Web/CSS/paint()

This is an experimental technologyCheck the Browser compatibility table carefully before using this in production.

The paint() CSS function defines an <image> value generated with a PaintWorklet.

Syntax

paint(workletName, parameters)

where:

workletName: The name of the registered worklet.
parameters: Optional additional parameters to pass to the paintWorklet

Examples

Basic usage example

You can pass additional arguments via the CSS paint() function. In this example, we passed two arguments: whether the background-image on a group of list items is filled or just has a stroke outline, and the width of that outline:

<ul>
    <li>item 1</li>
    <li>item 2</li>
    <li>item 3</li>
    <li>item 4</li>
    <li>item 5</li>
    <li>item 6</li>
    <li>item 7</li>
    <li>item 8</li>
    <li>item 9</li>
    <li>item 10</li>
    <li>item 11</li>
    <li>item 12</li>
    <li>item 13</li>
    <li>item 14</li>
    <li>item 15</li>
    <li>item 16</li>
    <li>item 17</li>
    <li>item 18</li>
    <li>item 19</li>
    <li>item 20</li>
</ul>

  CSS.paintWorklet.addModule('https://mdn.github.io/houdini-examples/cssPaint/intro/worklets/hilite.js');

li {
   --boxColor: hsla(55, 90%, 60%, 1.0);
   background-image: paint(hollowHighlights, stroke, 2px);
}

li:nth-of-type(3n) { 
   --boxColor: hsla(155, 90%, 60%, 1.0);
   background-image: paint(hollowHighlights, filled,  3px);
}

li:nth-of-type(3n+1) { 
   --boxColor: hsla(255, 90%, 60%, 1.0);
   background-image: paint(hollowHighlights, stroke, 1px);
}

We've included a custom property in the selector block defining a boxColor. Custom properties are accessible to the PaintWorklet.

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
CSS Painting API Level 1The definition of 'Paint Notation' in that specification.	Working Draft	Initial definition.

Browser compatibility

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
`paint()`	Chrome Full support 65	Edge Full support 79	Firefox No support No	IE No support No	Opera Full support 52	Safari No support No	WebView Android Full support 65	Chrome Android Full support 65	Firefox Android No support No	Opera Android Full support 47	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android Full support 9.2

Legend

Full support: Full support
No support: No support