CanvasRenderingContext2D.imageSmoothingEnabled

This is an experimental technology
Because this technology's specification has not stabilized, check the compatibility table for usage in various browsers. Also note that the syntax and behavior of an experimental technology is subject to change in future versions of browsers as the specification changes.

The CanvasRenderingContext2D.imageSmoothingEnabled property of the Canvas 2D API can be set to change if images are smoothed (true, default) or not (false). On getting the imageSmoothingEnabled property, the last value it was set to, is returned.

This property is useful for pixel-art themed games, when scaling the canvas for example. The default resizing algorithm can create blurry effects and ruins the beautiful pixels. Set this property to false in that case. See also the CSS image-rendering property.

Syntax

ctx.imageSmoothingEnabled = value;

Options

value
A Boolean indicating whether to smooth images or not.

Examples

Using the imageSmoothingEnabled property

This is just a simple code snippet using the imageSmoothingEnabled property with a scaled image.

HTML

<canvas id="canvas"></canvas>

JavaScript

var canvas = document.getElementById("canvas");
var ctx = canvas.getContext("2d");

var img = new Image();
img.src = 'https://mdn.mozillademos.org/files/222/Canvas_createpattern.png';
img.onload = function() {
 ctx.mozImageSmoothingEnabled = false;
 ctx.webkitImageSmoothingEnabled = false;
 ctx.msImageSmoothingEnabled = false;
 ctx.imageSmoothingEnabled = false;
 ctx.drawImage(img, 0, 0, 400, 200);
};

Edit the code below and see your changes update live in the canvas:

Specifications

Specification Status Comment
WHATWG HTML Living Standard
The definition of 'CanvasRenderingContext2D.imageSmoothingEnabled' in that specification.
Living Standard  

Browser compatibility

Feature Chrome Firefox (Gecko) Internet Explorer Opera Safari
Basic support 30 [1] (Yes)
moz
(Yes)
ms
? ?
Feature Android Chrome for Android Firefox Mobile (Gecko) IE Mobile Opera Mobile Safari Mobile
Basic support ? ? (Yes)
moz
? ? ?

[1] Supported with a webkit prefix until version 29.

See also

Document Tags and Contributors

 Contributors to this page: fscholz
 Last updated by: fscholz,