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Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 1.1 (Second Edition) 1 Introduction 1.1 About SVG 1.2 SVG MIME type 1.3 SVG Namespace 1.4 Compatibility with Other Standards Efforts 1.5 Terminology 1.6 Definitions 2 Concepts 2.1 Explaining the name: SVG 2.2 Important SVG concepts 2.3 Options for using SVG in Web pages 3 Rendering Model 3.1 Introduction 3.2 The painters model 3.3 Rendering Order 3.4 How groups are rendered 3.5 How elements are rendered 3.6 Types of graphics elements 3.6.1 Painting shapes and text 3.6.2 Painting raster images 3.7 Filtering painted regions 3.8 Clipping 3.9 Parent Compositing 4 Basic Data Types and Interfaces 4.1 Syntax 4.2 Basic data types 4.3 Real number precision 4.4 Recognized color keyword names 4.5 Basic DOM interfaces 4.5.1 Interface SVGElement 4.5.2 Interface SVGAnimatedBoolean 4.5.3 Interface SVGAnimatedString 4.5.4 Interface SVGStringList 4.5.5 Interface SVGAnimatedEnumeration 4.5.6 Interface SVGAnimatedInteger 4.5.7 Interface SVGNumber 4.5.8 Interface SVGAnimatedNumber 4.5.9 Interface SVGNumberList 4.5.10 Interface SVGAnimatedNumberList 4.5.11 Interface SVGLength 4.5.12 Interface SVGAnimatedLength 4.5.13 Interface SVGLengthList 4.5.14 Interface SVGAnimatedLengthList 4.5.15 Interface SVGAngle 4.5.16 Interface SVGAnimatedAngle 4.5.17 Interface SVGColor 4.5.18 Interface SVGICCColor 4.5.19 Interface SVGRect 4.5.20 Interface SVGAnimatedRect 4.5.21 Interface SVGUnitTypes 4.5.22 Interface SVGStylable 4.5.23 Interface SVGLocatable 4.5.24 Interface SVGTransformable 4.5.25 Interface SVGTests 4.5.26 Interface SVGLangSpace 4.5.27 Interface SVGExternalResourcesRequired 4.5.28 Interface SVGFitToViewBox 4.5.29 Interface SVGZoomAndPan 4.5.30 Interface SVGViewSpec 4.5.31 Interface SVGURIReference 4.5.32 Interface SVGCSSRule 4.5.33 Interface SVGRenderingIntent 5 Document Structure 5.1 Defining an SVG document fragment: the 憇vg?element 5.1.1 Overview 5.1.2 The 憇vg?element 5.2 Grouping: the 慻?element 5.2.1 Overview 5.2.2 The 慻?element 5.3 Defining content for reuse 5.3.1 Overview 5.3.2 The 慸efs?element 5.4 The 慸esc?and 憈itle?elements 5.5 The 憇ymbol?element 5.6 The 憉se?element 5.7 The 慽mage?element 5.8 Conditional processing 5.8.1 Conditional processing overview 5.8.2 The 憇witch?element 5.8.3 The 憆equiredFeatures?attribute 5.8.4 The 憆equiredExtensions?attribute 5.8.5 The 憇ystemLanguage?attribute 5.8.6 Applicability of test attributes 5.9 Specifying whether external resources are required for proper rendering 5.10 Common attributes 5.10.1 Attributes common to all elements: 慽d?and 憍ml:base? 5.10.2 The 憍ml:lang?and 憍ml:space?attributes 5.11 DOM interfaces 5.11.1 Interface SVGDocument 5.11.2 Interface SVGSVGElement 5.11.3 Interface SVGGElement 5.11.4 Interface SVGDefsElement 5.11.5 Interface SVGDescElement 5.11.6 Interface SVGTitleElement 5.11.7 Interface SVGSymbolElement 5.11.8 Interface SVGUseElement 5.11.9 Interface SVGElementInstance 5.11.10 Interface SVGElementInstanceList 5.11.11 Interface SVGImageElement 5.11.12 Interface SVGSwitchElement 5.11.13 Interface GetSVGDocument 6 Styling 6.1 SVG's styling properties 6.2 Usage scenarios for styling 6.3 Alternative ways to specify styling properties 6.4 Specifying properties using the presentation attributes 6.5 Styling with XSL 6.6 Styling with CSS 6.7 Case sensitivity of property names and values 6.8 Facilities from CSS and XSL used by SVG 6.9 Referencing external style sheets 6.10 The 憇tyle?element 6.11 The 慶lass?attribute 6.12 The 憇tyle?attribute 6.13 Specifying the default style sheet language 6.14 Property inheritance 6.15 The scope/range of styles 6.16 User agent style sheet 6.17 Aural style sheets 6.18 DOM interfaces 6.18.1 Interface SVGStyleElement 7 Coordinate Systems 7.1 Introduction 7.2 The initial viewport 7.3 The initial coordinate system 7.4 Coordinate system transformations 7.5 Nested transformations 7.6 The 憈ransform?attribute 7.7 The 憊iewBox?attribute 7.8 The 憄reserveAspectRatio?attribute 7.9 Establishing a new viewport 7.10 Units 7.11 Object bounding box units 7.12 Intrinsic sizing properties of the viewport of SVG content 7.13 Geographic coordinate systems 7.14 The 憇vg:transform?attribute 7.15 DOM interfaces 7.15.1 Interface SVGPoint 7.15.2 Interface SVGPointList 7.15.3 Interface SVGMatrix 7.15.4 Interface SVGTransform 7.15.5 Interface SVGTransformList 7.15.6 Interface SVGAnimatedTransformList 7.15.7 Interface SVGPreserveAspectRatio 7.15.8 Interface SVGAnimatedPreserveAspectRatio 8 Paths 8.1 Introduction 8.2 The 憄ath?element 8.3 Path data 8.3.1 General information about path data 8.3.2 The "moveto" commands 8.3.3 The "closepath" command 8.3.4 The "lineto" commands 8.3.5 The curve commands 8.3.6 The cubic B閦ier curve commands 8.3.7 The quadratic B閦ier curve commands 8.3.8 The elliptical arc curve commands 8.3.9 The grammar for path data 8.4 Distance along a path 8.5 DOM interfaces 8.5.1 Interface SVGPathSeg 8.5.2 Interface SVGPathSegClosePath 8.5.3 Interface SVGPathSegMovetoAbs 8.5.4 Interface SVGPathSegMovetoRel 8.5.5 Interface SVGPathSegLinetoAbs 8.5.6 Interface SVGPathSegLinetoRel 8.5.7 Interface SVGPathSegCurvetoCubicAbs 8.5.8 Interface SVGPathSegCurvetoCubicRel 8.5.9 Interface SVGPathSegCurvetoQuadraticAbs 8.5.10 Interface SVGPathSegCurvetoQuadraticRel 8.5.11 Interface SVGPathSegArcAbs 8.5.12 Interface SVGPathSegArcRel 8.5.13 Interface SVGPathSegLinetoHorizontalAbs 8.5.14 Interface SVGPathSegLinetoHorizontalRel 8.5.15 Interface SVGPathSegLinetoVerticalAbs 8.5.16 Interface SVGPathSegLinetoVerticalRel 8.5.17 Interface SVGPathSegCurvetoCubicSmoothAbs 8.5.18 Interface SVGPathSegCurvetoCubicSmoothRel 8.5.19 Interface SVGPathSegCurvetoQuadraticSmoothAbs 8.5.20 Interface SVGPathSegCurvetoQuadraticSmoothRel 8.5.21 Interface SVGPathSegList 8.5.22 Interface SVGAnimatedPathData 8.5.23 Interface SVGPathElement 9 Basic Shapes 9.1 Introduction 9.2 The 憆ect?element 9.3 The 慶ircle?element 9.4 The 慹llipse?element 9.5 The 憀ine?element 9.6 The 憄olyline?element 9.7 The 憄olygon?element 9.7.1 The grammar for points specifications in 憄olyline?and 憄olygon?elements 9.8 DOM interfaces 9.8.1 Interface SVGRectElement 9.8.2 Interface SVGCircleElement 9.8.3 Interface SVGEllipseElement 9.8.4 Interface SVGLineElement 9.8.5 Interface SVGAnimatedPoints 9.8.6 Interface SVGPolylineElement 9.8.7 Interface SVGPolygonElement 10 Text 10.1 Introduction 10.2 Characters and their corresponding glyphs 10.3 Fonts 10.4 The 憈ext?element 10.5 The 憈span?element 10.6 The 憈ref?element 10.7 Text layout 10.7.1 Text layout introduction 10.7.2 Setting the inline-progression-direction 10.7.3 Glyph orientation within a text run 10.7.4 Relationship with bidirectionality 10.8 Text rendering order 10.9 Alignment properties 10.9.1 Text alignment properties 10.9.2 Baseline alignment properties 10.10 Font selection properties 10.11 Spacing properties 10.12 Text decoration 10.13 Text on a path 10.13.1 Introduction to text on a path 10.13.2 The 憈extPath?element 10.13.3 Text on a path layout rules 10.14 Alternate glyphs 10.14.1 The 慳ltGlyph?element 10.14.2 The 慳ltGlyphDef? 