HTML 5

Working Draft — 15 June 2007

3.14.11. The canvas element

Strictly inline-level embedded content.

Contexts in which this element may be used:
As the only embedded content child of a figure element.
Where strictly inline-level content is allowed.
Content model:
Inline-level content.
Element-specific attributes:
height
width
DOM interface:
interface HTMLCanvasElement # type.name type.exists type.delete type.prototype type.replace type.extend  : HTMLElement {
         attribute unsigned long width; # size.attributes size.attributes.type.get size.attributes.type.set 
         attribute unsigned long height; # size.attributes size.attributes.type.get size.attributes.type.set 

  DOMString toDataURL();
  DOMString toDataURL(in DOMString type);

  DOMObject getContext(in DOMString contextId);
};

Shouldn't allow inline-level content to be the content model when the parent's content model is strictly inline only.

The canvas element represents a resolution-dependent bitmap canvas, which can be used for rendering graphs, game graphics, or other visual images on the fly.

Authors should not use the canvas element in a document when a more suitable element is available. For example, it is inappropriate to use a canvas element to render a page heading: if the desired presentation of the heading is graphically intense, it should be marked up using appropriate elements (typically h1) and then styled using CSS and supporting technologies such as XBL.

When authors use the canvas element, they should also provide content that, when presented to the user, conveys essentially the same function or purpose as the bitmap canvas. This content may be placed as content of the canvas element. The contents of the canvas element, if any, are the element's fallback content # fallback.basic fallback.multiple fallback.nested .

In interactive visual media with scripting enabled, the canvas element is an embedded element with a dynamically created image.

In non-interactive, static, visual media, if the canvas element has been previously painted on (e.g. if the page was viewed in an interactive visual medium and is now being printed, or if some script that ran during the page layout process painted on the element), then the canvas element must be treated as embedded content with the current image and size. Otherwise, the element's fallback content must be used instead.

In non-visual media, and in visual media with scripting disabled, the canvas element's fallback content must be used instead.

The canvas element has two attributes to control the size of the coordinate space: height and width. These attributes, when specified, must have values that are valid non-negative integers. The rules for parsing non-negative integers must be used to obtain their numeric values # size.attributes.parse.whitespace size.attributes.parse.nonnumber size.attributes.parse.zero size.attributes.parse.negative size.attributes.parse.floatsuffix.zero size.attributes.parse.floatsuffix.nonzero size.attributes.parse.badsuffix . If an attribute is missing # size.attributes.default size.attributes.removed , or if parsing its value returns an error # size.attributes.parse.nonnumber size.attributes.parse.negative , then the default value must be used instead. The width attribute defaults to 300, and the height attribute defaults to 150 # size.attributes.default .

The intrinsic dimensions of the canvas element equal the size of the coordinate space, with the numbers interpreted in CSS pixels. However, the element can be sized arbitrarily by a style sheet. During rendering, the image is scaled to fit this layout size # size.attributes.style .

The size of the coordinate space does not necessarily represent the size of the actual bitmap that the user agent will use internally or during rendering. On high-definition displays, for instance, the user agent may internally use a bitmap with two device pixels per unit in the coordinate space, so that the rendering remains at high quality throughout.

The canvas must initially be fully transparent black # initial.colour .

Whenever the width and height attributes are set (whether to a new value or to the previous value), the bitmap and any associated contexts must be cleared back to their initial state and reinitialised with the newly specified coordinate space dimensions # initial.reset.different initial.reset.same initial.reset.security initial.reset.path initial.reset.clip initial.reset.transform initial.reset.2dstate .

The width and height DOM attributes must reflect the content attributes of the same name # size.attributes.reflect.1 size.attributes.reflect.2 .

Only one square appears to be drawn in the following example:

  // canvas is a reference to a <canvas> element
  var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
  context.fillRect(0,0,50,50);
  canvas.setAttribute('width', '300'); // clears the canvas
  context.fillRect(0,100,50,50);
  canvas.width = canvas.width; // clears the canvas
  context.fillRect(100,0,50,50); // only this square remains

To draw on the canvas, authors must first obtain a reference to a context using the getContext(contextId) method of the canvas element.

This specification only defines one context, with the name "2d". If getContext() is called with that exact string for tis contextId argument, then the UA must return a reference to an object implementing CanvasRenderingContext2D # 2d.getcontext.exists . Other specifications may define their own contexts, which would return different objects.

Vendors may also define experimental contexts using the syntax vendorname-context, for example, moz-3d.

When the UA is passed an empty string # context.empty or a string specifying a context that it does not support # context.unrecognised.badname context.unrecognised.badsuffix context.unrecognised.nullsuffix context.unrecognised.unicode , then it must return null. String comparisons must be literal and case-sensitive # context.casesensitive .

A future version of this specification will probably define a 3d context (probably based on the OpenGL ES API).

The toDataURL() method must, when called with no arguments, return a data: URI containing a representation of the image as a PNG file # toDataURL.default toDataURL.nocontext toDataURL.primarycolours toDataURL.complexcolours . [PNG].

The toDataURL(type) method (when called with one or more arguments) must return a data: URI containing a representation of the image in the format given by type. The possible values are MIME types with no parameters, for example image/png, image/jpeg, or even maybe image/svg+xml if the implementation actually keeps enough information to reliably render an SVG image from the canvas.

Only support for image/png is required # toDataURL.png . User agents may support other types. If the user agent does not support the requested type, it must return the image using the PNG format # toDataURL.unrecognised .

User agents must convert the provided type to lower case before establishing if they support that type and before creating the data: URI # toDataURL.lowercase .

When trying to use types other than image/png, authors can check if the image was really returned in the requested format by checking to see if the returned string starts with one the exact strings "data:image/png," or "data:image/png;". If it does, the image is PNG, and thus the requested type was not supported.

