CSS Shapes

CSS Shapes describe geometric shapes for use in CSS. For the Level 1 specification, CSS Shapes can be applied to floating elements. The specification defines a number of different ways to define a shape on a floated element, causing wrapping lines to wrap round the shape rather than following the rectangle of the element's box.

Basic example

The example below shows an image that has been floated left, and the shape-outside property applied with a value of circle(50%). This creates a circle shape, and the content wrapping the float now wraps around that shape. This changes the length of the wrapping text's line boxes.

Reference

Properties

• shape-image-threshold
• shape-margin
• shape-outside

Data types

• <basic-shape>

Guides

• Overview of CSS Shapes
• Shapes from Box Values
• Basic Shapes
• Shapes from Images
• Edit Shape Paths in CSS — Firefox Developer Tools

External Resources

• A list of CSS Shapes resources
• CSS Shapes 101
• Creating non-rectangular layouts with CSS Shapes
• How To Use CSS Shapes In Your Web Design
• How To Get Started With CSS Shapes
• What I Learned In One Weekend With CSS Shapes
• CSS vs. SVG: Shapes and Arbitrarily-Shaped UI Components

Specifications