<basic-shape>

The <basic-shape> data type is used to create basic shapes including rectangles by container inset, by coordinate distance, or by set dimensions, circles, ellipses, polygons, paths, and author created shapes. These basic shapes are defined using one <basic_shape> CSS functions, with each value requiring a parameter that follows the shape's function-specific syntax.

The parameters common across the syntax of some basic shape functions include:

round <'border-radius'>

Defines rounded corners for rectangles by container insets, rectangles by distance, and rectangles with dimensions using the same syntax as the CSS border-radius shorthand property.

<shape-radius>

Defines the radius for a circle or an ellipse. Valid values include <length>, <percentage>, closest-side (the default), and farthest-side. Negative values are invalid.

The closest-side keyword value uses the length from the center of the shape to the closest side of the reference box to create the radius length. The farthest-side keyword value uses the length from the center of the shape to the farthest side of the reference box.

<position>

Defines the center <position> of a circle or an ellipse. It defaults to center if omitted.

<fill-rule>

Sets the fill-rule that is used to determine how the interior of the shape defined by the basic shapes polygon, path, and shape is to be filled. Possible values are nonzero (the default) and evenodd.

Note: <fill-rule> is not supported in offset-path and using it invalidates the property.

The inset() function creates an inset rectangle, with its size defined by the offset distance of each of the four sides of its container and, optionally, rounded corners.

inset( <length-percentage>{1,4} [ round <`border-radius`> ]? )

When all of the first four arguments are supplied, they represent the top, right, bottom, and left offsets from the reference box inward that define the position of the edges of the inset rectangle. These arguments follow the syntax of the margin shorthand, which lets you set all four insets with one, two, three, or four values.

If a pair of insets for a dimension adds up to more than 100% of that dimension, both values are proportionally reduced so their sum equals 100%. For example, the value inset(90% 10% 60% 10%) has a top inset of 90% and a bottom inset of 60%. These values are reduced proportionally to inset(60% 10% 40% 10%). Shapes such as this, that enclose no area and have no shape-margin, do not affect wrapping.

The rect() function defines a rectangle using the specified distances from the top and left edges of the reference box, with optional rounded corners.

rect( [ <length-percentage> | auto ]{4} [ round <`border-radius`> ]? )

When using the rect() function, you do not define the width and height of the rectangle. Instead, you specify four values to create the rectangle, with its dimensions determined by the size of the reference box and the four offset values. Each value can be either a <length>, a <percentage>, or the keyword auto. The auto keyword is interpreted as 0% for the top and left values and as 100% for the bottom and right values.

The xywh() function defines a rectangle located at the specified distances from the left (x) and top (y) edges of the reference box and sized by the specified width (w) and height (h) of the rectangle, in that order, with optional rounded corners.

xywh( <length-percentage>{2} <length-percentage [0,∞]>{2} [ round <`border-radius`> ]? )

The circle() function defines a circle using a radius and a position.

circle( <shape-radius>? [ at <position> ]? )

The <shape-radius> argument represents the radius of the circle defined as either a <length> or a <percentage>. A percentage value here is resolved from the used width and height of the reference box as sqrt(width^2+height^2)/sqrt(2). If omitted, the radius is defined by closest-side.

The ellipse() function defines an ellipse using two radii and a position.

ellipse( [ <shape-radius>{2} ]? [ at <position> ]? )

The <shape-radius> arguments represent rx and ry, the x-axis and y-axis radii of the ellipse, in that order. These values are specified as either a <length> or a <percentage>. Percentage values here are resolved against the used width (for the rx value) and the used height (for the ry value) of the reference box. If only one radius value is provided, the ellipse() shape function is invalid. If no value is provided, 50% 50% is used.

The polygon() function defines a polygon using an SVG fill-rule and a set of coordinates.

polygon( <`fill-rule`>?, [ <length-percentage> <length-percentage> ]# )

The function takes a list of comma-separated coordinate pairs, each consisting of two space-separated <length-percentage> values as the xi and yi pair. These values represent the x and y axis coordinates of the polygon at position i (the vertex point where two lines meet).

The path() function defines a shape using an SVG fill-rule and an SVG path definition.

path( <`fill-rule`>?, ]? <string> )

The required <string> is an SVG path as a quoted string. The path() function is not a valid shape-outside property value.