Arguments other than the type must be ignored, and must not cause the user agent to raise an exception (as would normally occur if a method was called with the wrong number of arguments) # toDataURL.arguments.1 toDataURL.arguments.2 toDataURL.arguments.3 . A future version of this specification will probably allow extra parameters to be passed to toDataURL() to allow authors to more carefully control compression settings, image metadata, etc.

Security: To prevent information leakage, the toDataURL() # toDataURL.security.domain toDataURL.security.pattern toDataURL.security.propagate toDataURL.security.propagate2 toDataURL.security.subdomain toDataURL.security.superdomain and getImageData() # methods should raise a security exception if the canvas has ever had an image painted on it whose origin is different from that of the script calling the method.

3.14.11.1. The 2D context

When the getContext() method of a canvas element is invoked with 2d as the argument, a CanvasRenderingContext2D object is returned.

There is only one CanvasRenderingContext2D object per canvas, so calling the getContext() method with the 2d argument a second time must return the same object # 2d.getcontext.unique 2d.getcontext.shared .

The 2D context represents a flat cartesian surface whose origin (0,0) is at the top left corner, with the coordinate space having x values increasing when going right, and y values increasing when going down # 2d.coordinatespace .

interface CanvasRenderingContext2D # 2d.type.name 2d.type.exists 2d.type.delete 2d.type.prototype 2d.type.replace 2d.type.extend  {

  // back-reference to the canvas
  readonly # 2d.canvas.readonly  attribute HTMLCanvasElement canvas;

  // state
  void save(); // push state on state stack
  void restore(); // pop state stack and restore state

  // transformations (default transform is the identity matrix)
  void scale(in float x, in float y);
  void rotate(in float angle);
  void translate(in float x, in float y);
  void transform(in float m11, in float m12, in float m21, in float m22, in float dx, in float dy);
  void setTransform(in float m11, in float m12, in float m21, in float m22, in float dx, in float dy);

  // compositing
           attribute float globalAlpha; // (default 1.0)
           attribute DOMString globalCompositeOperation; // (default source-over)

  // colors and styles
           attribute DOMObject strokeStyle; // (default black)
           attribute DOMObject fillStyle; // (default black)
  CanvasGradient createLinearGradient(in float x0, in float y0, in float x1, in float y1);
  CanvasGradient createRadialGradient(in float x0, in float y0, in float r0, in float x1, in float y1, in float r1);
  CanvasPattern createPattern(in HTMLImageElement image, DOMString repetition);
  CanvasPattern createPattern(in HTMLCanvasElement image, DOMString repetition);

  // line caps/joins
           attribute float lineWidth; // (default 1)
           attribute DOMString lineCap; // "butt", "round", "square" (default "butt")
           attribute DOMString lineJoin; // "round", "bevel", "miter" (default "miter")
           attribute float miterLimit; // (default 10)

  // shadows
           attribute float shadowOffsetX; // (default 0)
           attribute float shadowOffsetY; // (default 0)
           attribute float shadowBlur; // (default 0)
           attribute DOMString shadowColor; // (default transparent black)

  // rects
  void clearRect(in float x, in float y, in float w, in float h);
  void fillRect(in float x, in float y, in float w, in float h);
  void strokeRect(in float x, in float y, in float w, in float h);

  // path API
  void beginPath();
  void closePath();
  void moveTo(in float x, in float y);
  void lineTo(in float x, in float y);
  void quadraticCurveTo(in float cpx, in float cpy, in float x, in float y);
  void bezierCurveTo(in float cp1x, in float cp1y, in float cp2x, in float cp2y, in float x, in float y);
  void arcTo(in float x1, in float y1, in float x2, in float y2, in float radius);
  void rect(in float x, in float y, in float w, in float h);
  void arc(in float x, in float y, in float radius, in float startAngle, in float endAngle, in boolean anticlockwise);
  void fill();
  void stroke();
  void clip();
  boolean isPointInPath(in float x, in float y);

  // drawing images
  void drawImage(in HTMLImageElement image, in float dx, in float dy);
  void drawImage(in HTMLImageElement image, in float dx, in float dy, in float dw, in float dh);
  void drawImage(in HTMLImageElement image, in float sx, in float sy, in float sw, in float sh, in float dx, in float dy, in float dw, in float dh);
  void drawImage(in HTMLCanvasElement image, in float dx, in float dy);
  void drawImage(in HTMLCanvasElement image, in float dx, in float dy, in float dw, in float dh);
  void drawImage(in HTMLCanvasElement image, in float sx, in float sy, in float sw, in float sh, in float dx, in float dy, in float dw, in float dh);

  // pixel manipulation
  ImageData getImageData(in float sx, in float sy, in float sw, in float sh);
  void putImageData(in ImageData image, in float dx, in float dy);

  // drawing text is not supported in this version of the API
  // (there is no way to predict what metrics the fonts will have,
  // which makes fonts very hard to use for painting)

};

interface CanvasGradient {
  // opaque object
  void addColorStop(in float offset, in DOMString color);
};

interface CanvasPattern {
  // opaque object
};

interface ImageData {
  readonly attribute long int width;
  readonly attribute long int height;
  readonly attribute int[] data;
};

The canvas attribute must return the canvas element that the context paints on # 2d.canvas.reference .

3.14.11.1.1. The canvas state

Each context maintains a stack of drawing states. Drawing states consist of:

The current path # 2d.state.saverestore.path and the current bitmap # 2d.state.saverestore.bitmap are not part of the drawing state. The current path is persistent, and can only be reset using the beginPath() method. The current bitmap is a property of the canvas, not the context.

The save() method must push a copy of the current drawing state onto the drawing state stack # 2d.state.saverestore.stack 2d.state.saverestore.stackdepth .

The restore() method must pop the top entry in the drawing state stack, and reset the drawing state it describes # 2d.state.saverestore.stack 2d.state.saverestore.stackdepth . If there is no saved state, the method must do nothing # 2d.state.saverestore.underflow .

