Web/API/ImageCapture

The ImageCapture interface of the MediaStream Image Capture API provides methods to enable the capture of images or photos from a camera or other photographic device. It provides an interface for capturing images from a photographic device referenced through a valid MediaStreamTrack.

Constructor

ImageCapture()

Creates a new ImageCapture object which can be used to capture still frames (photos) from a given MediaStreamTrack which represents a video stream.

Properties

ImageCapture.track Read only

Returns a reference to the MediaStreamTrack passed to the constructor.

Methods

The ImageCapture interface is based on EventTarget, so it includes the methods defined by that interface as well as the ones listed below.

ImageCapture.takePhoto()

Takes a single exposure using the video capture device sourcing a MediaStreamTrack and returns a Promise that resolves with a Blob containing the data.

ImageCapture.getPhotoCapabilities()

Returns a Promise that resolves with a PhotoCapabilities object containing the ranges of available configuration options.

ImageCapture.getPhotoSettings()

Returns a Promise that resolves with a PhotoSettings object containing the current photo configuration settings.

ImageCapture.grabFrame()

Takes a snapshot of the live video in a MediaStreamTrack, returning an ImageBitmap, if successful.

Example

The following code is taken from Chrome's Grab Frame - Take Photo Sample. Since ImageCapture requires some place to capture an image from, the example below starts with a device's media device (in other words a camera).

This example shows, roughly, a MediaStreamTrack extracted from a device's MediaStream. The track is then used to create an ImageCapture object so that takePhoto() and grabFrame() can be called. Finally, it shows how to apply the results of these calls to a canvas object.

var imageCapture;

function onGetUserMediaButtonClick() {
  navigator.mediaDevices.getUserMedia({video: true})
  .then(mediaStream => {
    document.querySelector('video').srcObject = mediaStream;

    const track = mediaStream.getVideoTracks()[0];
    imageCapture = new ImageCapture(track);
  })
  .catch(error => console.log(error));
}

function onGrabFrameButtonClick() {
  imageCapture.grabFrame()
  .then(imageBitmap => {
    const canvas = document.querySelector('#grabFrameCanvas');
    drawCanvas(canvas, imageBitmap);
  })
  .catch(error => console.log(error));
}

function onTakePhotoButtonClick() {
  imageCapture.takePhoto()
  .then(blob => createImageBitmap(blob))
  .then(imageBitmap => {
    const canvas = document.querySelector('#takePhotoCanvas');
    drawCanvas(canvas, imageBitmap);
  })
  .catch(error => console.log(error));
}

/* Utils */

function drawCanvas(canvas, img) {
  canvas.width = getComputedStyle(canvas).width.split('px')[0];
  canvas.height = getComputedStyle(canvas).height.split('px')[0];
  let ratio  = Math.min(canvas.width / img.width, canvas.height / img.height);
  let x = (canvas.width - img.width * ratio) / 2;
  let y = (canvas.height - img.height * ratio) / 2;
  canvas.getContext('2d').clearRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
  canvas.getContext('2d').drawImage(img, 0, 0, img.width, img.height,
      x, y, img.width * ratio, img.height * ratio);
}

document.querySelector('video').addEventListener('play', function() {
  document.querySelector('#grabFrameButton').disabled = false;
  document.querySelector('#takePhotoButton').disabled = false;
});

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
MediaStream Image CaptureThe definition of 'ImageCapture' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition.

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
ImageCapture Experimental'	Chrome Full support 59	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera Full support 46	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 59	Chrome Android Full support 59	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
ImageCapture() constructor Experimental'	Chrome Full support 59	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera Full support 46	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 59	Chrome Android Full support 59	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
getPhotoCapabilities Experimental'	Chrome Full support 59	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera Full support 46	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 59	Chrome Android Full support 59	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
getPhotoSettings Experimental'	Chrome Full support 61	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera Full support 46	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 61	Chrome Android Full support 61	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 8.0
grabFrame Experimental'	Chrome Full support 59	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera Full support 46	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 59	Chrome Android Full support 59	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0
takePhoto Experimental'	Chrome Full support 60 Full support 60 No support 59 — 60 Notes' Notes' photoSettings argument not supported.	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera Full support 47 Full support 47 No support 46 — 47 Notes' Notes' photoSettings argument not supported.	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 60 Full support 60 No support 59 — 60 Notes' Notes' photoSettings argument not supported.	Chrome Android Full support 60 Full support 60 No support 59 — 60 Notes' Notes' photoSettings argument not supported.	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android Full support 44 Full support 44 No support 43 — 44 Notes' Notes' photoSettings argument not supported.	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 8.0 Full support 8.0 No support 7.0 — 8.0 Notes' Notes' photoSettings argument not supported.
track Experimental'	Chrome Full support 59	Edge Full support ≤79	Firefox ?	IE No support No	Opera Full support 46	Safari ?	WebView Android Full support 59	Chrome Android Full support 59	Firefox Android ?	Opera Android Full support 43	Safari iOS ?	Samsung Internet Android Full support 7.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

No support  

No support

Compatibility unknown  

Compatibility unknown

Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.'

Experimental. Expect behavior to change in the future.

See implementation notes.'

See implementation notes.

ImageCapture by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.