<mask>

Baseline Widely available

This feature is well established and works across many devices and browser versions. It’s been available across browsers since January 2020.

The <mask> element defines an alpha mask for compositing the current object into the background. A mask is used/referenced using the mask property.

Example

html
<svg viewBox="-10 -10 120 120">
  <rect x="-10" y="-10" width="120" height="120" fill="blue" />
  <mask id="myMask">
    <!-- Everything under a white pixel will be visible -->
    <rect x="0" y="0" width="100" height="100" fill="white" />

    <!-- Everything under a black pixel will be invisible -->
    <path
      d="M10,35 A20,20,0,0,1,50,35 A20,20,0,0,1,90,35 Q90,65,50,95 Q10,65,10,35 Z"
      fill="black" />
  </mask>

  <polygon points="-10,110 110,110 110,-10" fill="orange" />

  <!-- with this mask applied, we "punch" a heart shape hole into the circle -->
  <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" fill="purple" mask="url(#myMask)" />
</svg>

Attributes

height

This attribute defines the height of the masking area. Value type: <length> ; Default value: 120%; Animatable: yes

maskContentUnits

This attribute defines the coordinate system for the contents of the <mask>. Value type: userSpaceOnUse|objectBoundingBox ; Default value: userSpaceOnUse; Animatable: yes

maskUnits

This attribute defines the coordinate system for attributes x, y, width and height on the <mask>. Value type: userSpaceOnUse|objectBoundingBox ; Default value: objectBoundingBox; Animatable: yes

x

This attribute defines the x-axis coordinate of the top-left corner of the masking area. Value type: <coordinate> ; Default value: -10%; Animatable: yes

y

This attribute defines the y-axis coordinate of the top-left corner of the masking area. Value type: <coordinate> ; Default value: -10%; Animatable: yes

width

This attribute defines the width of the masking area. Value type: <length> ; Default value: 120%; Animatable: yes

Usage context

CategoriesContainer element
Permitted contentAny number of the following elements, in any order:
Animation elements
Descriptive elements
Shape elements
Structural elements
Gradient elements
<a>, <clipPath>, <cursor>, <filter>, <font>, <font-face>, <foreignObject>, <image>, <marker>, <mask>, <pattern>, <script>, <style>, <switch>, <text>, <view>

Specifications

Specification
CSS Masking Module Level 1
# MaskElement

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser

See also