3.14.11.1.2. Transformations

The transformation matrix is applied to all drawing operations prior to their being rendered. It is also applied when creating the clip region.

When the context is created, the transformation matrix must initially be the identity transform. It may then be adjusted using the transformation methods.

The transformation matrix can become infinite, at which point nothing is drawn anymore.

The transformations must be performed in reverse order. For instance, if a scale transformation that doubles the width is applied, followed by a rotation transformation that rotates drawing operations by a quarter turn, and a rectangle twice as wide as it is tall is then drawn on the canvas, the actual result will be a square # 2d.transformation.order .

The scale(x, y) method must add the scaling transformation described by the arguments to the transformation matrix # 2d.transformation.scale.basic 2d.transformation.scale.zero 2d.transformation.scale.negative 2d.transformation.scale.large 2d.transformation.scale.infinity 2d.transformation.scale.neginfinity 2d.transformation.scale.nan . The x argument represents the scale factor in the horizontal direction and the y argument represents the scale factor in the vertical direction. The factors are multiples # 2d.transformation.scale.multiple . If either argument is Infinity the transformation matrix must be marked as infinite instead of the method throwing an exception.

The rotate(angle) method must add the rotation transformation described by the argument to the transformation matrix # 2d.transformation.rotate.zero 2d.transformation.rotate.wrap 2d.transformation.rotate.wrapnegative 2d.transformation.rotate.infinity 2d.transformation.rotate.neginfinity 2d.transformation.rotate.nan . The angle argument represents a clockwise rotation angle # 2d.transformation.rotate.direction expressed in radians # 2d.transformation.rotate.radians .

The translate(x, y) method must add the translation transformation described by the arguments to the transformation matrix # 2d.transformation.translate.basic 2d.transformation.translate.infinity 2d.transformation.translate.nan . The x argument represents the translation distance in the horizontal direction and the y argument represents the translation distance in the vertical direction. The arguments are in coordinate space units. If either argument is Infinity the transformation matrix must be marked as infinite instead of the method throwing an exception.

The transform(m11, m12, m21, m22, dx, dy) method must multiply # 2d.transformation.transform.multiply the current transformation matrix with the matrix described by # 2d.transformation.transform.identity 2d.transformation.transform.skewed 2d.transformation.transform.infinity :

m11 m21 dx
m12 m22 dy
0 0 1

If any of the arguments are Infinity the transformation matrix must be marked as infinite instead of the method throwing an exception.

The setTransform(m11, m12, m21, m22, dx, dy) method must reset the current transform to the identity matrix # 2d.transformation.setTransform.multiple , and then invoke the transform(m11, m12, m21, m22, dx, dy) method with the same arguments # 2d.transformation.setTransform.skewed . If any of the arguments are Infinity the transformation matrix must be marked as infinite instead of the method throwing an exception.

3.14.11.1.3. Compositing

All drawing operations are affected by the global compositing attributes, globalAlpha and globalCompositeOperation # 2d.composite.operation.get .

The globalAlpha attribute gives an alpha value that is applied to shapes # 2d.composite.globalAlpha.fill and images # 2d.composite.globalAlpha.image 2d.composite.globalAlpha.canvas 2d.composite.globalAlpha.imagepattern 2d.composite.globalAlpha.canvaspattern before they are composited onto the canvas. The value must be in the range from 0.0 (fully transparent) to 1.0 (no additional transparency). If an attempt is made to set the attribute to a value outside this range, the attribute must retain its previous value # 2d.composite.globalAlpha.range 2d.composite.globalAlpha.invalid . When the context is created, the globalAlpha attribute must initially have the value 1.0 # 2d.composite.globalAlpha.default .

The globalCompositeOperation attribute sets how shapes and images are drawn onto the existing bitmap, once they have had globalAlpha and the current transformation matrix applied. It must be set to a value from the following list. In the descriptions below, the source image, A, is the shape or image being rendered, and the destination image, B, is the current state of the bitmap.

source-atop # 2d.composite.solid.source-atop 2d.composite.transparent.source-atop 2d.composite.image.source-atop
A atop B. Display the source image wherever both images are opaque. Display the destination image wherever the destination image is opaque but the source image is transparent. Display transparency elsewhere.
source-in # 2d.composite.solid.source-in 2d.composite.transparent.source-in 2d.composite.image.source-in 2d.composite.uncovered.fill.source-in 2d.composite.uncovered.image.source-in 2d.composite.uncovered.pattern.source-in
A in B. Display the source image wherever both the source image and destination image are opaque. Display transparency elsewhere.
source-out # 2d.composite.solid.source-out 2d.composite.transparent.source-out 2d.composite.image.source-out 2d.composite.uncovered.fill.source-out 2d.composite.uncovered.image.source-out 2d.composite.uncovered.pattern.source-out
A out B. Display the source image wherever the source image is opaque and the destination image is transparent. Display transparency elsewhere.
source-over # 2d.composite.solid.source-over 2d.composite.transparent.source-over 2d.composite.image.source-over (default)
A over B. Display the source image wherever the source image is opaque. Display the destination image elsewhere.
destination-atop # 2d.composite.solid.destination-atop 2d.composite.transparent.destination-atop 2d.composite.image.destination-atop 2d.composite.uncovered.fill.destination-atop 2d.composite.uncovered.image.destination-atop 2d.composite.uncovered.pattern.destination-atop
B atop A. Same as source-atop but using the destination image instead of the source image and vice versa.
destination-in # 2d.composite.solid.destination-in 2d.composite.transparent.destination-in 2d.composite.image.destination-in 2d.composite.uncovered.fill.destination-in 2d.composite.uncovered.image.destination-in 2d.composite.uncovered.pattern.destination-in
B in A. Same as source-in but using the destination image instead of the source image and vice versa.
destination-out # 2d.composite.solid.destination-out 2d.composite.transparent.destination-out 2d.composite.image.destination-out
B out A. Same as source-out but using the destination image instead of the source image and vice versa.
destination-over # 2d.composite.solid.destination-over 2d.composite.transparent.destination-over 2d.composite.image.destination-over
B over A. Same as source-over but using the destination image instead of the source image and vice versa.
lighter # 2d.composite.solid.lighter 2d.composite.transparent.lighter 2d.composite.image.lighter
A plus B. Display the sum of the source image and destination image, with color values approaching 1 as a limit.
copy # 2d.composite.solid.copy 2d.composite.transparent.copy 2d.composite.image.copy 2d.composite.uncovered.fill.copy 2d.composite.uncovered.image.copy 2d.composite.uncovered.pattern.copy
A (B is ignored). Display the source image instead of the destination image.
xor # 2d.composite.solid.xor 2d.composite.transparent.xor 2d.composite.image.xor
A xor B. Exclusive OR of the source image and destination image.
vendorName-operationName
Vendor-specific extensions to the list of composition operators should use this syntax.

