Canvas in Jetpack Compose Android

Canvas in Jetpack Compose

Canvas in Jetpack Compose is used for custom drawing and graphics rendering that goes beyond the standard UI components.

It allows developers to create unique shapes, animations, and effects that aren’t possible with built-in composables.

Canvas in Jetpack Compose provides limitless possibilities for custom UI designs, animations, and interactive effects. By mastering Canvas, you can create unique and dynamic experiences in your Android apps.

Jetpack Compose provides a powerful Canvas API that allows developers to create custom drawings, animations, and effects.

With Canvas, you can draw shapes, paths, text, and images, giving you full control over UI elements.

Why Use Canvas in Jetpack Compose?

✅ Full Control – Draw anything pixel-perfect.
✅ Lightweight & Efficient – Avoids unnecessary recompositions.
✅ Custom Animations – Beyond standard UI animations.
✅ Interactive UI – Gestures, touch-based interactions.
✅ Optimized Performance – Hardware-accelerated rendering.

Basic Drawing Functions

These functions allow you to draw different shapes, lines, and text on the canvas.

drawRect() – Draws a rectangle.
drawRoundRect() – Draws a rectangle with rounded corners.
drawCircle() – Draws a circle.
drawOval() – Draws an oval.
drawArc() – Draws an arc.
drawLine() – Draws a straight line between two points.
drawPoints() – Draws multiple points.
drawPath() – Draws a custom path.
drawImage() – Draws an image on the canvas.
drawText() – Draws text (not directly available; use androidx.compose.ui.graphics.NativeCanvas).

How to Position an object on Screen in Jetpack Compose Canvas

The x and y coordinates determine where the object is drawn.

Position	Offset Formula
Center	Offset(size.width / 2, size.height / 2)
Top-Left	Offset(radius, radius)
Top-Right	Offset(size.width - radius, radius)
Bottom-Left	Offset(radius, size.height - radius)
Bottom-Right	Offset(size.width - radius, size.height - radius)
Custom	Offset(x, y)

How to Position an object on Screen in Jetpack Compose Canvas

@Composable

fun CanvasDemoScreen() {

    val imageBitmap = ImageBitmap.imageResource(R.drawable.image)

    Canvas(modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {

        drawImage(

            image = imageBitmap,

            topLeft = Offset(70f, 150f)

        )

    }

}

1. Basic Drawing Functions

These functions allow you to draw simple geometric shapes.

drawRect() - Draws a circle

package com.example.jetpackskill

import androidx.compose.foundation.Canvas

import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize

import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable

import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier

import androidx.compose.ui.geometry.Offset

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

@Composable

fun CanvasDemoScreen() {

    Canvas(modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {

        drawCircle(

            color = Color.Red,

            radius = 100f,

            center = Offset(size.width / 2, size.height / 2)

        )

    }

}

OUTPUT:

size: Represents the dimensions of the canvas.
Offset(x, y): Defines a position on the canvas.
drawCircle(), drawRect(), drawLine(), etc.: Functions to draw basic shapes.

2. Drawing Advanced Shapes

How to use Path to create complex shapes.

package com.example.jetpackskill

import androidx.compose.foundation.Canvas

import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize

import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable

import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Path

@Composable

fun CanvasDemoScreen() {

    Canvas(modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {

        val path = Path().apply {

            moveTo(100f, 100f)

            lineTo(300f, 100f)

            lineTo(200f, 300f)

            close()

        }

        drawPath(path, color = Color.Blue)

    }

}

OUTPUT:

Path.moveTo(x, y): Moves the starting point of the path.
lineTo(x, y): Draws a line from the current point to (x, y).
close(): Closes the shape, connecting the last point to the first.

3. Applying Transformations (Translate, Rotate, Scale)

We use rotate(), translate(), and scale() for transformations.

package com.example.jetpackskill

import androidx.compose.foundation.Canvas

import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize

import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable

import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier

import androidx.compose.ui.geometry.Offset

import androidx.compose.ui.geometry.Size

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.drawscope.rotate

@Composable

fun CanvasDemoScreen() {

    Canvas(modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {

        rotate(45f, pivot = Offset(size.width / 4, size.height / 2)) {

            drawRect(Color.Green, size = Size(200f, 200f))

        }

    }

}

OUTPUT:

rotate(angle, pivot): Rotates the content.
translate(x, y): Moves the drawing position.
scale(factorX, factorY): Scales the drawing.

