30 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
30 lines
1.4 KiB
Markdown
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---
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title: Basic Usage
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---
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## Basic Usage of Canvas
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When using canvas, first place a canvas into the document as an element.
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```html
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<canvas width="400" height="400" id="canvas"></canvas>
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```
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The `width` and `height` attributes will control the size of the canvas. These attributes control the size of the drawing canvas, not the actual rendered size. See the "Canvas Dimensions" page for more.
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In order to use a `canvas`, we must first grab the element from the page as a DOM element, and then get a drawing context from it.
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```js
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var canvas = document.getElementById("canvas");
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var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
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```
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All drawing calls after this will be made from the `ctx` object. The `ctx` represents the drawing context of the object, and contains information about the 2D drawing space. The `canvas` object is the actual DOM element. Interacting with it allows us to access attributes like `width` and `height`.
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There are a few available drawing contexts, including `webgl`. WebGL is really an entirely different technology, so we will only focus on 2D drawing.
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Paths are the building block of drawing in `canvas`. See the '[Paths](/articles/canvas/paths)' page for more.
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#### More Information:
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- [MDN Canvas API](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Canvas_API)
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- [HTMLCanvasElement.getContext() (MDN)](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/HTMLCanvasElement/getContext)
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