These values are all case-sensitive # 2d.composite.operation.casesensitive — they must be used exactly as shown. User agents must only recognise values that exactly match the values given above # 2d.composite.operation.nullsuffix .

The operators in the above list must be treated as described by the Porter-Duff operator given at the start of their description (e.g. A over B). [PORTERDUFF]

On setting, if the user agent does not recognise the specified value, it must be ignored, leaving the value of globalCompositeOperation unaffected # 2d.composite.operation.unrecognised 2d.composite.operation.darker 2d.composite.operation.over 2d.composite.operation.clear 2d.composite.operation.highlight .

When the context is created, the globalCompositeOperation attribute must initially have the value source-over # 2d.composite.operation.default .

3.14.11.1.4. Colors and styles

The strokeStyle attribute represents the color or style to use for the lines around shapes, and the fillStyle attribute represents the color or style to use inside the shapes.

Both attributes can be either strings, CanvasGradients, or CanvasPatterns. On setting, strings must be parsed as CSS <color> values and the color assigned # 2d.fillStyle.parse.html4 2d.fillStyle.parse.hex-3 2d.fillStyle.parse.hex-6 2d.fillStyle.parse.rgb-num 2d.fillStyle.parse.rgb-clamp 2d.fillStyle.parse.rgb-percent 2d.fillStyle.parse.rgba-solid-1 2d.fillStyle.parse.rgba-solid-2 2d.fillStyle.parse.rgba-num-1 2d.fillStyle.parse.rgba-num-2 2d.fillStyle.parse.rgba-percent 2d.fillStyle.parse.transparent-1 2d.fillStyle.parse.transparent-2 2d.fillStyle.parse.hsl-1 2d.fillStyle.parse.hsl-2 2d.fillStyle.parse.hsl-3 2d.fillStyle.parse.hsl-4 2d.fillStyle.parse.hsla 2d.fillStyle.parse.svg-1 2d.fillStyle.parse.svg-2 2d.fillStyle.parse.current 2d.fillStyle.parse.system 2d.fillStyle.parse.flavor , and CanvasGradient and CanvasPattern objects must be assigned themselves. [CSS3COLOR] If the value is a string but is not a valid color # 2d.fillStyle.invalidstring , or is neither a string, a CanvasGradient, nor a CanvasPattern # 2d.fillStyle.invalidtype , then it must be ignored, and the attribute must retain its previous value.

On getting, if the value is a color, then: if it has alpha equal to 1.0, then the color must be returned as a lowercase six-digit hex value # 2d.fillStyle.get.solid , prefixed with a "#" character (U+0023 NUMBER SIGN), with the first two digits representing the red component, the next two digits representing the green component, and the last two digits representing the blue component, the digits being in the range 0-9 a-f (U+0030 to U+0039 and U+0061 to U+0066). If the value has alpha less than 1.0, then the value must instead be returned in the CSS rgba() functional-notation format: the literal string rgba (U+0072 U+0067 U+0062 U+0061) followed by a U+0028 LEFT PARENTHESIS, a base-ten integer in the range 0-255 representing the red component (using digits 0-9, U+0030 to U+0039, in the shortest form possible), a literal U+002C COMMA and U+0020 SPACE, an integer for the green component, a comma and a space, an integer for the blue component, another comma and space, a U+0030 DIGIT ZERO, a U+002E FULL STOP (representing the decimal point), one or more digits in the range 0-9 (U+0030 to U+0039) representing the fractional part of the alpha value, and finally a U+0029 RIGHT PARENTHESIS # 2d.fillStyle.get.semitransparent 2d.fillStyle.get.transparent .

Otherwise, if it is not a color but a CanvasGradient # 2d.gradient.object.compare or CanvasPattern # , then the respective object must be returned. (Such objects are opaque and therefore only useful for assigning to other attributes or for comparison to other gradients or patterns.)

When the context is created, the strokeStyle and fillStyle attributes must initially have the string value #000000 # 2d.fillStyle.default 2d.strokeStyle.default .

There are two types of gradients, linear gradients and radial gradients, both represented by objects implementing the opaque CanvasGradient interface.

Once a gradient has been created (see below), stops are placed along it to define how the colors are distributed along the gradient. The color of the gradient at each stop is the color specified for that stop. Between each such stop, the colors and the alpha component must be linearly interpolated # 2d.gradient.interpolate.solid 2d.gradient.interpolate.colour 2d.gradient.interpolate.alpha 2d.gradient.interpolate.vertical 2d.gradient.interpolate.multiple over the RGBA space without premultiplying the alpha value # 2d.gradient.interpolate.colouralpha to find the color to use at that offset. Before the first stop, the color must be the color of the first stop # 2d.gradient.interpolate.outside . After the last stop, the color must be the color of the last stop # 2d.gradient.interpolate.outside . When there are no stops, the gradient is transparent black # 2d.gradient.empty .