慳ltGlyphItem?and 慻lyphRef?elements 10.15 White space handling 10.16 Text selection and clipboard operations 10.17 DOM interfaces 10.17.1 Interface SVGTextContentElement 10.17.2 Interface SVGTextPositioningElement 10.17.3 Interface SVGTextElement 10.17.4 Interface SVGTSpanElement 10.17.5 Interface SVGTRefElement 10.17.6 Interface SVGTextPathElement 10.17.7 Interface SVGAltGlyphElement 10.17.8 Interface SVGAltGlyphDefElement 10.17.9 Interface SVGAltGlyphItemElement 10.17.10 Interface SVGGlyphRefElement 11 Painting: Filling 11.1 Introduction 11.2 Specifying paint 11.3 Fill Properties 11.4 Stroke Properties 11.5 Controlling visibility 11.6 Markers 11.6.1 Introduction 11.6.2 The 憁arker?element 11.6.3 Marker properties 11.6.4 Details on how markers are rendered 11.7 Rendering properties 11.7.1 Color interpolation properties: 慶olor-interpolation?and 慶olor-interpolation-filters? 11.7.2 The 慶olor-rendering?property 11.7.3 The 憇hape-rendering?property 11.7.4 The 憈ext-rendering?property 11.7.5 The 慽mage-rendering?property 11.8 Inheritance of painting properties 11.9 DOM interfaces 11.9.1 Interface SVGPaint 11.9.2 Interface SVGMarkerElement 12 Color 12.1 Introduction 12.2 The 慶olor?property 12.3 Color profile descriptions 12.3.1 Overview of color profile descriptions 12.3.2 Alternative ways of defining a color profile description 12.3.3 The 慶olor-profile?element 12.3.4 The CSS @color-profile rule 12.3.5 The 慶olor-profile?property 12.4 DOM interfaces 12.4.1 Interface SVGColorProfileElement 12.4.2 Interface SVGColorProfileRule 13 Gradients and Patterns 13.1 Introduction 13.2 Gradients 13.2.1 Introduction 13.2.2 Linear gradients 13.2.3 Radial gradients 13.2.4 Gradient stops 13.3 Patterns 13.4 DOM interfaces 13.4.1 Interface SVGGradientElement 13.4.2 Interface SVGLinearGradientElement 13.4.3 Interface SVGRadialGradientElement 13.4.4 Interface SVGStopElement 13.4.5 Interface SVGPatternElement 14 Clipping 14.1 Introduction 14.2 Simple alpha compositing 14.3 Clipping paths 14.3.1 Introduction 14.3.2 The initial clipping path 14.3.3 The 憃verflow?and 慶lip?properties 14.3.4 Clip to viewport vs. clip to 憊iewBox? 14.3.5 Establishing a new clipping path: the 慶lipPath?element 14.3.6 Clipping paths 14.4 Masking 14.5 Object and group opacity: the 憃pacity?property 14.6 DOM interfaces 14.6.1 Interface SVGClipPathElement 14.6.2 Interface SVGMaskElement 15 Filter Effects 15.1 Introduction 15.2 An example 15.3 The 慺ilter?element 15.4 The 慺ilter?property 15.5 Filter effects region 15.6 Accessing the background image 15.7 Filter primitives overview 15.7.1 Overview 15.7.2 Common attributes 15.7.3 Filter primitive subregion 15.8 Light source elements and properties 15.8.1 Introduction 15.8.2 Light source 慺eDistantLight? 15.8.3 Light source 慺ePointLight? 15.8.4 Light source 慺eSpotLight? 15.8.5 The 憀ighting-color?property 15.9 Filter primitive 慺eBlend? 15.10 Filter primitive 慺eColorMatrix? 15.11 Filter primitive 慺eComponentTransfer? 15.12 Filter primitive 慺eComposite? 15.13 Filter primitive 慺eConvolveMatrix? 15.14 Filter primitive 慺eDiffuseLighting? 15.15 Filter primitive 慺eDisplacementMap? 15.16 Filter primitive 慺eFlood? 15.17 Filter primitive 慺eGaussianBlur? 15.18 Filter primitive 慺eImage? 15.19 Filter primitive 慺eMerge? 15.20 Filter primitive 慺eMorphology? 15.21 Filter primitive 慺eOffset? 15.22 Filter primitive 慺eSpecularLighting? 15.23 Filter primitive 慺eTile? 15.24 Filter primitive 慺eTurbulence? 15.25 DOM interfaces 15.25.1 Interface SVGFilterElement 15.25.2 Interface SVGFilterPrimitiveStandardAttributes 15.25.3 Interface SVGFEBlendElement 15.25.4 Interface SVGFEColorMatrixElement 15.25.5 Interface SVGFEComponentTransferElement 15.25.6 Interface SVGComponentTransferFunctionElement 15.25.7 Interface SVGFEFuncRElement 15.25.8 Interface SVGFEFuncGElement 15.25.9 Interface SVGFEFuncBElement 15.25.10 Interface SVGFEFuncAElement 15.25.11 Interface SVGFECompositeElement 15.25.12 Interface SVGFEConvolveMatrixElement 15.25.13 Interface SVGFEDiffuseLightingElement 15.25.14 Interface SVGFEDistantLightElement 15.25.15 Interface SVGFEPointLightElement 15.25.16 Interface SVGFESpotLightElement 15.25.17 Interface SVGFEDisplacementMapElement 15.25.18 Interface SVGFEFloodElement 15.25.19 Interface SVGFEGaussianBlurElement 15.25.20 Interface SVGFEImageElement 15.25.21 Interface SVGFEMergeElement 15.25.22 Interface SVGFEMergeNodeElement 15.25.23 Interface SVGFEMorphologyElement 15.25.24 Interface SVGFEOffsetElement 15.25.25 Interface SVGFESpecularLightingElement 15.25.26 Interface SVGFETileElement 15.25.27 Interface SVGFETurbulenceElement 16 Interactivity 16.1 Introduction 16.2 Complete list of supported events 16.3 User interface events 16.4 Pointer events 16.5 Hit-testing and processing order for user interface events 16.5.1 Hit-testing 16.5.2 Event processing 16.6 The 憄ointer-events?property 16.7 Magnification and panning 16.8 Cursors 16.8.1 Introduction to cursors 16.8.2 The 慶ursor?property 16.8.3 The 慶ursor?element 16.9 DOM interfaces 16.9.1 Interface SVGCursorElement 17 Linking 17.1 References 17.1.1 Overview 17.1.2 IRIs and URIs 17.1.3 Syntactic forms: IRI and FuncIRI 17.1.4 Processing of IRI references 17.1.5 IRI reference attributes 17.2 Links out of SVG content: the 慳?element 17.3 Linking into SVG content: IRI fragments and SVG views 17.3.1 Introduction: IRI fragments and SVG views 17.3.2 SVG fragment identifiers 17.3.3 Predefined views: the 憊iew?element 17.3.4 Highlighting views 17.4 DOM interfaces 17.4.1 Interface SVGAElement 17.4.2 Interface SVGViewElement 18 Scripting 18.1 Specifying the scripting language 18.1.1 Specifying the default scripting language 18.1.2 Local declaration of a scripting language 18.2 The 憇cript?element 18.3 Event handling 18.4 Event attributes 18.4.1 Event attribute for the