style attribute.

Here is an example of a basic, empty canvas:

Example

<canvas id=”myCanvas” width=”200″ height=”100″ style=”border:1px solid #000000;”>
</canvas>

Try it Yourself »

The HTML <canvas> element is used to draw graphics on a web page.

The graphic to the left is created with <canvas>. It shows four elements: a red rectangle, a gradient rectangle, a multicolor rectangle, and a multicolor text.


What is HTML Canvas?

The HTML <canvas> element is used to draw graphics, on the fly, via JavaScript.

The <canvas> element is only a container for graphics. You must use JavaScript to actually draw the graphics.

Canvas has several methods for drawing paths, boxes, circles, text, and adding images.


Browser Support

The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the <canvas> element.

Element
<canvas>4.09.02.03.19.0

Canvas Examples

A canvas is a rectangular area on an HTML page. By default, a canvas has no border and no content.

The markup looks like this:

<canvas id=”myCanvas” width=”200″ height=”100″></canvas>

Note: Always specify an id attribute (to be referred to in a script), and a width and height attribute to define the size of the canvas. To add a border, use the style attribute.

Here is an example of a basic, empty canvas:

Example

<canvas id=”myCanvas” width=”200″ height=”100″ style=”border:1px solid #000000;”>
</canvas>

Try it Yourself »

HTML SVG Graphics

SVG defines vector-based graphics in XML format.


What is SVG?

  • SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics
  • SVG is used to define graphics for the Web
  • SVG is a W3C recommendation

The HTML <svg> Element

The HTML <svg> element is a container for SVG graphics.

SVG has several methods for drawing paths, boxes, circles, text, and graphic images.


Browser Support

The numbers in the table specify the first browser version that fully supports the <svg> element.

Element
<svg>4.09.03.03.210.1

SVG Circle

Example

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<body>

<svg width=”100″ height=”100″>
 <circle cx=”50″ cy=”50″ r=”40″ stroke=”green” stroke-width=”4″ fill=”yellow” />
</svg>

</body>
</html>

Try it Yourself »

SVG Rectangle

Example

<svg width=”400″ height=”100″>
 <rect width=”400″ height=”100″ style=”fill:rgb(0,0,255);stroke-width:10;stroke:rgb(0,0,0)” />
</svg>

Try it Yourself »


SVG Rounded Rectangle

Example

<svg width=”400″ height=”180″>
 <rect x=”50″ y=”20″ rx=”20″ ry=”20″ width=”150″ height=”150″
  style=”fill:red;stroke:black;stroke-width:5;opacity:0.5″ />
</svg>

Try it Yourself »


SVG Star

Example

<svg width=”300″ height=”200″>
 <polygon points=”100,10 40,198 190,78 10,78 160,198″
  style=”fill:lime;stroke:purple;stroke-width:5;fill-rule:evenodd;” />
</svg>

Try it Yourself »


SVG Logo

SVG

Example

<svg height=”130″ width=”500″>
 <defs>
 <linearGradient id=”grad1″ x1=”0%” y1=”0%” x2=”100%” y2=”0%”>
 <stop offset=”0%” style=”stop-color:rgb(255,255,0);stop-opacity:1″ />
 <stop offset=”100%” style=”stop-color:rgb(255,0,0);stop-opacity:1″ />
 </linearGradient>
 </defs>
 <ellipse cx=”100″ cy=”70″ rx=”85″ ry=”55″ fill=”url(#grad1)” />
 <text fill=”#ffffff” font-size=”45″ font-family=”Verdana” x=”50″ y=”86″>SVG</text>
  Sorry, your browser does not support inline SVG.
</svg>

Try it Yourself »


Differences Between SVG and Canvas

SVG is a language for describing 2D graphics in XML.

Canvas draws 2D graphics, on the fly (with a JavaScript).

SVG is XML based, which means that every element is available within the SVG DOM. You can attach JavaScript event handlers for an element.

In SVG, each drawn shape is remembered as an object. If attributes of an SVG object are changed, the browser can automatically re-render the shape.

Canvas is rendered pixel by pixel. In canvas, once the graphic is drawn, it is forgotten by the browser. If its position should be changed, the entire scene needs to be redrawn, including any objects that might have been covered by the graphic.


Comparison of Canvas and SVG

The table below shows some important differences between Canvas and SVG:

CanvasSVG
Resolution dependentNo support for event handlersPoor text rendering capabilitiesYou can save the resulting image as .png or .jpgWell suited for graphic-intensive gamesResolution independentSupport for event handlersBest suited for applications with large rendering areas (Google Maps)Slow rendering if complex (anything that uses the DOM a lot will be slow)Not suited for game applications

SVG Tutorial

To learn more about SVG, please read our SVG Tutorial.