Web/API/CanvasRenderingContext2D/fillText

The CanvasRenderingContext2D method fillText(), part of the Canvas 2D API, draws a text string at the specified coordinates, filling the string's characters with the current fillStyle. An optional parameter allows specifying a maximum width for the rendered text, which the user agent will achieve by condensing the text or by using a lower font size.

This method draws directly to the canvas without modifying the current path, so any subsequent fill() or stroke() calls will have no effect on it.

The text is rendered using the font and text layout configuration as defined by the font, textAlign, textBaseline, and direction properties.

To draw the outlines of the characters in a string, call the context's strokeText() method.

Syntax

CanvasRenderingContext2D.fillText(text, x, y [, maxWidth]);

Parameters

text

A DOMString specifying the text string to render into the context. The text is rendered using the settings specified by font, textAlign, textBaseline, and direction.

x

The x-axis coordinate of the point at which to begin drawing the text, in pixels.

y

The y-axis coordinate of the point at which to begin drawing the text, in pixels.

maxWidth Optional

The maximum number of pixels wide the text may be once rendered. If not specified, there is no limit to the width of the text. However, if this value is provided, the user agent will adjust the kerning, select a more horizontally condensed font (if one is available or can be generated without loss of quality), or scale down to a smaller font size in order to fit the text in the specified width.

Return value

undefined.

Examples

Drawing filled text

This example writes the words "Hello world" using the fillText() method.

HTML

First, we need a canvas to draw into. This code creates a context 400 pixels wide and 150 pixels across.

<canvas id="canvas" width="400" height="150"></canvas>

JavaScript

The JavaScript code for this example follows.

const canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');

ctx.font = '50px serif';
ctx.fillText('Hello world', 50, 90);

This code obtains a reference to the <canvas>, then gets a reference to its 2D graphics context.

With that in hand, we set the font to 50-pixel-tall "serif" (the user's default serif font), then call fillText() to draw the text "Hello world," starting at the coordinates (50, 90).

Restricting the text size

This example writes the words "Hello world," restricting its width to 140 pixels.

HTML

<canvas id="canvas" width="400" height="150"></canvas>

JavaScript

const canvas = document.getElementById('canvas');
const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');

ctx.font = '50px serif';
ctx.fillText('Hello world', 50, 90, 140);

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of 'CanvasRenderingContext2D.fillText' in that specification.	Living Standard

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table on this page is generated from structured data. If you'd like to contribute to the data, please check out https://github.com/mdn/browser-compat-data and send us a pull request.

Update compatibility data on GitHub

	Desktop						Mobile
	Chrome	Edge	Firefox	Internet Explorer	Opera	Safari	Android webview	Chrome for Android	Firefox for Android	Opera for Android	Safari on iOS	Samsung Internet
fillText	Chrome Full support Yes	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support Yes	Safari Full support Yes	WebView Android Full support Yes	Chrome Android Full support Yes	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android Full support Yes	Safari iOS Full support Yes	Samsung Internet Android Full support Yes

Legend

Full support  

Full support

See also

• Drawing text
• CanvasRenderingContext2D
• CanvasRenderingContext2D.strokeText()

CanvasRenderingContext2D.fillText() by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.