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.NET Multi-platform App UI (.NET MAUI) provides a cross-platform graphics canvas on which 2D graphics can be drawn using types from the Microsoft.Maui.Graphics namespace. This canvas supports drawing and painting shapes and images, compositing operations, and graphical object transforms.

There are many similarities between the functionality provided by Microsoft.Maui.Graphics, and the functionality provided by .NET MAUI shapes and brushes. However, each is aimed at different scenarios:

  • Microsoft.Maui.Graphics functionality must be consumed on a drawing canvas, enables performant graphics to be drawn, and provides a convenient approach for writing graphics-based controls. For example, a control that replicates the GitHub contribution profile can be more easily implemented using Microsoft.Maui.Graphics than by using .NET MAUI shapes.
  • .NET MAUI shapes can be consumed directly on a page, and brushes can be consumed by all controls. This functionality is provided to help you produce an attractive UI.

For more information about .NET MAUI shapes, see Shapes.

Drawing canvas

In .NET MAUI, the GraphicsView enables consumption of the Microsoft.Maui.Graphics functionality, via a drawing canvas that's exposed as an ICanvas object. For more information about the GraphicsView, see GraphicsView.

ICanvas defines the following properties that affect the appearance of objects that are drawn on the canvas:

  • Alpha, of type float, indicates the opacity of an object.
  • Antialias, of type bool, specifies whether anti-aliasing is enabled.
  • BlendMode, of type BlendMode, defines the blend mode, which determines what happens when an object is rendered on top of an existing object.
  • DisplayScale, of type float, represents the scaling factor to scale the UI by on a canvas.
  • FillColor, of type Color, indicates the color used to paint an object's interior.
  • Font, of type IFont, defines the font when drawing text.
  • FontColor, of type Color, specifies the font color when drawing text.
  • FontSize, of type float, defines the size of the font when drawing text.
  • MiterLimit, of type float, specifies the limit of the miter length of line joins in an object.
  • StrokeColor, of type Color, indicates the color used to paint an object's outline.
  • StrokeDashPattern, of type float[], specifies the pattern of dashes and gaps that are used to outline an object.
  • StrokeLineCap, of type LineCap, describes the shape at the start and end of a line.
  • StrokeLineJoin, of type LineJoin, specifies the type of join that is used at the vertices of a shape.
  • StrokeSize, of type float, indicates the width of an object's outline.

By default, an ICanvas sets StrokeSize to 1, StrokeColor to black, StrokeLineJoin to LineJoin.Miter, and StrokeLineCap to LineJoin.Cap.

Drawing canvas state

The drawing canvas on each platform has the ability to maintain its state. This enables you to persist the current graphics state, and restore it when required.

However, not all elements of the canvas are elements of the graphics state. The graphics state does not include drawing objects, such as paths, and paint objects, such as gradients. Typical elements of the graphics state on each platform include stroke and fill data, and font data.

The graphics state of each ICanvas can be manipulated with the following methods:

  • SaveState, which saves the current graphics state.
  • RestoreState, which sets the graphics state to the most recently saved state.
  • ResetState, which resets the graphics state to its default values.

Note

The state that's persisted by these methods is platform dependent.