Web/HTML/Element/canvas

Use the HTML <canvas> element with either the canvas scripting API or the WebGL API to draw graphics and animations.

Content categories	Flow content, phrasing content, embedded content, palpable content.
Permitted content	Transparent but with no interactive content descendants except for <a> elements, <button> elements, <input> elements whose type attribute is checkbox, radio, or button.
Tag omission	None, both the starting and ending tag are mandatory.
Permitted parents	Any element that accepts phrasing content.
Implicit ARIA role	No corresponding role
Permitted ARIA roles	Any
DOM interface	HTMLCanvasElement

Attributes

This element's attributes include the global attributes.

height

The height of the coordinate space in CSS pixels. Defaults to 150.

moz-opaque ' '

Lets the canvas know whether or not translucency will be a factor. If the canvas knows there's no translucency, painting performance can be optimized. This is only supported by Mozilla-based browsers; use the standardized canvas.getContext('2d', { alpha: false }) instead.

width

The width of the coordinate space in CSS pixels. Defaults to 300.

Usage notes

Alternative content

You may (and should) provide alternate content inside the <canvas> block. That content will be rendered both on older browsers that don't support canvas and in browsers with JavaScript disabled. Providing a useful fallback text or sub DOM helps to make the the canvas more accessible.

Required </canvas> tag

Unlike the <img> element, the <canvas> element requires the closing tag (</canvas>).

Sizing the canvas using CSS versus HTML

The displayed size of the canvas can be changed using CSS, but if you do this the image is scaled during rendering to fit the styled size, which can make the final graphics rendering end up being distorted.

It is better to specify your canvas dimensions by setting the width and height attributes directly on the <canvas> elements, either directly in the HTML or by using JavaScript.

Maximum canvas size

The maximum size of a <canvas> element is very large, but the exact size depends on the browser. The following is some data we've collected from various tests and other sources (e.g. Stack Overflow):

Browser	Maximum height	Maximum width	Maximum area
Chrome	32,767 pixels	32,767 pixels	268,435,456 pixels (i.e., 16,384 x 16,384)
Firefox	32,767 pixels	32,767 pixels	472,907,776 pixels (i.e., 22,528 x 20,992)
Safari	32,767 pixels	32,767 pixels	268,435,456 pixels (i.e., 16,384 x 16,384)
IE	8,192 pixels	8,192 pixels	?

Note: Exceeding the maximum dimensions or area renders the canvas unusable — drawing commands will not work.

Examples

HTML

This code snippet adds a canvas element to your HTML document. A fallback text is provided if a browser is unable to render the canvas, or if can't read a canvas.

<canvas width="300" height="300"> 
  An alternative text describing what your canvas displays. 
</canvas>

JavaScript

Then in the JavaScript code, call HTMLCanvasElement.getContext() to get a drawing context and start drawing onto the canvas:

const canvas = document.querySelector('canvas'); 
const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d'); 
ctx.fillStyle = 'green'; 
ctx.fillRect(10, 10, 100, 100);

Accessibility concerns

Alternative content

The <canvas> element on its own is just a bitmap and does not provide information about any drawn objects. Canvas content is not exposed to accessibility tools as semantic HTML is. In general, you should avoid using canvas in an accessible website or app. The following guides can help to make it more accessible.

• MDN Hit regions and accessability
• Canvas accessibility use cases
• Canvas element accessibility issues
• HTML5 Canvas Accessibility in Firefox 13 – by Steve Faulkner
• Best practices for interactive canvas elements

Specifications

Specification	Status	Comment
HTML Living StandardThe definition of '<canvas>' in that specification.	Living Standard
HTML5The definition of '<canvas>' in that specification.	Recommendation	Initial definition