The addColorStop(offset, color) method on the CanvasGradient interface adds a new stop to a gradient. If the offset is less than 0 or greater than 1 then an INDEX_SIZE_ERR exception must be raised # 2d.gradient.object.invalidoffset . If the color cannot be parsed as a CSS color, then a SYNTAX_ERR exception must be raised # 2d.gradient.object.invalidcolour . Otherwise, the gradient must have a new stop placed, at offset offset relative to the whole gradient, and with the color obtained by parsing color as a CSS <color> value # 2d.gradient.object.update . If multiple stops are added at the same offset on a gradient, they must be placed in the order added, with the first one closest to the start of the gradient, and each subsequent one infinitesimally further along towards the end point (in effect causing all but the first and last stop added at each point to be ignored) # 2d.gradient.interpolate.overlap 2d.gradient.interpolate.overlap2 .

The createLinearGradient(x0, y0, x1, y1) method takes four arguments, representing the start point (x0, y0) and end point (x1, y1) of the gradient, in coordinate space units, and must return a linear CanvasGradient # 2d.gradient.object.return initialised with that line.

Linear gradients must be rendered such that at and before the starting point on the canvas the color at offset 0 is used, that at and after the ending point the color at offset 1 is used, and that all points on a line perpendicular to the line that crosses the start and end points have the color at the point where those two lines cross (with the colors coming from the interpolation described above).

If x0 = x1 and y0 = y1, then the linear gradient must paint nothing # 2d.gradient.interpolate.zerosize .

The createRadialGradient(x0, y0, r0, x1, y1, r1) method takes six arguments, the first three representing the start circle with origin (x0, y0) and radius r0, and the last three representing the end circle with origin (x1, y1) and radius r1. The values are in coordinate space units. The method must return a radial CanvasGradient # 2d.gradient.object.return initialised with those two circles. If either of r0 or r1 are negative, an INDEX_SIZE_ERR exception must be raised # 2d.gradient.radial.negative .

Radial gradients must be rendered by following these steps # 2d.gradient.radial.inside1 2d.gradient.radial.inside2 2d.gradient.radial.inside3 2d.gradient.radial.outside1 2d.gradient.radial.outside2 2d.gradient.radial.outside3 2d.gradient.radial.touch1 2d.gradient.radial.touch2 2d.gradient.radial.touch3 2d.gradient.radial.cone.behind 2d.gradient.radial.cone.front 2d.gradient.radial.cone.bottom 2d.gradient.radial.cone.top 2d.gradient.radial.cone.beside 2d.gradient.radial.cone.cylinder 2d.gradient.radial.cone.shape1 2d.gradient.radial.cone.shape2 :

  1. Let x(ω) = (x1-x0)ω + x0

    Let y(ω) = (y1-y0)ω + y0

    Let r(ω) = (r1-r0)ω + r0

    Let the color at ω be the color of the gradient at offset 0.0 for all values of ω less than 0.0, the color at offset 1.0 for all values of ω greater than 1.0, and the color at the given offset for values of ω in the range 0.0 ≤ ω ≤ 1.0

  2. For all values of ω where r(ω) > 0, starting with the value of ω nearest to positive infinity and ending with the value of ω nearest to negative infinity, draw the circumference of the circle with radius r(ω) at position (x(ω), y(ω)), with the color at ω, but only painting on the parts of the canvas that have not yet been painted on by earlier circles in this step for this rendering of the gradient.

If x0 = x1 and y0 = y1 and r0 = r1, then the radial gradient must paint nothing # 2d.gradient.radial.equal .

This effectively creates a cone, touched by the two circles defined in the creation of the gradient, with the part of the cone before the start circle (0.0) using the color of the first offset, the part of the cone after the end circle (1.0) using the color of the last offset, and areas outside the cone untouched by the gradient (transparent black).

Gradients must only be painted where the relevant stroking or filling effects requires that they be drawn.

Support for actually painting gradients is optional. Instead of painting the gradients, user agents may instead just paint the first stop's color. However, createLinearGradient() and createRadialGradient() must always return objects when passed valid arguments.

Patterns are represented by objects implementing the opaque CanvasPattern interface.

To create objects of this type, the createPattern(image, repetition) method is used. The first argument gives the image to use as the pattern (either an HTMLImageElement or an HTMLCanvasElement). Modifying this image after calling the createPattern() method must not affect the pattern # 2d.pattern.modify.image1 2d.pattern.modify.image2 2d.pattern.modify.canvas1 2d.pattern.modify.canvas2 . The second argument must be a string with one of the following values: repeat, repeat-x, repeat-y, no-repeat. If the empty string or null is specified, repeat must be assumed # 2d.pattern.repeat.empty 2d.pattern.repeat.null . If an unrecognised value is given, then the user agent must raise a SYNTAX_ERR exception # 2d.pattern.repeat.unrecognised . User agents must recognise the four values described above exactly (e.g. they must not do case folding) # 2d.pattern.repeat.case 2d.pattern.repeat.nullsuffix . The method must return a CanvasPattern object suitably initialised # 2d.pattern.basic.type .

The image argument must be an instance of an HTMLImageElement or HTMLCanvasElement. If the image is of the wrong type, the implementation must raise a TYPE_MISMATCH_ERR exception # 2d.pattern.image.undefined 2d.pattern.image.null 2d.pattern.image.string . If the image argument is an HTMLImageElement object whose complete attribute is false, then the implementation must raise an INVALID_STATE_ERR exception # 2d.pattern.image.incomplete 2d.pattern.image.broken .

