Main Function

Raphael

Creates a canvas object on which to draw. You must do this first, as all future calls to drawing methods from this instance will be bound to this canvas.

Parameters

  1. container HTMLElement or string
  2. width number
  3. height number

or

  1. x number
  2. y number
  3. width number
  4. height number

Usage

// Each of the following examples create a canvas that is 320px wide by 200px high
// Canvas is created at the viewport's 10,50 coordinate
var paper = Raphael(10, 50, 320, 200);
// Canvas is created at the top left corner of the #notepad element (or its top right corner in dir="rtl" elements)
var paper = Raphael(document.getElementById("notepad"), 320, 200);
// Same as above
var paper = Raphael("notepad", 320, 200);

Element’s generic methods

Each object created on the canvas shares these same generic methods:

node

Gives you a reference to the DOM object, so you can assign event handlers or just mess around.

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10); // draw a circle at coordinate 10,10 with radius of 10
c.node.onclick = function () { c.attr("fill", "red"); };

rotate

Rotates the element by the given degree from either its 0,0 corner or its center point.

Parameters

  1. degree number Degree of rotation (0 – 360°)
  2. isAbsolute boolean [optional] Specifies the rotation point. Use true to rotate the element around its center point. The default, false, rotates the element from its 0,0 coordinate.

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
c.rotate(45);        // rotation is relative
c.rotate(45, true);  // rotation is absolute

translate

Moves the element around the canvas by the given distances.

Parameters

  1. dx number Pixels of translation by X axis
  2. dy number Pixels of translation by Y axis

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
c.translate(10, 10); // moves the circle down the canvas, in a diagonal line

scale

Resizes the element by the given multiplier.

Parameters

  1. Xtimes number Amount to scale horizontally
  2. Ytimes number Amount to scale vertically

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
c.scale(1.5, 1.5); // makes the circle 1.5 times larger
c.scale(.5, .75);  // makes the circle half as wide, and 75% as high

attr

Sets the attributes of elements directly.

Parameters

  1. attributeName string
  2. value string

or

  1. params object

Possible parameters

Please refer to the SVG specification for an explanation of these parameters.

  • cx number
  • cy number
  • fill colour
  • fill-opacity number
  • font string
  • font-family string
  • font-size number
  • font-weight string
  • gradient object
  • height number
  • opacity number
  • path pathString
  • r number
  • rotation number
  • rx number
  • ry number
  • scale CSV
  • stroke colour
  • stroke-dasharray string [“-”, “.”, “-.”, “-..”, “. ”, “- ”, “--”, “- .”, “--.”, “--..”]
  • stroke-linecap string [“butt”, “square”, “round”, “miter”]
  • stroke-linejoin string [“butt”, “square”, “round”, “miter”]
  • stroke-miterlimit number
  • stroke-opacity number
  • stroke-width number
  • translation CSV
  • width number
  • x number
  • y number

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
c.attr("fill", "black");                              // using strings
c.attr({fill: "#000", stroke: "#f00", opacity: 0.5}); // using params object

animate

Linearly changes an attribute from its current value to its specified value in the given amount of milliseconds.

Parameters

  1. newAttrs object A parameters object of the animation results.
  2. ms number The duration of the animation, given in milliseconds.
  3. callback function [optional]

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
c.animate({cx: 20, r: 20}, 2000);

getBBox

Returns the dimensions of an element.

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
var width = c.getBBox().width;

toFront

Moves the element so it is the closest to the viewer’s eyes, on top of other elements.

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
c.toFront();

toBack

Moves the element so it is the furthest from the viewer’s eyes, behind other elements.

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
c.toBack();

insertBefore

Inserts current object before the given one.

Usage

var r = paper.rect(10, 10, 10, 10);
var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
c.insertBefore(r);

insertAfter

Inserts current object after the given one

Usage

var r = paper.rect(10, 10, 10, 10);
var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);
r.insertAfter(c);

Graphic Primitives

circle

Draws a circle.