SVGLoad event 18.4.2 Event attributes on graphics and container elements 18.4.3 Document-level event attributes 18.4.4 Animation event attributes 18.5 DOM interfaces 18.5.1 Interface SVGScriptElement 18.5.2 Interface SVGZoomEvent 19 Animation 19.1 Introduction 19.2 Animation elements 19.2.1 Overview 19.2.2 Relationship to SMIL Animation 19.2.3 Animation elements example 19.2.4 Attributes to identify the target element for an animation 19.2.5 Attributes to identify the target attribute or property for an animation 19.2.6 Animation with namespaces 19.2.7 Paced animation and complex types 19.2.8 Attributes to control the timing of the animation 19.2.8.1 Clock values 19.2.9 Attributes that define animation values over time 19.2.10 Attributes that control whether animations are additive 19.2.11 Inheritance 19.2.12 The 慳nimate?element 19.2.13 The 憇et?element 19.2.14 The 慳nimateMotion?element 19.2.15 The 慳nimateColor?element 19.2.16 The 慳nimateTransform?element 19.2.17 Elements 19.3 Animation using the SVG DOM 19.4 DOM interfaces 19.4.1 Interface ElementTimeControl 19.4.2 Interface TimeEvent 19.4.3 Interface SVGAnimationElement 19.4.4 Interface SVGAnimateElement 19.4.5 Interface SVGSetElement 19.4.6 Interface SVGAnimateMotionElement 19.4.7 Interface SVGMPathElement 19.4.8 Interface SVGAnimateColorElement 19.4.9 Interface SVGAnimateTransformElement 20 Fonts 20.1 Introduction 20.2 Overview of SVG fonts 20.3 The 慺ont?element 20.4 The 慻lyph?element 20.5 The 憁issing-glyph?element 20.6 Glyph selection rules 20.7 The 慼kern?and 憊kern?elements 20.8 Describing a font 20.8.1 Overview of font descriptions 20.8.2 Alternative ways for providing a font description 20.8.3 The 慺ont-face?element 20.8.4 The 慺ont-face-src?element 20.8.5 The 慺ont-face-uri?and 慺ont-face-format?elements 20.8.6 The 慺ont-face-name?element 20.9 DOM interfaces 20.9.1 Interface SVGFontElement 20.9.2 Interface SVGGlyphElement 20.9.3 Interface SVGMissingGlyphElement 20.9.4 Interface SVGHKernElement 20.9.5 Interface SVGVKernElement 20.9.6 Interface SVGFontFaceElement 20.9.7 Interface SVGFontFaceSrcElement 20.9.8 Interface SVGFontFaceUriElement 20.9.9 Interface SVGFontFaceFormatElement 20.9.10 Interface SVGFontFaceNameElement 21 Metadata 21.1 Introduction 21.2 The 憁etadata?element 21.3 An example 21.4 DOM interfaces 21.4.1 Interface SVGMetadataElement 22 Backwards Compatibility 23 Extensibility 23.1 Foreign namespaces and private data 23.2 Embedding foreign object types 23.3 The 慺oreignObject?element 23.4 An example 23.5 Adding private elements and attributes to the DTD 23.6 DOM interfaces 23.6.1 Interface SVGForeignObjectElement Appendix A: Document Type Definition A.1 Introduction A.2 Modularization A.2.1 Element and attribute collections A.2.2 Profiling the SVG specification A.2.3 Practical considerations A.3 SVG 1.1 module definitions and DTD implementations A.3.1 Modular Framework Module A.3.2 Datatypes Module A.3.3 Qualified Name Module A.3.4 Core Attribute Module A.3.5 Container Attribute Module A.3.6 Viewport Attribute Module A.3.7 Paint Attribute Module A.3.8 Basic Paint Attribute Module A.3.9 Paint Opacity Attribute Module A.3.10 Graphics Attribute Module A.3.11 Basic Graphics Attribute Module A.3.12 Document Events Attribute Module A.3.13 Graphical Element Events Attribute Module A.3.14 Animation Events Attribute Module A.3.15 XLink Attribute Module A.3.16 External Resources Attribute Module A.3.17 Structure Module A.3.18 Basic Structure Module A.3.19 Conditional Processing Module A.3.20 Image Module A.3.21 Style Module A.3.22 Shape Module A.3.23 Text Module A.3.24 Basic Text Module A.3.25 Marker Module A.3.26 Color Profile Module A.3.27 Gradient Module A.3.28 Pattern Module A.3.29 Clip Module A.3.30 Basic Clip Module A.3.31 Mask Module A.3.32 Filter Module A.3.33 Basic Filter Module A.3.34 Cursor Module A.3.35 Hyperlinking Module A.3.36 View Module A.3.37 Scripting Module A.3.38 Animation Module A.3.39 Font Module A.3.40 Basic Font Module A.3.41 Extensibility Module A.4 SVG 1.1 Document Type Definition A.4.1 SVG 1.1 DTD Driver A.4.2 SVG 1.1 Document Model A.4.3 SVG 1.1 Attribute Collection Appendix B: SVG Document Object Model (DOM) B.1 SVG DOM overview B.1.1 SVG DOM object initialization B.2 Elements in the SVG DOM B.3 Naming conventions B.4 Exception SVGException B.5 Feature strings for the hasFeature method call B.6 Relationship with DOM Level 2 Events B.7 Relationship with DOM Level 2 CSS B.7.1 Introduction B.7.2 User agents that do not support styling with CSS B.7.3 User agents that support styling with CSS B.7.4 Extended interfaces B.8 Read only nodes in the DOM B.9 Invalid values Appendix C: IDL Definitions Appendix D: Java Language Binding D.1 The Java language binding D.2 Using SVG with the Java language Appendix E: ECMAScript Language Binding E.1 Exceptions E.2 Constants E.3 Types E.4 Objects Appendix F: Implementation Requirements F.1 Introduction F.2 Error processing F.3 Version control F.4 Clamping values which are restricted to a particular range F.5 憄ath?element implementation notes F.6 Elliptical arc implementation notes F.6.1 Elliptical arc syntax F.6.2 Out-of-range parameters F.6.3 Parameterization alternatives F.6.4 Conversion from center to endpoint parameterization F.6.5 Conversion from endpoint to center parameterization F.6.6 Correction of out-of-range radii F.7 Text selection implementation notes F.8 Printing implementation notes Appendix G: Conformance Criteria G.1 Introduction G.2 Conforming SVG Document Fragments G.3 Conforming SVG Stand-Alone Files G.4 Conforming SVG Generators G.5 Conforming SVG Servers G.6 Conforming SVG DOM Subtree G.7 Conforming SVG Interpreters G.8 Conforming SVG Viewers Appendix H: Accessibility Support H.1 WAI Accessibility Guidelines H.2 SVG Content Accessibility Guidelines Appendix I: Internationalization Support I.1 Introduction I.2 Internationalization and SVG I.3 SVG Internationalization Guidelines Appendix J: Minimizing SVG File Sizes Appendix K: References K.1 Normative references K.2 Informative references Appendix L: Element Index Appendix M: Attribute Index M.1 Regular attributes M.2 Presentation attributes Appendix N: Property Index Appendix O: Feature Strings O.1 Introduction O.2 SVG 1.1 feature strings O.3 SVG 1.0 feature strings Appendix P: Media Type Registration for image/svg+xml P.1 Introduction P.2 Registration of media type image/svg+xml Appendix Q: Changes Check Update
characters