Patterns must be painted so that the top left of the first image is anchored at the origin of the coordinate space, and images are then repeated horizontally to the left and right (if the repeat-x string was specified) or vertically up and down (if the repeat-y string was specified) or in all four directions all over the canvas (if the repeat string was specified) # 2d.pattern.basic.image 2d.pattern.basic.canvas 2d.pattern.basic.nocontext 2d.pattern.paint.norepeat.basic 2d.pattern.paint.norepeat.outside 2d.pattern.paint.norepeat.coord1 2d.pattern.paint.norepeat.coord2 2d.pattern.paint.coord3 2d.pattern.paint.repeat.basic 2d.pattern.paint.repeat.outside 2d.pattern.paint.repeat.coord1 2d.pattern.paint.repeat.coord2 2d.pattern.paint.repeat.coord3 2d.pattern.paint.repeatx.basic 2d.pattern.paint.repeatx.outside 2d.pattern.paint.repeatx.coord1 2d.pattern.paint.repeaty.basic 2d.pattern.paint.repeaty.outside 2d.pattern.paint.repeaty.coord1 . The images are not be scaled by this process; one CSS pixel of the image must be painted on one coordinate space unit # . Of course, patterns must only actually painted where the stroking or filling effect requires that they be drawn, and are affected by the current transformation matrix # .

Support for patterns is optional. If the user agent doesn't support patterns, then createPattern() must return null # .

3.14.11.1.5. Line styles

The lineWidth attribute gives the default width of lines, in coordinate space units # 2d.line.lineWidth.basic 2d.line.lineWidth.transformed . On setting, zero and negative values must be ignored, leaving the value unchanged # 2d.line.invalid.lineWidth .

When the context is created, the lineWidth attribute must initially have the value 1.0 # 2d.line.defaults .

The lineCap attribute defines the type of endings that UAs shall place on the end of lines. The three valid values are butt, round, and square. The butt value means that the end of each line is a flat edge perpendicular to the direction of the line # 2d.line.lineCap.butt . The round value means that a semi-circle with the diameter equal to the width of the line is then added on to the end of the line # 2d.line.lineCap.round . The square value means that at the end of each line is a rectangle with the length of the line width and the width of half the line width, placed flat against the edge perpendicular to the direction of the line # 2d.line.lineCap.square . On setting, any other value than the literal strings butt, round, and square must be ignored, leaving the value unchanged # 2d.line.invalid.lineCap .

When the context is created, the lineCap attribute must initially have the value butt # 2d.line.defaults .

The lineJoin attribute defines the type of corners that that UAs will place where two lines meet. The three valid values are round, bevel, and miter.

On setting, any other value than the literal strings round, bevel and miter must be ignored, leaving the value unchanged # 2d.line.invalid.lineJoin .

When the context is created, the lineJoin attribute must initially have the value miter # 2d.line.defaults .

The round value means that a filled arc connecting the corners on the outside of the join, with the diameter equal to the line width, and the origin at the point where the inside edges of the lines touch, must be rendered at joins # 2d.line.lineJoin.round . The bevel value means that a filled triangle connecting those two corners with a straight line, the third point of the triangle being the point where the lines touch on the inside of the join, must be rendered at joins # 2d.line.lineJoin.bevel . The miter value means that a filled four- or five-sided polygon must be placed at the join, with two of the lines being the perpendicular edges of the joining lines, and the other two being continuations of the outside edges of the two joining lines, as long as required to intersect without going over the miter limit # 2d.line.lineJoin.miter .

The miter length is the distance from the point where the lines touch on the inside of the join to the intersection of the line edges on the outside of the join. The miter limit ratio is the maximum allowed ratio of the miter length to the line width. If the miter limit would be exceeded, then a fifth line must be added to the polygon, connecting the two outside lines, such that the distance from the inside point of the join to the point in the middle of this fifth line is the maximum allowed value for the miter length # .

The miter limit ratio can be explicitly set using the miterLimit attribute. On setting, zero and negative values must be ignored, leaving the value unchanged # 2d.line.invalid.miterLimit .

When the context is created, the miterLimit attribute must initially have the value 10.0 # 2d.line.defaults .

3.14.11.1.6. Shadows

All drawing operations are affected by the four global shadow attributes. Shadows form part of the source image during composition.

The shadowColor attribute sets the color of the shadow.

When the context is created, the shadowColor attribute initially must be fully-transparent black.

The shadowOffsetX and shadowOffsetY attributes specify the distance that the shadow will be offset in the positive horizontal and positive vertical distance respectively. Their values are in coordinate space units.

When the context is created, the shadow offset attributes initially have the value 0.

The shadowBlur attribute specifies the number of coordinate space units that the blurring is to cover. On setting, negative numbers must be ignored, leaving the attribute unmodified.

When the context is created, the shadowBlur attribute must initially have the value 0.

Support for shadows is optional. When they are supported, then, when shadows are drawn, they must be rendered using the specified color, offset, and blur radius.

3.14.11.1.7. Simple shapes (rectangles)

There are three methods that immediately draw rectangles to the bitmap. They each take four arguments; the first two give the x and y coordinates of the top left of the rectangle, and the second two give the width and height of the rectangle, respectively.

Shapes are painted without affecting the current path, and are subject to transformations, shadow effects, global alpha, clipping paths, and global composition operators.

Negative values for width and height must cause the implementation to raise an INDEX_SIZE_ERR exception # 2d.clearRect.negative 2d.fillRect.negative 2d.strokeRect.negative .

The clearRect() method must clear the pixels in the specified rectangle to a fully transparent black, erasing any previous image # 2d.clearRect.basic 2d.clearRect.path 2d.clearRect.zero 2d.clearRect.transform 2d.clearRect.globalalpha 2d.clearRect.globalcomposite 2d.clearRect.clip 2d.clearRect.shadow . If either height or width are zero, this method has no effect.

The fillRect() method must paint the specified rectangular area using the fillStyle # 2d.fillRect.basic 2d.fillRect.path 2d.fillRect.zero 2d.fillRect.transform 2d.fillRect.clip 2d.fillRect.shadow . If either height or width are zero, this method has no effect.