Parameters

  1. x number X coordinate of the centre
  2. y number Y coordinate of the centre
  3. r number radius

Usage

var c = paper.circle(10, 10, 10);

rect

Draws a rectangle.

Parameters

  1. x number X coordinate of top left corner
  2. y number Y coordinate of top left corner
  3. width number
  4. height number
  5. r number [optional] radius for rounded corners, default is 0

Usage

// regular rectangle
var c = paper.rect(10, 10, 10, 10);
// rectangle with rounded corners
var c = paper.rect(10, 10, 100, 50, 10);

ellipse

Draws an ellipse.

Parameters

  1. x number X coordinate of the centre
  2. y number X coordinate of the centre
  3. rx number Horisontal radius
  4. ry number Vertical radius

Usage

var c = paper.ellipse(100, 100, 30, 40);

image

Embeds an image into the SVG/VML canvas.

Parameters

  1. src string URI of the source image
  2. x number X coordinate position
  3. y number Y coordinate position
  4. width number Width of the image
  5. height number Height of the image

Usage

var c = paper.image("apple.png", 10, 10, 100, 100);

text

Draws a text string.

Parameters

  1. x number X coordinate position.
  2. y number Y coordinate position.
  3. text string The text string to draw.

Usage

var t = paper.text(10, 10, "Look mom, I'm scalable!");

path

Initialises path drawing. Typically, this function returns an empty path object and to draw paths you use its built-in methods like lineTo and curveTo. However, you can also specify a path literally by supplying the path data as a second argument.

Parameters

  1. params object Attributes for the resulting path as described in the attr reference.
  2. pathString string [optional] Path data in SVG path string format.

Usage

var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).moveTo(10, 10).lineTo(50, 50); // draw a diagonal line
var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}, "M 10 10 L 50 50");            // same

Path Methods

absolutely

Sets a trigger to count all following units as absolute ones, unless said otherwise. (This is on by default.)

Usage

var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).absolutely()
    .moveTo(10, 10).lineTo(50, 50);

relatively

Sets a trigger to count all following units as relative ones, unless said otherwise.

Usage

var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).relatively()
    .moveTo(10, 10).lineTo(50, 50);

moveTo

Moves the drawing point to the given coordinates.

Parameters

  1. x number X coordinate
  2. y number Y coordinate

Usage

// Begins drawing the path at coordinate 10,10
var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).moveTo(10, 10).lineTo(50, 50);

lineTo

Draws a straight line to the given coordinates.

Parameters

  1. x number X coordinate
  2. y number Y coordinate

Usage

// Draws a line starting from 10,10 to 50,50
var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).moveTo(10, 10).lineTo(50, 50);

cplineTo

Draws a curved line to the given coordinates. The line will have horizontal anchors on start and on finish.

Parameters

  1. x number
  2. y number
  3. width number

Usage

var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).moveTo(10, 10).cplineTo(50, 50);

curveTo

Draws a bicubic curve to the given coordinates.

Parameters

  1. x1 number
  2. y1 number
  3. x2 number
  4. y2 number
  5. x3 number
  6. y3 number

Usage

var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).moveTo(10, 10).curveTo(10, 15, 45, 45, 50, 50);

qcurveTo

Draws a quadratic curve to the given coordinates.

Parameters

  1. x1 number
  2. y1 number
  3. x2 number
  4. y2 number

Usage

var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).moveTo(10, 10).curveTo(10, 15, 45, 45, 50, 50);

addRoundedCorner

Draws a quarter of a circle from the current drawing point.

Parameters

  1. r number
  2. dir string Two-letter directional instruction, as described below.

Possible dir values

lu
left up
ld
left down
ru
right up
rd
right down
ur
up right
ul
up left
dr
down right
dl
down left

Usage

var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).moveTo(10, 10).addRoundedCorner(10, "rd");

andClose

Closes the path being drawn.

Usage

var c = paper.path({stroke: "#036"}).moveTo(10, 10).andClose();