SVG 1.1 (Second Edition) – 16 August 2011Top ⋅ Contents ⋅ Previous ⋅ Next ⋅ Elements ⋅ Attributes ⋅ Properties

13 Gradients and Patterns

Contents

  • 13.1 Introduction
  • 13.2 Gradients
    • 13.2.1 Introduction
    • 13.2.2 Linear gradients
    • 13.2.3 Radial gradients
    • 13.2.4 Gradient stops
  • 13.3 Patterns
  • 13.4 DOM interfaces
    • 13.4.1 Interface SVGGradientElement
    • 13.4.2 Interface SVGLinearGradientElement
    • 13.4.3 Interface SVGRadialGradientElement
    • 13.4.4 Interface SVGStopElement
    • 13.4.5 Interface SVGPatternElement

13.1 Introduction

With SVG, you can fill (i.e., paint the interior) or stroke (i.e., paint the outline) of shapes and text using one of the following:

  • color (using <color>)
  • gradients (linear or radial)
  • patterns (vector or image, possibly tiled)

SVG uses the general notion of a paint server. Gradients and patterns are just specific types of built-in paint servers.

Paint servers are referenced using an IRI reference on a ‘fill’ or ‘stroke’ property.

13.2 Gradients

13.2.1 Introduction

Gradients consist of continuously smooth color transitions along a vector from one color to another, possibly followed by additional transitions along the same vector to other colors. SVG provides for two types of gradients: linear gradients and radial gradients.

Once defined, gradients are then referenced using ‘fill’ or ‘stroke’ properties on a given graphics element to indicate that the given element shall be filled or stroked with the referenced gradient.

The angle of the color transitions along the gradient vector is defined by the gradient normal. Before any transforms are applied to the gradient or its referencing graphics element, the gradient normal is perpendicular with the gradient vector. If a graphics element references a gradient, conceptually the graphics element should take a copy of the gradient vector and gradient normal and treat it as part of its own geometry. Any transformations applied to the graphics element geometry also apply to the copied gradient vector and gradient normal. Any gradient transforms that are specified on the reference gradient are applied before any graphics element transformations are applied to the gradient.

linear and radial gradient vectors and normals

13.2.2 Linear gradients

Linear gradients are defined by a ‘linearGradient’ element.

‘linearGradient’
Categories:
Gradient element
Content model:
Any number of the following elements, in any order:
  • descriptive elements‘desc’, ‘metadata’, ‘title’
  • ‘animate’
  • ‘animateTransform’
  • ‘set’
  • ‘stop’
Attributes:
  • core attributes‘id’, ‘xml:base’, ‘xml:lang’, ‘xml:space’
  • presentation attributes‘alignment-baseline’, ‘baseline-shift’, ‘clip’, ‘clip-path’, ‘clip-rule’, ‘color’, ‘color-interpolation’, ‘color-interpolation-filters’, ‘color-profile’, ‘color-rendering’, ‘cursor’, ‘direction’, ‘display’, ‘dominant-baseline’, ‘enable-background’, ‘fill’, ‘fill-opacity’, ‘fill-rule’, ‘filter’, ‘flood-color’, ‘flood-opacity’, ‘font-family’, ‘font-size’, ‘font-size-adjust’, ‘font-stretch’, ‘font-style’, ‘font-variant’, ‘font-weight’, ‘glyph-orientation-horizontal’, ‘glyph-orientation-vertical’, ‘image-rendering’, ‘kerning’, ‘letter-spacing’, ‘lighting-color’, ‘marker-end’, ‘marker-mid’, ‘marker-start’, ‘mask’, ‘opacity’, ‘overflow’, ‘pointer-events’, ‘shape-rendering’, ‘stop-color’, ‘stop-opacity’, ‘stroke’, ‘stroke-dasharray’, ‘stroke-dashoffset’, ‘stroke-linecap’, ‘stroke-linejoin’, ‘stroke-miterlimit’, ‘stroke-opacity’, ‘stroke-width’, ‘text-anchor’, ‘text-decoration’, ‘text-rendering’, ‘unicode-bidi’, ‘visibility’, ‘word-spacing’, ‘writing-mode’
  • xlink attributes‘xlink:href’, ‘xlink:show’, ‘xlink:actuate’, ‘xlink:type’, ‘xlink:role’, ‘xlink:arcrole’, ‘xlink:title’
  • ‘class’
  • ‘style’
  • ‘externalResourcesRequired’
  • ‘x1’
  • ‘y1’
  • ‘x2’
  • ‘y2’
  • ‘gradientUnits’
  • ‘gradientTransform’
  • ‘spreadMethod’
  • ‘xlink:href’
DOM Interfaces:
  • SVGLinearGradientElement

Attribute definitions:

gradientUnits = "userSpaceOnUse | objectBoundingBox"
Defines the coordinate system for attributes ‘x1’, ‘y1’, ‘x2’ and ‘y2’.
If gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse", ‘x1’, ‘y1’, ‘x2’ and ‘y2’ represent values in the coordinate system that results from taking the current user coordinate system in place at the time when the gradient element is referenced (i.e., the user coordinate system for the element referencing the gradient element via a ‘fill’ or ‘stroke’ property) and then applying the transform specified by attribute ‘gradientTransform’.
If gradientUnits="objectBoundingBox", the user coordinate system for attributes ‘x1’, ‘y1’, ‘x2’ and ‘y2’ is established using the bounding box of the element to which the gradient is applied (see Object bounding box units) and then applying the transform specified by attribute ‘gradientTransform’.
When gradientUnits="objectBoundingBox" and ‘gradientTransform’ is the identity matrix, the normal of the linear gradient is perpendicular to the gradient vector in object bounding box space (i.e., the abstract coordinate system where (0,0) is at the top/left of the object bounding box and (1,1) is at the bottom/right of the object bounding box). When the object's bounding box is not square, the gradient normal which is initially perpendicular to the gradient vector within object bounding box space may render non-perpendicular relative to the gradient vector in user space. If the gradient vector is parallel to one of the axes of the bounding box, the gradient normal will remain perpendicular. This transformation is due to application of the non-uniform scaling transformation from bounding box space to user space.
If attribute ‘gradientUnits’ is not specified, then the effect is as if a value of 'objectBoundingBox' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
gradientTransform = "<transform-list>"
Contains the definition of an optional additional transformation from the gradient coordinate system onto the target coordinate system (i.e., userSpaceOnUse or objectBoundingBox). This allows for things such as skewing the gradient. This additional transformation matrix is post-multiplied to (i.e., inserted to the right of) any previously defined transformations, including the implicit transformation necessary to convert from object bounding box units to user space.
If attribute ‘gradientTransform’ is not specified, then the effect is as if an identity transform were specified.
Animatable: yes.
x1 = "<coordinate>"
‘x1’, ‘y1’, ‘x2’ and ‘y2’ define a gradient vector for the linear gradient. This gradient vector provides starting and ending points onto which the gradient stops are mapped. The values of ‘x1’, ‘y1’, ‘x2’ and ‘y2’ can be either numbers or percentages.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of '0%' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
y1 = "<coordinate>"
See ‘x1’.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of '0%' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
x2 = "<coordinate>"
See ‘x1’.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of '100%' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
y2 = "<coordinate>"
See ‘x1’.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of '0%' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
spreadMethod = "pad | reflect | repeat"
Indicates what happens if the gradient starts or ends inside the bounds of the target rectangle. Possible values are: 'pad', which says to use the terminal colors of the gradient to fill the remainder of the target region, 'reflect', which says to reflect the gradient pattern start-to-end, end-to-start, start-to-end, etc. continuously until the target rectangle is filled, and repeat, which says to repeat the gradient pattern start-to-end, start-to-end, start-to-end, etc. continuously until the target region is filled.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of 'pad' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
xlink:href = "<iri>"
An IRI reference to a different ‘linearGradient’ or ‘radialGradient’ element within the current SVG document fragment. Any ‘linearGradient’ attributes which are defined on the referenced element which are not defined on this element are inherited by this element. If this element has no defined gradient stops, and the referenced element does (possibly due to its own ‘xlink:href’ attribute), then this element inherits the gradient stop from the referenced element. Inheritance can be indirect to an arbitrary level; thus, if the referenced element inherits attribute or gradient stops due to its own ‘xlink:href’ attribute, then the current element can inherit those attributes or gradient stops.
Animatable: yes.

