image-rendering
The image-rendering
CSS property sets an image scaling algorithm. The property applies to an element itself, to any images set in its other properties, and to its descendants.
Try it
The user agent will scale an image when the page author specifies dimensions other than its natural size. Scaling may also occur due to user interaction (zooming). For example, if the natural size of an image is 100×100px
, but its actual dimensions are 200×200px
(or 50×50px
), then the image will be upscaled (or downscaled) using the algorithm specified by image-rendering
. This property has no effect on non-scaled images.
Syntax
css
/* Keyword values */
image-rendering: auto;
image-rendering: crisp-edges;
image-rendering: pixelated;
/* Global values */
image-rendering: inherit;
image-rendering: initial;
image-rendering: revert;
image-rendering: revert-layer;
image-rendering: unset;
Values
auto
-
The scaling algorithm is UA dependent. Since version 1.9 (Firefox 3.0), Gecko uses bilinear resampling (high quality).
smooth
Experimental-
The image should be scaled with an algorithm that maximizes the appearance of the image. In particular, scaling algorithms that "smooth" colors are acceptable, such as bilinear interpolation. This is intended for images such as photos.
high-quality
Experimental-
Identical to
smooth
, but with a preference for higher-quality scaling. If system resources are constrained, images withhigh-quality
should be prioritized over those with any other value, when considering which images to degrade the quality of and to what degree. crisp-edges
-
The image is scaled with an algorithm that preserves contrast and edges in the image. Generally intended for images such as pixel art or line drawings, no blurring or color smoothing occurs.
pixelated
-
The image is scaled with the "nearest neighbor" or similar algorithm, preserving a "pixelated" look as the image changes in size.
Note: The values optimizeQuality
and optimizeSpeed
present in an early draft (and coming from its SVG counterpart image-rendering
) are defined as synonyms for the smooth
and pixelated
values respectively.
Formal definition
Initial value | auto |
---|---|
Applies to | all elements |
Inherited | yes |
Computed value | as specified |
Animation type | discrete |
Formal syntax
Examples
Setting image scaling algorithms
In practical use, the pixelated
and crisp-edges
rules can be combined to provide some fallback for each other. (Just prepend the actual rules with the fallback.) The Canvas API can provide a fallback solution for pixelated
through manual image data manipulation or with imageSmoothingEnabled
.
CSS
css
.auto {
image-rendering: auto;
}
.pixelated {
image-rendering: pixelated;
}
.crisp-edges {
image-rendering: -webkit-optimize-contrast;
image-rendering: crisp-edges;
}
Result
Specifications
Specification |
---|
CSS Images Module Level 3 # the-image-rendering |
Browser compatibility
BCD tables only load in the browser
Note: Although crisp-edges
is supposed to use a pixel-art scaler like in the specification example, in practice no browsers (as of January 2020) do so. In Firefox, crisp-edges
or pixelated
is interpreted as nearest-neighbor, and auto
is interpolated as trilinear or linear.
For behavior on Chromium and Safari (WebKit), see the GetInterpolationQuality
function and CSSPrimitiveValue::operator ImageRendering()
respectively.
See also
- Other image-related CSS properties:
object-fit
,object-position
,image-orientation
,image-rendering
,image-resolution
.