The shape() function defines a shape using an initial starting point and a series of shape commands.

shape( <fill-rule>? from <coordinate-pair>, <shape-command># )

The from <coordinate-pair> parameter represents the starting point for the first shape command, and <shape-command> defines one or more shape commands, which are similar to the SVG path commands. The shape() function is not a valid shape-outside property value.

When creating a shape, the reference box is defined by the property that uses <basic-shape> values. The coordinate system for the shape has its origin at the top-left corner of the element's margin box by default, with the x-axis running to the right and the y-axis running downwards. All the lengths expressed in percentages are resolved from the dimensions of the reference box.

The default reference box is the margin-box, as demonstrated in the image below. The image shows a circle created using shape-outside: circle(50%), highlighting the different parts of the box model as seen in a browser's Developer Tools. The shape here is defined with reference to the margin-box.

The values in a <basic-shape> function are computed as specified, with the following additional considerations:

• For any omitted values, their defaults are used.
• A <position> value in circle() or ellipse() is computed as a pair of offsets from the top left corner of the reference box: the first offset is horizontal, and the second is vertical. Each offset is specified as a <length-percentage> value.
• A <border-radius> value in inset() is expanded into a list of eight values, each either a <length> or a <percentage>.
• inset(), rect(), and xywh() functions compute to the equivalent inset() function.

When animating between two <basic-shape> functions, the interpolation rules listed below are followed. The parameter values of each <basic-shape> function form a list. For interpolation to occur between two shapes, both shapes must use the same reference box and the number and type of values in both <basic-shape> lists must match.

Each value in the lists of the two <basic-shape> functions is interpolated based on its computed value as a <number>, <length>, <percentage>, <angle>, or calc() where possible. Interpolation can still occur if the values are not one of those data types but are identical between the two interpolating basic shape functions, such as nonzero.

• Both shapes are of type ellipse() or type circle(): Interpolation is applied between each corresponding value if their radii are specified as either a <length> or a <percentage> (rather than keywords such as closest-side or farthest-side).

• Both shapes are of type inset(): Interpolation is applied between each corresponding value.

• Both shapes are of type polygon(): Interpolation is applied between each corresponding value if they use the same <fill-rule> and have the same number of comma-separated coordinate pairs.

• Both shapes are of type path(): Interpolation is applied to each parameter as a <number> if the path strings in both the shapes match the number, type, and sequence of path data commands.

• Both shapes are of type shape(): Interpolation is applied between each corresponding value if they have the identical command keyword and use the same <by-to> keyword. If shape() is used in the clip-path property, the two shapes interpolate if they also have the same <fill-rule>.

  • If they use the <curve-command> or the <smooth-command>, the number of control points must match for interpolation.

  • If they use the <arc-command> with different <arc-sweep> directions, the interpolated result goes clockwise (cw). If they use different <arc-size> keywords, the size is interpolated using the large value.

• One shape is of type path() and the other is of type shape(): Interpolation is applied between each corresponding value if the list of path data commands is identical in number as well as sequence. The interpolated shape is a shape() function, maintaining the same list of path data commands.

In all other cases, no interpolation occurs and the animation is discrete.

In this example, we use the @keyframes at-rule to animate a clip path between two polygons. Note that both polygons have the same number of vertices, which is necessary for this type of animation to work.

HTML

<div></div>

CSS

div {
  width: 300px;
  height: 300px;
  background: repeating-linear-gradient(red, orange 50px);
  clip-path: polygon(
    50% 0%,
    60% 40%,
    100% 50%,
    60% 60%,
    50% 100%,
    40% 60%,
    0% 50%,
    40% 40%
  );
  animation: 4s poly infinite alternate ease-in-out;
  margin: 10px auto;
}

@keyframes poly {
  from {
    clip-path: polygon(
      50% 0%,
      60% 40%,
      100% 50%,
      60% 60%,
      50% 100%,
      40% 60%,
      0% 50%,
      40% 40%
    );
  }

  to {
    clip-path: polygon(
      50% 30%,
      100% 0%,
      70% 50%,
      100% 100%,
      50% 70%,
      0% 100%,
      30% 50%,
      0% 0%
    );
  }
}

Result

• Properties that use this data type: clip-path, offset-path, shape-outside,
• CSS shapes module
• Overview of CSS shapes
• Edit Shape Paths in CSS — Firefox Developer Tools