Percentages are allowed for ‘x1’, ‘y1’, ‘x2’ and ‘y2’. For gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse", percentages represent values relative to the current viewport. For gradientUnits="objectBoundingBox", percentages represent values relative to the bounding box for the object.

If ‘x1’ = ‘x2’ and ‘y1’ = ‘y2’, then the area to be painted will be painted as a single color using the color and opacity of the last gradient stop.

Properties inherit into the ‘linearGradient’ element from its ancestors; properties do not inherit from the element referencing the ‘linearGradient’ element.

‘linearGradient’ elements are never rendered directly; their only usage is as something that can be referenced using the ‘fill’ and ‘stroke’ properties. The ‘display’ property does not apply to the ‘linearGradient’ element; thus, ‘linearGradient’ elements are not directly rendered even if the ‘display’ property is set to a value other than none, and ‘linearGradient’ elements are available for referencing even when the ‘display’ property on the ‘linearGradient’ element or any of its ancestors is set to none.

Example lingrad01 shows how to fill a rectangle by referencing a linear gradient paint server.

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" 
  "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">
<svg width="8cm" height="4cm" viewBox="0 0 800 400" version="1.1"
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <desc>Example lingrad01 - fill a rectangle using a 
           linear gradient paint server</desc>
  <g>
    <defs>
      <linearGradient id="MyGradient">
        <stop offset="5%" stop-color="#F60" />
        <stop offset="95%" stop-color="#FF6" />
      </linearGradient>
    </defs>

    <!-- Outline the drawing area in blue -->
    <rect fill="none" stroke="blue" 
          x="1" y="1" width="798" height="398"/>

    <!-- The rectangle is filled using a linear gradient paint server -->
    <rect fill="url(#MyGradient)" stroke="black" stroke-width="5"  
          x="100" y="100" width="600" height="200"/>
  </g>
</svg>
Example lingrad01
Example lingrad01 — fill a rectangle using a linear gradient paint server

View this example as SVG (SVG-enabled browsers only)

13.2.3 Radial gradients

Radial gradients are defined by a ‘radialGradient’ element.

‘radialGradient’
Categories:
Gradient element
Content model:
Any number of the following elements, in any order:
  • descriptive elements‘desc’, ‘metadata’, ‘title’
  • ‘animate’
  • ‘animateTransform’
  • ‘set’
  • ‘stop’
Attributes:
  • core attributes‘id’, ‘xml:base’, ‘xml:lang’, ‘xml:space’
  • presentation attributes‘alignment-baseline’, ‘baseline-shift’, ‘clip’, ‘clip-path’, ‘clip-rule’, ‘color’, ‘color-interpolation’, ‘color-interpolation-filters’, ‘color-profile’, ‘color-rendering’, ‘cursor’, ‘direction’, ‘display’, ‘dominant-baseline’, ‘enable-background’, ‘fill’, ‘fill-opacity’, ‘fill-rule’, ‘filter’, ‘flood-color’, ‘flood-opacity’, ‘font-family’, ‘font-size’, ‘font-size-adjust’, ‘font-stretch’, ‘font-style’, ‘font-variant’, ‘font-weight’, ‘glyph-orientation-horizontal’, ‘glyph-orientation-vertical’, ‘image-rendering’, ‘kerning’, ‘letter-spacing’, ‘lighting-color’, ‘marker-end’, ‘marker-mid’, ‘marker-start’, ‘mask’, ‘opacity’, ‘overflow’, ‘pointer-events’, ‘shape-rendering’, ‘stop-color’, ‘stop-opacity’, ‘stroke’, ‘stroke-dasharray’, ‘stroke-dashoffset’, ‘stroke-linecap’, ‘stroke-linejoin’, ‘stroke-miterlimit’, ‘stroke-opacity’, ‘stroke-width’, ‘text-anchor’, ‘text-decoration’, ‘text-rendering’, ‘unicode-bidi’, ‘visibility’, ‘word-spacing’, ‘writing-mode’
  • xlink attributes‘xlink:href’, ‘xlink:show’, ‘xlink:actuate’, ‘xlink:type’, ‘xlink:role’, ‘xlink:arcrole’, ‘xlink:title’
  • ‘class’
  • ‘style’
  • ‘externalResourcesRequired’
  • ‘cx’
  • ‘cy’
  • ‘r’
  • ‘fx’
  • ‘fy’
  • ‘gradientUnits’
  • ‘gradientTransform’
  • ‘spreadMethod’
  • ‘xlink:href’
DOM Interfaces:
  • SVGRadialGradientElement

Attribute definitions:

gradientUnits = "userSpaceOnUse | objectBoundingBox"
Defines the coordinate system for attributes ‘cx’, ‘cy’, ‘r’, ‘fx’ and ‘fy’.
If gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse", ‘cx’, ‘cy’, ‘r’, ‘fx’ and ‘fy’ represent values in the coordinate system that results from taking the current user coordinate system in place at the time when the gradient element is referenced (i.e., the user coordinate system for the element referencing the gradient element via a ‘fill’ or ‘stroke’ property) and then applying the transform specified by attribute ‘gradientTransform’.
If gradientUnits="objectBoundingBox", the user coordinate system for attributes ‘cx’, ‘cy’, ‘r’, ‘fx’ and ‘fy’ is established using the bounding box of the element to which the gradient is applied (see Object bounding box units) and then applying the transform specified by attribute ‘gradientTransform’.
When gradientUnits="objectBoundingBox" and ‘gradientTransform’ is the identity matrix, then the rings of the radial gradient are circular with respect to the object bounding box space (i.e., the abstract coordinate system where (0,0) is at the top/left of the object bounding box and (1,1) is at the bottom/right of the object bounding box). When the object's bounding box is not square, the rings that are conceptually circular within object bounding box space will render as elliptical due to application of the non-uniform scaling transformation from bounding box space to user space.
If attribute ‘gradientUnits’ is not specified, then the effect is as if a value of 'objectBoundingBox' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
gradientTransform = "<transform-list>"
Contains the definitions of an optional additional transformation from the gradient coordinate system onto the target coordinate system (i.e., userSpaceOnUse or objectBoundingBox). This allows for things such as skewing the gradient. This additional transformation matrix is post-multiplied to (i.e., inserted to the right of) any previously defined transformations, including the implicit transformation necessary to convert from object bounding box units to user space.
If attribute ‘gradientTransform’ is not specified, then the effect is as if an identity transform were specified.
Animatable: yes.
cx = "<coordinate>"
‘cx’, ‘cy’ and ‘r’ define the largest (i.e., outermost) circle for the radial gradient. The gradient will be drawn such that the 100% gradient stop is mapped to the perimeter of this largest (i.e., outermost) circle.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of '50%' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
cy = "<coordinate>"
See ‘cx’.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of '50%' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
r = "<length>"
See ‘cx’.
A negative value is an error (see Error processing). A value of zero will cause the area to be painted as a single color using the color and opacity of the last gradient stop.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of '50%' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
fx = "<coordinate>"
‘fx’ and ‘fy’ define the focal point for the radial gradient. The gradient will be drawn such that the 0% gradient stop is mapped to (fx, fy).
If attribute ‘fx’ is not specified, ‘fx’ will coincide with the presentational value of ‘cx’ for the element whether the value for 'cx' was inherited or not. If the element references an element that specifies a value for 'fx', then the value of 'fx' is inherited from the referenced element.
Animatable: yes.
fy = "<coordinate>"
See ‘fx’.
If attribute ‘fy’ is not specified, ‘fy’ will coincide with the presentational value of ‘cy’ for the element whether the value for 'cy' was inherited or not. If the element references an element that specifies a value for 'fy', then the value of 'fy' is inherited from the referenced element.
Animatable: yes.
spreadMethod = "pad | reflect | repeat"
Indicates what happens if the gradient starts or ends inside the bounds of the object(s) being painted by the gradient. Has the same values and meanings as the ‘spreadMethod’ attribute on ‘linearGradient’ element.
Animatable: yes.
xlink:href = "<iri>"
An IRI reference to a different ‘linearGradient’ or ‘radialGradient’ element within the current SVG document fragment. Any ‘radialGradient’ attributes which are defined on the referenced element which are not defined on this element are inherited by this element. If this element has no defined gradient stops, and the referenced element does (possibly due to its own ‘xlink:href’ attribute), then this element inherits the gradient stop from the referenced element. Inheritance can be indirect to an arbitrary level; thus, if the referenced element inherits attribute or gradient stops due to its own ‘xlink:href’ attribute, then the current element can inherit those attributes or gradient stops.
Animatable: yes.