Browser compatibility

The compatibility table in 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
canvas	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1.5 Notes' Full support 1.5 Notes' Notes' Before Firefox 5, the canvas width and height were signed integers instead of unsigned integers. Notes' Prior to Firefox 6, a <canvas> element with a zero width or height would be rendered as if it had default dimensions. Notes' Before Firefox 12, if JavaScript is disabled, the <canvas> element was being rendered instead of showing the fallback content as per the specification. Since then, the fallback content is rendered instead.	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 9	Safari Full support 2 Notes' Full support 2 Notes' Notes' Although early versions of Apple's Safari browser don't require the closing tag, the specification indicates that it is required, so you should be sure to include it for broadest compatibility. Versions of Safari prior to version 2 will render the content of the fallback in addition to the canvas itself unless you use CSS tricks to mask it.	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4 Notes' Full support 4 Notes' Notes' Before Firefox 5, the canvas width and height were signed integers instead of unsigned integers. Notes' Prior to Firefox 6, a <canvas> element with a zero width or height would be rendered as if it had default dimensions. Notes' Before Firefox 12, if JavaScript is disabled, the <canvas> element was being rendered instead of showing the fallback content as per the specification. Since then, the fallback content is rendered instead.	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
height	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1.5 Notes' Full support 1.5 Notes' Notes' Before Firefox 5, the canvas width and height were signed integers instead of unsigned integers. Notes' Prior to Firefox 6, a <canvas> element with a zero width or height would be rendered as if it had default dimensions. Notes' Before Firefox 12, if JavaScript is disabled, the <canvas> element was being rendered instead of showing the fallback content as per the specification. Since then, the fallback content is rendered instead.	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 9	Safari Full support 2 Notes' Full support 2 Notes' Notes' Although early versions of Apple's Safari browser don't require the closing tag, the specification indicates that it is required, so you should be sure to include it for broadest compatibility. Versions of Safari prior to version 2 will render the content of the fallback in addition to the canvas itself unless you use CSS tricks to mask it.	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4 Notes' Full support 4 Notes' Notes' Before Firefox 5, the canvas width and height were signed integers instead of unsigned integers. Notes' Prior to Firefox 6, a <canvas> element with a zero width or height would be rendered as if it had default dimensions. Notes' Before Firefox 12, if JavaScript is disabled, the <canvas> element was being rendered instead of showing the fallback content as per the specification. Since then, the fallback content is rendered instead.	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0
moz-opaque Non-standard'	Chrome No support No	Edge No support No	Firefox Full support 3.5	IE No support No	Opera No support No	Safari No support No	WebView Android No support No	Chrome Android No support No	Firefox Android Full support 4	Opera Android No support No	Safari iOS No support No	Samsung Internet Android No support No
width	Chrome Full support 1	Edge Full support 12	Firefox Full support 1.5 Notes' Full support 1.5 Notes' Notes' Before Firefox 5, the canvas width and height were signed integers instead of unsigned integers. Notes' Prior to Firefox 6, a <canvas> element with a zero width or height would be rendered as if it had default dimensions. Notes' Before Firefox 12, if JavaScript is disabled, the <canvas> element was being rendered instead of showing the fallback content as per the specification. Since then, the fallback content is rendered instead.	IE Full support 9	Opera Full support 9	Safari Full support 2 Notes' Full support 2 Notes' Notes' Although early versions of Apple's Safari browser don't require the closing tag, the specification indicates that it is required, so you should be sure to include it for broadest compatibility. Versions of Safari prior to version 2 will render the content of the fallback in addition to the canvas itself unless you use CSS tricks to mask it.	WebView Android Full support 37	Chrome Android Full support 18	Firefox Android Full support 4 Notes' Full support 4 Notes' Notes' Before Firefox 5, the canvas width and height were signed integers instead of unsigned integers. Notes' Prior to Firefox 6, a <canvas> element with a zero width or height would be rendered as if it had default dimensions. Notes' Before Firefox 12, if JavaScript is disabled, the <canvas> element was being rendered instead of showing the fallback content as per the specification. Since then, the fallback content is rendered instead.	Opera Android Full support 10.1	Safari iOS Full support 1	Samsung Internet Android Full support 1.0

Legend

Full support  

Full support

No support  

No support

Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.'

Non-standard. Expect poor cross-browser support.

See implementation notes.'

See implementation notes.

See also

• MDN canvas portal
• Canvas tutorial
• Canvas cheat sheet
• Canvas-related demos
• Canvas introduction by Apple

<canvas>: The Graphics Canvas element by Mozilla Contributors is licensed under CC-BY-SA 2.5.