The strokeRect() method must draw stroke the path that would be created for the outline of a rectangle of the specified size using the strokeStyle, lineWidth, lineJoin, and (if appropriate) miterLimit attributes # 2d.strokeRect.basic 2d.strokeRect.path 2d.strokeRect.zero.1 2d.strokeRect.zero.2 2d.strokeRect.zero.3 2d.strokeRect.zero.4 2d.strokeRect.zero.5 2d.strokeRect.transform 2d.strokeRect.globalalpha 2d.strokeRect.globalcomposite 2d.strokeRect.clip 2d.strokeRect.shadow . If both height and width are zero, this method has no effect, since there is no path to stroke (it's a point). If only one of the two is zero, then the method will draw a line instead (the path for the outline is just a straight line along the non-zero dimension).

3.14.11.1.8. Complex shapes (paths)

The context always has a current path. There is only one current path, it is not part of the drawing state.

A path has a list of zero or more subpaths. Each subpath consists of a list of one or more points, connected by straight or curved lines, and a flag indicating whether the subpath is closed or not. A closed subpath is one where the last point of the subpath is connected to the first point of the subpath by a straight line. Subpaths with fewer than two points are ignored when painting the path.

Initially, the context's path must have zero subpaths # 2d.path.initial .

The beginPath() method must empty the list of subpaths so that the context once again has zero subpaths # 2d.path.beginPath .

The moveTo(x, y) method must create a new subpath with the specified point as its first (and only) point # 2d.path.moveTo.1 2d.path.moveTo.2 .

The closePath() method must do nothing if the context has no subpaths # 2d.path.closePath.1 . Otherwise, it must mark the last subpath as closed, create a new subpath whose first point is the same as the previous subpath's first point, and finally add this new subpath to the path # 2d.path.closePath.2 2d.path.closePath.3 . (If the last subpath had more than one point in its list of points, then this is equivalent to adding a straight line connecting the last point back to the first point, thus "closing" the shape, and then repeating the last moveTo() call.)

New points and the lines connecting them are added to subpaths using the methods described below. In all cases, the methods only modify the last subpath in the context's paths.

The lineTo(x, y) method must do nothing if the context has no subpaths # . Otherwise, it must connect the last point in the subpath to the given point (x, y) using a straight line, and must then add the given point (x, y) to the subpath # .

The quadraticCurveTo(cpx, cpy, x, y) method must do nothing if the context has no subpaths # . Otherwise it must connect the last point in the subpath to the given point (x, y) by a quadratic curve with control point (cpx, cpy), and must then add the given point (x, y) to the subpath # .

The bezierCurveTo(cp1x, cp1y, cp2x, cp2y, x, y) method must do nothing if the context has no subpaths # . Otherwise, it must connect the last point in the subpath to the given point (x, y) using a bezier curve with control points (cp1x, cp1y) and (cp2x, cp2y). Then, it must add the point (x, y) to the subpath # .

The arcTo(x1, y1, x2, y2, radius) method must do nothing if the context has no subpaths # . If the context does have a subpath, then the behaviour depends on the arguments and the last point in the subpath.

Let the point (x0, y0) be the last point in the subpath. Let The Arc be the shortest arc given by circumference of the circle that has one point tangent to the line defined by the points (x0, y0) and (x1, y1), another point tangent to the line defined by the points (x1, y1) and (x2, y2), and that has radius radius. The points at which this circle touches these two lines are called the start and end tangent points respectively.

If the point (x2, y2) is on the line defined by the points (x0, y0) and (x1, y1) then the method must do nothing # , as no arc would satisfy the above constraints.

Otherwise, the method must connect the point (x0, y0) to the start tangent point by a straight line, then connect the start tangent point to the end tangent point by The Arc, and finally add the start and end tangent points to the subpath # .

Negative or zero values for radius must cause the implementation to raise an INDEX_SIZE_ERR exception # .

The arc(x, y, radius, startAngle, endAngle, anticlockwise) method draws an arc. If the context has any subpaths, then the method must add a straight line from the last point in the subpath to the start point of the arc # . In any case, it must draw the arc between the start point of the arc and the end point of the arc, and add the start and end points of the arc to the subpath # . The arc and its start and end points are defined as follows:

Consider a circle that has its origin at (x, y) and that has radius radius. The points at startAngle and endAngle along the circle's circumference, measured in radians clockwise from the positive x-axis, are the start and end points respectively. The arc is the path along the circumference of this circle from the start point to the end point, going anti-clockwise if the anticlockwise argument is true, and clockwise otherwise.

Negative or zero values for radius must cause the implementation to raise an INDEX_SIZE_ERR exception # .

The rect(x, y, w, h) method must create a new subpath containing just the four points (x, y), (x+w, y), (x+w, y+h), (x, y+h), with those four points connected by straight lines # , and must then mark the subpath as closed # . It must then create a new subpath with the point (x, y) as the only point in the subpath # .

Negative values for w and h must cause the implementation to raise an INDEX_SIZE_ERR exception.

The fill() method must fill each subpath of the current path in turn, using fillStyle, and using the non-zero winding number rule. Open subpaths must be implicitly closed when being filled (without affecting the actual subpaths).

The stroke() method must stroke each subpath of the current path in turn, using the strokeStyle, lineWidth, lineJoin, and (if appropriate) miterLimit attributes.

Paths, when filled or stroked, must be painted without affecting the current path, and must be subject to transformations, shadow effects, global alpha, clipping paths, and global composition operators.

The transformation is applied to the path when it is drawn, not when the path is constructed. Thus, a single path can be constructed and then drawn according to different transformations without recreating the path.

The clip() method must create a new clipping path by calculating the intersection of the current clipping path and the area described by the current path (after applying the current transformation), using the non-zero winding number rule. Open subpaths must be implicitly closed when computing the clipping path, without affecting the actual subpaths.