Percentages are allowed for attributes ‘cx’, ‘cy’, ‘r’, ‘fx’ and ‘fy’. For gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse", percentages represent values relative to the current viewport. For gradientUnits="objectBoundingBox", percentages represent values relative to the bounding box for the object.

If the point defined by ‘fx’ and ‘fy’ lies outside the circle defined by ‘cx’, ‘cy’ and ‘r’, then the user agent shall set the focal point to the intersection of the line from (‘cx’, ‘cy’) to (‘fx’, ‘fy’) with the circle defined by ‘cx’, ‘cy’ and ‘r’.

Properties inherit into the ‘radialGradient’ element from its ancestors; properties do not inherit from the element referencing the ‘radialGradient’ element.

‘radialGradient’ elements are never rendered directly; their only usage is as something that can be referenced using the ‘fill’ and ‘stroke’ properties. The ‘display’ property does not apply to the ‘radialGradient’ element; thus, ‘radialGradient’ elements are not directly rendered even if the ‘display’ property is set to a value other than none, and ‘radialGradient’ elements are available for referencing even when the ‘display’ property on the ‘radialGradient’ element or any of its ancestors is set to none.

Example radgrad01 shows how to fill a rectangle by referencing a radial gradient paint server.

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" 
  "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">
<svg width="8cm" height="4cm" viewBox="0 0 800 400" version="1.1"
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <desc>Example radgrad01 - fill a rectangle by referencing a 
           radial gradient paint server</desc>
  <g>
    <defs>
      <radialGradient id="MyGradient" gradientUnits="userSpaceOnUse"
                      cx="400" cy="200" r="300" fx="400" fy="200">
        <stop offset="0%" stop-color="red" />
        <stop offset="50%" stop-color="blue" />
        <stop offset="100%" stop-color="red" />
      </radialGradient>
    </defs>

    <!-- Outline the drawing area in blue -->
    <rect fill="none" stroke="blue" 
          x="1" y="1" width="798" height="398"/>

    <!-- The rectangle is filled using a radial gradient paint server -->
    <rect fill="url(#MyGradient)" stroke="black" stroke-width="5"  
          x="100" y="100" width="600" height="200"/>
  </g>
</svg>
Example radgrad01
Example radgrad01 — fill a rectangle by referencing a radial gradient paint server

View this example as SVG (SVG-enabled browsers only)

13.2.4 Gradient stops

The ramp of colors to use on a gradient is defined by the ‘stop’ elements that are child elements to either the ‘linearGradient’ element or the ‘radialGradient’ element.

‘stop’
Categories:
None
Content model:
Any number of the following elements, in any order:
  • ‘animate’
  • ‘animateColor’
  • ‘set’
Attributes:
  • core attributes‘id’, ‘xml:base’, ‘xml:lang’, ‘xml:space’
  • presentation attributes‘alignment-baseline’, ‘baseline-shift’, ‘clip’, ‘clip-path’, ‘clip-rule’, ‘color’, ‘color-interpolation’, ‘color-interpolation-filters’, ‘color-profile’, ‘color-rendering’, ‘cursor’, ‘direction’, ‘display’, ‘dominant-baseline’, ‘enable-background’, ‘fill’, ‘fill-opacity’, ‘fill-rule’, ‘filter’, ‘flood-color’, ‘flood-opacity’, ‘font-family’, ‘font-size’, ‘font-size-adjust’, ‘font-stretch’, ‘font-style’, ‘font-variant’, ‘font-weight’, ‘glyph-orientation-horizontal’, ‘glyph-orientation-vertical’, ‘image-rendering’, ‘kerning’, ‘letter-spacing’, ‘lighting-color’, ‘marker-end’, ‘marker-mid’, ‘marker-start’, ‘mask’, ‘opacity’, ‘overflow’, ‘pointer-events’, ‘shape-rendering’, ‘stop-color’, ‘stop-opacity’, ‘stroke’, ‘stroke-dasharray’, ‘stroke-dashoffset’, ‘stroke-linecap’, ‘stroke-linejoin’, ‘stroke-miterlimit’, ‘stroke-opacity’, ‘stroke-width’, ‘text-anchor’, ‘text-decoration’, ‘text-rendering’, ‘unicode-bidi’, ‘visibility’, ‘word-spacing’, ‘writing-mode’
  • ‘class’
  • ‘style’
  • ‘offset’
DOM Interfaces:
  • SVGStopElement

Attribute definitions:

offset = "<number> | <percentage>"
The ‘offset’ attribute is either a <number> (usually ranging from 0 to 1) or a <percentage> (usually ranging from 0% to 100%) which indicates where the gradient stop is placed. For linear gradients, the ‘offset’ attribute represents a location along the gradient vector. For radial gradients, it represents a percentage distance from (fx,fy) to the edge of the outermost/largest circle.
Animatable: yes.

The ‘stop-color’ property indicates what color to use at that gradient stop. The keyword currentColor and ICC colors can be specified in the same manner as within a <paint> specification for the ‘fill’ and ‘stroke’ properties.

‘stop-color’
Value:   currentColor |
<color> <icccolor> |
inherit
Initial:   black
Applies to:   ‘stop’ elements
Inherited:   no
Percentages:   N/A
Media:   visual
Animatable:   yes

The ‘stop-opacity’ property defines the opacity of a given gradient stop.

‘stop-opacity’
Value:   <opacity-value> | inherit
Initial:   1
Applies to:   ‘stop’ elements
Inherited:   no
Percentages:   N/A
Media:   visual
Animatable:   yes

Some notes on gradients:

  • Gradient offset values less than 0 (or less than 0%) are rounded up to 0%. Gradient offset values greater than 1 (or greater than 100%) are rounded down to 100%.
  • It is necessary that at least two stops defined to have a gradient effect. If no stops are defined, then painting shall occur as if 'none' were specified as the paint style. If one stop is defined, then paint with the solid color fill using the color defined for that gradient stop.
  • Each gradient offset value is required to be equal to or greater than the previous gradient stop's offset value. If a given gradient stop's offset value is not equal to or greater than all previous offset values, then the offset value is adjusted to be equal to the largest of all previous offset values.
  • If two gradient stops have the same offset value, then the latter gradient stop controls the color value at the overlap point. In particular:
    <stop offset="0" stop-color="white"/>
    <stop offset=".2" stop-color="red"/>
    <stop offset=".2" stop-color="blue"/>
    <stop offset="1" stop-color="black"/>
    
    will have approximately the same effect as:
    <stop offset="0" stop-color="white"/>
    <stop offset=".1999999999" stop-color="red"/>
    <stop offset=".2" stop-color="blue"/>
    <stop offset="1" stop-color="black"/>
    
    which is a gradient that goes smoothly from white to red, then abruptly shifts from red to blue, and then goes smoothly from blue to black.

13.3 Patterns

A pattern is used to fill or stroke an object using a pre-defined graphic object which can be replicated ("tiled") at fixed intervals in x and y to cover the areas to be painted. Patterns are defined using a ‘pattern’ element and then referenced by properties ‘fill’ and ‘stroke’ on a given graphics element to indicate that the given element shall be filled or stroked with the referenced pattern.