4. Animating Canvas Drawings

For animations, use rememberInfiniteTransition() with animated values.

package com.example.jetpackskill

import androidx.compose.animation.core.LinearEasing

import androidx.compose.animation.core.RepeatMode

import androidx.compose.animation.core.animateFloat

import androidx.compose.animation.core.infiniteRepeatable

import androidx.compose.animation.core.rememberInfiniteTransition

import androidx.compose.animation.core.tween

import androidx.compose.foundation.Canvas

import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize

import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable

import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue

import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

@Composable

fun CanvasDemoScreen() {

    val infiniteTransition = rememberInfiniteTransition()

    val animatedRadius by infiniteTransition.animateFloat(

        initialValue = 50f,

        targetValue = 150f,

        animationSpec = infiniteRepeatable(

            animation = tween(durationMillis = 1000,

                easing = LinearEasing),

            repeatMode = RepeatMode.Reverse

        )

    )

    Canvas(modifier = Modifier.fillMaxSize()) {

        drawCircle(Color.Magenta, radius = animatedRadius, center = center)

    }

}

rememberInfiniteTransition(): Keeps the animation running.
animateFloat(): Animates a float property.
infiniteRepeatable(): Loops the animation infinitely.

5. Handling Touch Input in Canvas

We can use Modifier.pointerInput() to detect user gestures.

package com.example.jetpackskill

import androidx.compose.foundation.Canvas

import androidx.compose.foundation.gestures.detectTapGestures

import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize

import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable

import androidx.compose.runtime.getValue

import androidx.compose.runtime.mutableStateOf

import androidx.compose.runtime.remember

import androidx.compose.runtime.setValue

import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier

import androidx.compose.ui.geometry.Offset

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

import androidx.compose.ui.input.pointer.pointerInput

@Composable

fun CanvasDemoScreen() {

    var position by remember { mutableStateOf(Offset(200f, 200f)) }

    Canvas(modifier = Modifier

        .fillMaxSize()

        .pointerInput(Unit) {

            detectTapGestures { tapOffset -> position = tapOffset }

        }

    ) {

        drawCircle(Color.Cyan, radius = 50f, center = position)

    }

}

detectTapGestures { tapOffset }: Detects tap events.
utableStateOf(Offset()): Stores the tap position.

Output:

Lets draw text in Canvas using gradient brush

To draw text what we are going to use?

Canvas Composable: The drawText function is part of DrawScope, which is available inside the Canvas composable.
textMeasurer.measure(...): This measures the text before drawing it.
drawText(...): This is called inside the Canvas drawing scope.
Bigger and bolder text: (40.sp, FontWeight.Bold).
White text with a black shadow: for better visibility.
Gradient color effect using Brush.linearGradient.
Blurred shadow: for a cool glowing effect.

package com.example.jetpackskill

import androidx.compose.foundation.Canvas

import androidx.compose.foundation.layout.fillMaxSize

import androidx.compose.runtime.Composable

import androidx.compose.ui.Modifier

import androidx.compose.ui.geometry.Offset

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Brush

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Color

import androidx.compose.ui.graphics.Shadow

import androidx.compose.ui.text.TextStyle

import androidx.compose.ui.text.drawText

import androidx.compose.ui.text.font.FontWeight

import androidx.compose.ui.text.rememberTextMeasurer

import androidx.compose.ui.unit.sp

@Composable

fun CanvasScreenDemo(modifier: Modifier = Modifier) {

    val textMeasurer = rememberTextMeasurer()

    Canvas(modifier = modifier.fillMaxSize()) {

        val textLayoutResult = textMeasurer.measure(

            text = "Hello, Canvas!",

            style = TextStyle(

                fontSize = 40.sp,

                fontWeight = FontWeight.Bold,

                color = Color.White,

                shadow = Shadow(

                    color = Color.Black, // Shadow color

                    offset = Offset(4f, 4f), // Shadow offset

                    blurRadius = 8f // Shadow blur

                )

            )

        )

        // Create a gradient effect using a linear gradient shader

        val gradientBrush = Brush.linearGradient(

            colors = listOf(Color.Magenta, Color.Cyan, Color.Blue),

            start = Offset.Zero,

            end = Offset(300f, 0f)

        )

        drawText(

            textLayoutResult,

            topLeft = Offset(100f, 200f),

            brush = gradientBrush // Apply the gradient color

        )

    }

}

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Canvas in Jetpack Compose Android