When the context is created, the initial clipping path is the rectangle with the top left corner at (0,0) and the width and height of the coordinate space.

The isPointInPath(x, y) method must return true if the point given by the x and y coordinates passed to the method, when treated as coordinates in the canvas' coordinate space unaffected by the current transformation, is within the area of the canvas that would be filled if the current path was to be filled; and must return false otherwise.

3.14.11.1.9. Images

To draw images onto the canvas, the drawImage method can be used.

This method is overloaded with three variants: drawImage(image, dx, dy), drawImage(image, dx, dy, dw, dh), and drawImage(image, sx, sy, sw, sh, dx, dy, dw, dh). (Actually it is overloaded with six; each of those three can take either an HTMLImageElement or an HTMLCanvasElement for the image argument.) If not specified, the dw and dh arguments default to the values of sw and sh, interpreted such that one CSS pixel in the image is treated as one unit in the canvas coordinate space. If the sx, sy, sw, and sh arguments are omitted, they default to 0, 0, the image's intrinsic width in image pixels, and the image's intrinsic height in image pixels, respectively.

The image argument must be an instance of an HTMLImageElement or HTMLCanvasElement. If the image is of the wrong type, the implementation must raise a TYPE_MISMATCH_ERR exception. If one of the sy, sw, sw, and sh arguments is outside the size of the image, or if one of the dw and dh arguments is negative, the implementation must raise an INDEX_SIZE_ERR exception. If the image argument is an HTMLImageElement object whose complete attribute is false, then the implementation must raise an INVALID_STATE_ERR exception.

When drawImage() is invoked, the specified region of the image specified by the source rectangle (sx, sy, sw, sh) must be painted on the region of the canvas specified by the destination rectangle (dx, dy, dw, dh).

Images are painted without affecting the current path, and are subject to transformations, shadow effects, global alpha, clipping paths, and global composition operators.

3.14.11.1.10. Pixel manipulation

The getImageData(sx, sy, sw, sh) method must return an ImageData object representing the underlying pixel data for the area of the canvas denoted by the rectangle which has one corner at the (sx, sy) coordinate, and that has width sw and height sh. Pixels outside the canvas must be returned as transparent black. Pixels must be returned as non-premultiplied alpha values.

ImageData objects must be initialised so that their height attribute is set to h, the number of rows in the image data, their width attribute is set to w, the number of physical device pixels per row in the image data, and the data attribute is initialised to an array of h×w×4 integers. The pixels must be represented in this array in left-to-right order, row by row, starting at the top left, with each pixel's red, green, blue, and alpha components being given in that order. Each component of each device pixel represented in this array must be in the range 0..255, representing the 8 bit value for that component. At least one pixel must be returned.

The width and height (w and h) might be different than the sw and sh arguments to the function, e.g. if the canvas is backed by a high-resolution bitmap.

If the getImageData(sx, sy, sw, sh) method is called with either the sw or sh arguments set to zero or negative values, the method must raise an INDEX_SIZE_ERR exception.

The putImageData(image, dx, dy) method must take the given ImageData structure, and draw it at the specified location dx,dy in the canvas coordinate space, mapping each pixel represented by the ImageData structure into one device pixel.

If the first argument to the method is not an object whose [[Class]] property is ImageData, but all of the following conditions are true, then the method must treat the first argument as if it was an ImageData object (and thus not raise the TYPE_MISMATCH_ERR exception):

The handling of pixel rounding when the specified coordinates do not exactly map to the device coordinate space is not defined by this specification, except that the following must result in no visible changes to the rendering:

context.putImageData(context.getImageData(x, y, w, h), x, y);

...for any value of x and y. In other words, while user agents may round the arguments of the two methods so that they map to device pixel boundaries, any rounding performed must be performed consistently for both the getImageData() and putImageData() operations.

The current transformation matrix must not affect the getImageData() and putImageData() methods.

The data returned by getImageData() is at the resolution of the canvas backing store, which is likely to not be one device pixel to each CSS pixel if the display used is a high resolution display. Thus, while one could create an ImageData object, one would net necessarily know what resolution the canvas expected (how many pixels the canvas wants to paint over one coordinate space unit pixel).

In the following example, the script first obtains the size of the canvas backing store, and then generates a few new ImageData objects which can be used.

  // canvas is a reference to a <canvas> element
  // (note: this example uses JavaScript 1.7 features)
  var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
  var backingStore = context.getImageData(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
  var actualWidth = backingStore.width;
  var actualHeight = backingStore.height;

  function CreateImageData(w, h) {
    return {
      height: h,
      width: w,
      data: [i for (i in function (n) { for (let i = 0; i < n; i += 1) yield 0 }(w*h*4)) ]
    };
  }

  // create some plasma
  var plasma = CreateImageData(actualWidth, actualHeight);
  FillPlasma(plasma, 'green'); // green plasma

  // create a cloud
  var could = CreateImageData(actualWidth, actualHeight);
  FillCloud(cloud, actualWidth/2, actualHeight/2); // put a cloud in the middle

  // paint them on top of each other
  context.putImageData(plasma, 0, 0);
  context.putImageData(cloud, 0, 0);

  function FillPlasma(data) { ... }
  function FillCload(data, x, y) { ... }
3.14.11.1.11. Drawing model

When a shape or image is painted, user agents must follow these steps, in the order given (or act as if they do):

  1. If the current transformation matrix is infinite, then do nothing. Abort these steps.
  2. The coordinates are transformed by the current transformation matrix.
  3. The shape or image is rendered, creating image A, as described in the previous sections. For shapes, the current fill, stroke, and line styles must be honoured.
  4. The shadow is rendered from image A, using the current shadow styles, creating image B.
  5. Image A is composited over image B creating the source image.
  6. The source image has its alpha adjusted by globalAlpha.
  7. Within the clip region (as affected by the current transformation matrix), the source image is composited over the current canvas bitmap using the current composition operator.