Attributes ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘width’, ‘height’ and ‘patternUnits’ define a reference rectangle somewhere on the infinite canvas. The reference rectangle has its top/left at (xy) and its bottom/right at (x + widthy + height). The tiling theoretically extends a series of such rectangles to infinity in X and Y (positive and negative), with rectangles starting at (x + m*widthy + n* height) for each possible integer value for m and n.

‘pattern’
Categories:
Container element
Content model:
Any number of the following elements, in any order:
  • animation elements‘animate’, ‘animateColor’, ‘animateMotion’, ‘animateTransform’, ‘set’
  • descriptive elements‘desc’, ‘metadata’, ‘title’
  • shape elements‘circle’, ‘ellipse’, ‘line’, ‘path’, ‘polygon’, ‘polyline’, ‘rect’
  • structural elements‘defs’, ‘g’, ‘svg’, ‘symbol’, ‘use’
  • gradient elements‘linearGradient’, ‘radialGradient’
  • ‘a’
  • ‘altGlyphDef’
  • ‘clipPath’
  • ‘color-profile’
  • ‘cursor’
  • ‘filter’
  • ‘font’
  • ‘font-face’
  • ‘foreignObject’
  • ‘image’
  • ‘marker’
  • ‘mask’
  • ‘pattern’
  • ‘script’
  • ‘style’
  • ‘switch’
  • ‘text’
  • ‘view’
Attributes:
  • conditional processing attributes‘requiredFeatures’, ‘requiredExtensions’, ‘systemLanguage’
  • core attributes‘id’, ‘xml:base’, ‘xml:lang’, ‘xml:space’
  • presentation attributes‘alignment-baseline’, ‘baseline-shift’, ‘clip’, ‘clip-path’, ‘clip-rule’, ‘color’, ‘color-interpolation’, ‘color-interpolation-filters’, ‘color-profile’, ‘color-rendering’, ‘cursor’, ‘direction’, ‘display’, ‘dominant-baseline’, ‘enable-background’, ‘fill’, ‘fill-opacity’, ‘fill-rule’, ‘filter’, ‘flood-color’, ‘flood-opacity’, ‘font-family’, ‘font-size’, ‘font-size-adjust’, ‘font-stretch’, ‘font-style’, ‘font-variant’, ‘font-weight’, ‘glyph-orientation-horizontal’, ‘glyph-orientation-vertical’, ‘image-rendering’, ‘kerning’, ‘letter-spacing’, ‘lighting-color’, ‘marker-end’, ‘marker-mid’, ‘marker-start’, ‘mask’, ‘opacity’, ‘overflow’, ‘pointer-events’, ‘shape-rendering’, ‘stop-color’, ‘stop-opacity’, ‘stroke’, ‘stroke-dasharray’, ‘stroke-dashoffset’, ‘stroke-linecap’, ‘stroke-linejoin’, ‘stroke-miterlimit’, ‘stroke-opacity’, ‘stroke-width’, ‘text-anchor’, ‘text-decoration’, ‘text-rendering’, ‘unicode-bidi’, ‘visibility’, ‘word-spacing’, ‘writing-mode’
  • xlink attributes‘xlink:href’, ‘xlink:show’, ‘xlink:actuate’, ‘xlink:type’, ‘xlink:role’, ‘xlink:arcrole’, ‘xlink:title’
  • ‘class’
  • ‘style’
  • ‘externalResourcesRequired’
  • ‘viewBox’
  • ‘preserveAspectRatio’
  • ‘x’
  • ‘y’
  • ‘width’
  • ‘height’
  • ‘patternUnits’
  • ‘patternContentUnits’
  • ‘patternTransform’
  • ‘xlink:href’
DOM Interfaces:
  • SVGPatternElement

Attribute definitions:

patternUnits = "userSpaceOnUse | objectBoundingBox"
Defines the coordinate system for attributes ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘width’ and ‘height’.
If patternUnits="userSpaceOnUse", ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘width’ and ‘height’ represent values in the coordinate system that results from taking the current user coordinate system in place at the time when the ‘pattern’ element is referenced (i.e., the user coordinate system for the element referencing the ‘pattern’ element via a ‘fill’ or ‘stroke’ property) and then applying the transform specified by attribute ‘patternTransform’.
If patternUnits="objectBoundingBox", the user coordinate system for attributes ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘width’ and ‘height’ is established using the bounding box of the element to which the pattern is applied (see Object bounding box units) and then applying the transform specified by attribute ‘patternTransform’.
If attribute ‘patternUnits’ is not specified, then the effect is as if a value of 'objectBoundingBox' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
patternContentUnits = "userSpaceOnUse | objectBoundingBox"
Defines the coordinate system for the contents of the ‘pattern’. Note that this attribute has no effect if attribute ‘viewBox’ is specified.
If patternContentUnits="userSpaceOnUse", the user coordinate system for the contents of the ‘pattern’ element is the coordinate system that results from taking the current user coordinate system in place at the time when the ‘pattern’ element is referenced (i.e., the user coordinate system for the element referencing the ‘pattern’ element via a ‘fill’ or ‘stroke’ property) and then applying the transform specified by attribute ‘patternTransform’.
If patternContentUnits="objectBoundingBox", the user coordinate system for the contents of the ‘pattern’ element is established using the bounding box of the element to which the pattern is applied (see Object bounding box units) and then applying the transform specified by attribute ‘patternTransform’.
If attribute ‘patternContentUnits’ is not specified, then the effect is as if a value of 'userSpaceOnUse' were specified.
Animatable: yes.
patternTransform = "<transform-list>"
Contains the definition of an optional additional transformation from the pattern coordinate system onto the target coordinate system (i.e., 'userSpaceOnUse' or 'objectBoundingBox'). This allows for things such as skewing the pattern tiles. This additional transformation matrix is post-multiplied to (i.e., inserted to the right of) any previously defined transformations, including the implicit transformation necessary to convert from object bounding box units to user space.
If attribute ‘patternTransform’ is not specified, then the effect is as if an identity transform were specified.
Animatable: yes.
x = "<coordinate>"
‘x’, ‘y’, ‘width’ and ‘height’ indicate how the pattern tiles are placed and spaced. These attributes represent coordinates and values in the coordinate space specified by the combination of attributes ‘patternUnits’ and ‘patternTransform’.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of zero were specified.
Animatable: yes.
y = "<coordinate>"
See ‘x’.
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of zero were specified.
Animatable: yes.
width = "<length>"
See ‘x’.
A negative value is an error (see Error processing). A value of zero disables rendering of the element (i.e., no paint is applied).
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of zero were specified.
Animatable: yes.
height = "<length>"
See ‘x’.
A negative value is an error (see Error processing). A value of zero disables rendering of the element (i.e., no paint is applied).
If the attribute is not specified, the effect is as if a value of zero were specified.
Animatable: yes.
xlink:href = "<iri>"
An IRI reference to a different ‘pattern’ element within the current SVG document fragment. Any attributes which are defined on the referenced element which are not defined on this element are inherited by this element. If this element has no children, and the referenced element does (possibly due to its own ‘xlink:href’ attribute), then this element inherits the children from the referenced element. Inheritance can be indirect to an arbitrary level; thus, if the referenced element inherits attributes or children due to its own ‘xlink:href’ attribute, then the current element can inherit those attributes or children.
Animatable: yes.
preserveAspectRatio = "[defer] <align> [<meetOrSlice>]"

See ‘preserveAspectRatio’.

If the attribute is not specified, then the effect is as if a value of xMidYMid meet were specified.

Animatable: yes.

SVG's user agent style sheet sets the ‘overflow’ property for ‘pattern’ elements to hidden, which causes a rectangular clipping path to be created at the bounds of the pattern tile. Unless the ‘overflow’ property is overridden, any graphics within the pattern which goes outside of the pattern rectangle will be clipped. Note that if the ‘overflow’ property is set to visible the rendering behavior for the pattern is undefined. Example pattern01 below shows the effect of clipping to the pattern tile.

