transform-origin

The transform-origin SVG attribute sets the origin for an item's transformations.

You can use this attribute with any SVG element.

Note: As a presentation attribute in SVG, transform-origin corresponds in syntax and behavior to the transform-origin property in CSS, and can be used as CSS property to style SVG. See the CSS transform-origin property for more information.

Usage notes

Values	See `transform-origin`
Default value	`0, 0`
Animatable	Yes

Note: The default value of transform-origin is 0 0 for all SVG elements except for root <svg> elements and <svg> elements that are a direct child of a foreignObject, and whose transform-origin is 50% 50%, like other CSS elements.

The transform-origin property may be specified using one, two, or three values, where each value represents an offset. Offsets that are not explicitly defined are reset to their corresponding initial values.

If a single <length> or <percentage> value is defined, it represents the horizontal offset.

If two or more values are defined and either no value is a keyword, or the only used keyword is center, then the first value represents the horizontal offset and the second represents the vertical offset.

One-value syntax:
- The value must be a <length>, or one of the keywords left, center, right, top, and bottom.
Two-value syntax:
- One value must be a <length>, a <percentage>, or one of the keywords left, center, and right.
- The other value must be a <length>, a <percentage>, or one of the keywords top, center, and bottom.
Three-value syntax:
- The first two values are the same as for the two-value syntax.
- The third value must be a <length>. It always represents the Z offset.

Example

This example shows the code for one PNG image and three SVG images:

A PNG reference image.
An SVG reference image that uses no transformation.
An SVG image that uses transform-origin to do a transformation, with the expected result being an image identical to the reference image.
An SVG image that does not use transform-origin but does the same transformation using just transform, with the expected result being an image identical to the reference image.

The fourth image shows how to do the transformation in browsers that don't support transform-origin — because the code for the fourth image does the same transformation as the third image's transform-origin-based code, but by only using transform, without transform-origin.

Note: These examples use a modified version of a code snippet in a Stack Overflow question from Maxim Kulikov, as well as a modified version of a code snippet in an answer from Michael Mullany that accompanies the question. Both code snippets are used under the terms of the CC BY-SA license.)

HTML

html

<h4>Reference image</h4>

<div>
  <figure>
    <img src="reference.png" alt="PNG reference image" />
    <figcaption>
      Figure 1. PNG reference image. The images following this should look
      exactly the same as this.
    </figcaption>
  </figure>
</div>

<div>
  <figure>
    <svg
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="200"
      height="200"
      viewBox="0 0 200 200">
      <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="100" stroke="none" fill="black" />
      <line
        x1="100"
        y1="0"
        x2="100"
        y2="200"
        stroke="rebeccapurple"
        stroke-width="2" />
      <line
        x1="0"
        y1="100"
        x2="200"
        y2="100"
        stroke="rebeccapurple"
        stroke-width="2" />

      <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="75" stroke="none" fill="blue" />
      <line
        x1="100"
        y1="25"
        x2="100"
        y2="175"
        stroke="rebeccapurple"
        stroke-width="1.5" />
      <line
        x1="25"
        y1="100"
        x2="175"
        y2="100"
        stroke="rebeccapurple"
        stroke-width="1.5" />

      <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="50" stroke="none" fill="red" />
      <line
        x1="100"
        y1="50"
        x2="100"
        y2="150"
        stroke="rebeccapurple"
        stroke-width="1" />
      <line
        x1="50"
        y1="100"
        x2="150"
        y2="100"
        stroke="rebeccapurple"
        stroke-width="1" />

      <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="25" stroke="none" fill="yellow" />
      <line
        x1="100"
        y1="75"
        x2="100"
        y2="125"
        stroke="rebeccapurple"
        stroke-width="0.5" />
      <line
        x1="75"
        y1="100"
        x2="125"
        y2="100"
        stroke="rebeccapurple"
        stroke-width="0.5" />
    </svg>
    <figcaption>
      Figure 2. SVG reference image. The images following this should look
      exactly the same as this.
    </figcaption>
  </figure>
</div>

<h4>Transformation with transform-origin</h4>

<div>
  <figure>
    <svg
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="200"
      height="200"
      viewBox="0 0 200 200">
      <defs>
        <g id="target-g-1">
          <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="100" stroke="none" />
          <line
            x1="100"
            y1="0"
            x2="100"
            y2="200"
            stroke="rebeccapurple"
            stroke-width="2" />
          <line
            x1="0"
            y1="100"
            x2="200"
            y2="100"
            stroke="rebeccapurple"
            stroke-width="2" />
        </g>
      </defs>

      <use href="#target-g-1" fill="black" />
      <use
        href="#target-g-1"
        fill="blue"
        transform="scale(0.75 0.75)"
        transform-origin="100 100" />

      <svg
        xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
        x="0"
        y="0"
        width="200"
        height="200"
        viewBox="0 0 200 200">
        <use
          href="#target-g-1"
          fill="red"
          transform="scale(0.5 0.5)"
          transform-origin="100 100" />
        <use
          href="#target-g-1"
          fill="yellow"
          transform="scale(0.25 0.25)"
          transform-origin="100 100" />
      </svg>
    </svg>

    <figcaption>
      Figure 3. transform-origin used. This image should look exactly the same
      as the reference image in Figure 2.
    </figcaption>
  </figure>
</div>

<h4>Transformation without transform-origin</h4>

<div>
  <figure>
    <svg
      xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
      width="200"
      height="200"
      viewBox="0 0 200 200">
      <defs>
        <g id="target-g-1">
          <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="100" stroke="none" />
          <line
            x1="100"
            y1="0"
            x2="100"
            y2="200"
            stroke="rebeccapurple"
            stroke-width="2" />
          <line
            x1="0"
            y1="100"
            x2="200"
            y2="100"
            stroke="rebeccapurple"
            stroke-width="2" />
        </g>
      </defs>

      <use href="#target-g-1" fill="black" />
      <use
        href="#target-g-1"
        fill="blue"
        transform="translate(100 100) scale(0.75 0.75) translate(-100 -100)" />

      <svg
        xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg"
        x="0"
        y="0"
        width="200"
        height="200"
        viewBox="0 0 200 200">
        <use
          href="#target-g-1"
          fill="red"
          transform="translate(100 100) scale(0.5 0.5) translate(-100 -100)" />
        <use
          href="#target-g-1"
          fill="yellow"
          transform="translate(100 100) scale(0.25 0.25) translate(-100 -100)" />
      </svg>
    </svg>

    <figcaption>
      Figure 4. transform-origin not used. This image should look exactly the
      same as the reference image in Figure 2.
    </figcaption>
  </figure>
</div>

CSS

css

h4 {
  font-family: sans-serif;
}

figure {
  border: thin #c0c0c0 solid;
  display: inline-flex;
  flex-flow: column;
  padding: 5px;
  max-width: 200px;
  margin: auto;
}

figcaption {
  margin-top: 5px;
  background-color: #222;
  color: #fff;
  font: smaller sans-serif;
  padding: 3px;
  text-align: center;
}

Result

Specifications

Specification
CSS Transforms Module Level 1 # transform-origin-property
Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG) 2 # PresentationAttributes

Browser compatibility

BCD tables only load in the browser