The contents of the ‘pattern’ are relative to a new coordinate system. If there is a ‘viewBox’ attribute, then the new coordinate system is fitted into the region defined by the ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘width’, ‘height’ and ‘patternUnits’ attributes on the ‘pattern’ element using the standard rules for ‘viewBox’ and ‘preserveAspectRatio’. If there is no ‘viewBox’ attribute, then the new coordinate system has its origin at (xy), where x is established by the ‘x’ attribute on the ‘pattern’ element, and y is established by the ‘y’ attribute on the ‘pattern’ element. Thus, in the following example:

<pattern x="10" y="10" width="20" height="20">
   <rect x="5" y="5" width="10" height="10"/>
</pattern>

the rectangle has its top/left located 5 units to the right and 5 units down from the origin of the pattern tile.

The ‘viewBox’ attribute introduces a supplemental transformation which is applied on top of any transformations necessary to create a new pattern coordinate system due to attributes ‘x’, ‘y’, ‘width’, ‘height’ and ‘patternUnits’.

Properties inherit into the ‘pattern’ element from its ancestors; properties do not inherit from the element referencing the ‘pattern’ element.

‘pattern’ elements are never rendered directly; their only usage is as something that can be referenced using the ‘fill’ and ‘stroke’ properties. The ‘display’ property does not apply to the ‘pattern’ element; thus, ‘pattern’ elements are not directly rendered even if the ‘display’ property is set to a value other than none, and ‘pattern’ elements are available for referencing even when the ‘display’ property on the ‘pattern’ element or any of its ancestors is set to none.

Event attributes and event listeners attached to the contents of a ‘pattern’ element are not processed; only the rendering aspects of ‘pattern’ elements are processed.

Example pattern01 shows how to fill a rectangle by referencing a pattern paint server. Note how the blue stroke of each triangle has been clipped at the top and the left. This is due to SVG's user agent style sheet setting the ‘overflow’ property for ‘pattern’ elements to hidden, which causes the pattern to be clipped to the bounds of the pattern tile.

<?xml version="1.0" standalone="no"?>
<!DOCTYPE svg PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD SVG 1.1//EN" 
  "http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/1.1/DTD/svg11.dtd">
<svg width="8cm" height="4cm" viewBox="0 0 800 400" version="1.1"
     xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
  <defs>
    <pattern id="TrianglePattern" patternUnits="userSpaceOnUse"
             x="0" y="0" width="100" height="100"
             viewBox="0 0 10 10" >
      <path d="M 0 0 L 7 0 L 3.5 7 z" fill="red" stroke="blue" />
    </pattern> 
  </defs>

  <!-- Outline the drawing area in blue -->
  <rect fill="none" stroke="blue" 
        x="1" y="1" width="798" height="398"/>

  <!-- The ellipse is filled using a triangle pattern paint server
       and stroked with black -->
  <ellipse fill="url(#TrianglePattern)" stroke="black" stroke-width="5"  
           cx="400" cy="200" rx="350" ry="150" />
</svg>
Example pattern01
Example pattern01 — fill a rectangle by referencing a pattern paint server

View this example as SVG (SVG-enabled browsers only)

13.4 DOM interfaces

13.4.1 Interface SVGGradientElement

The SVGGradientElement interface is a base interface used by SVGLinearGradientElement and SVGRadialGradientElement.
interface SVGGradientElement : SVGElement,
                               SVGURIReference,
                               SVGExternalResourcesRequired,
                               SVGStylable,
                               SVGUnitTypes {

  // Spread Method Types
  const unsigned short SVG_SPREADMETHOD_UNKNOWN = 0;
  const unsigned short SVG_SPREADMETHOD_PAD = 1;
  const unsigned short SVG_SPREADMETHOD_REFLECT = 2;
  const unsigned short SVG_SPREADMETHOD_REPEAT = 3;

  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedEnumeration gradientUnits;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedTransformList gradientTransform;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedEnumeration spreadMethod;
};
Constants in group “Spread Method Types”:
SVG_SPREADMETHOD_UNKNOWN (unsigned short)
The type is not one of predefined types. It is invalid to attempt to define a new value of this type or to attempt to switch an existing value to this type.
SVG_SPREADMETHOD_PAD (unsigned short)
Corresponds to value 'pad'.
SVG_SPREADMETHOD_REFLECT (unsigned short)
Corresponds to value 'reflect'.
SVG_SPREADMETHOD_REPEAT (unsigned short)
Corresponds to value 'repeat'.
Attributes:
gradientUnits (readonly SVGAnimatedEnumeration)
Corresponds to attribute ‘gradientUnits’ on the given element. Takes one of the constants defined in SVGUnitTypes.
gradientTransform (readonly SVGAnimatedTransformList)
Corresponds to attribute ‘gradientTransform’ on the given element.
spreadMethod (readonly SVGAnimatedEnumeration)
Corresponds to attribute ‘spreadMethod’ on the given element. One of the Spread Method Types defined on this interface.

13.4.2 Interface SVGLinearGradientElement

The SVGLinearGradientElement interface corresponds to the ‘linearGradient’ element.
interface SVGLinearGradientElement : SVGGradientElement {
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength x1;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength y1;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength x2;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength y2;
};
Attributes:
x1 (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘x1’ on the given ‘linearGradient’ element.
y1 (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘y1’ on the given ‘linearGradient’ element.
x2 (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘x2’ on the given ‘linearGradient’ element.
y2 (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘y2’ on the given ‘linearGradient’ element.

13.4.3 Interface SVGRadialGradientElement

The SVGRadialGradientElement interface corresponds to the ‘radialGradient’ element.
interface SVGRadialGradientElement : SVGGradientElement {
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength cx;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength cy;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength r;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength fx;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength fy;
};
Attributes:
cx (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘cx’ on the given ‘radialGradient’ element.
cy (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘cy’ on the given ‘radialGradient’ element.
r (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘r’ on the given ‘radialGradient’ element.
fx (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘fx’ on the given ‘radialGradient’ element.
fy (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘fy’ on the given ‘radialGradient’ element.

13.4.4 Interface SVGStopElement

The SVGStopElement interface corresponds to the ‘stop’ element.
interface SVGStopElement : SVGElement,
                           SVGStylable {
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedNumber offset;
};
Attributes:
offset (readonly SVGAnimatedNumber)
Corresponds to attribute ‘offset’ on the given ‘stop’ element.

13.4.5 Interface SVGPatternElement

The SVGPatternElement interface corresponds to the ‘pattern’ element.
interface SVGPatternElement : SVGElement,
                              SVGURIReference,
                              SVGTests,
                              SVGLangSpace,
                              SVGExternalResourcesRequired,
                              SVGStylable,
                              SVGFitToViewBox,
                              SVGUnitTypes {
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedEnumeration patternUnits;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedEnumeration patternContentUnits;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedTransformList patternTransform;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength x;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength y;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength width;
  readonly attribute SVGAnimatedLength height;
};
Attributes:
patternUnits (readonly SVGAnimatedEnumeration)
Corresponds to attribute ‘patternUnits’ on the given ‘pattern’ element. Takes one of the constants defined in SVGUnitTypes.
patternContentUnits (readonly SVGAnimatedEnumeration)
Corresponds to attribute ‘patternContentUnits’ on the given ‘pattern’ element. Takes one of the constants defined in SVGUnitTypes.
patternTransform (readonly SVGAnimatedTransformList)
Corresponds to attribute ‘patternTransform’ on the given ‘pattern’ element.
x (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘x’ on the given ‘pattern’ element.
y (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘y’ on the given ‘pattern’ element.
width (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘width’ on the given ‘pattern’ element.
height (readonly SVGAnimatedLength)
Corresponds to attribute ‘height’ on the given ‘pattern’ element.
SVG 1.1 (Second Edition) – 16 August 2011Top ⋅ Contents ⋅ Previous ⋅ Next ⋅ Elements ⋅ Attributes ⋅ Properties
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