CSS circle() Function

The circle() function is a CSS basic shape value that's part of the CSS Shapes module.

Basic shapes such as circle() can be used as a value for properties such as shape-outside to control the flow of content around the element, and clip-path to clip the element's contents to the basic shape.

This means you can do things like, have text flowing around the element in the shape of a circle, have an image clipped to the shape of a circle, etc.

Basic Example

Here's an example of how the circle() function works with the shape-outside property:

<style>
div {  
  float: left;
  width: 200px;
  height: 150px;
  shape-outside: circle();
}
</style>

<div></div>
<p>Ornare quam viverra orci sagittis eu volutpat odio. Viverra adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. Adipiscing bibendum est ultricies integer quis auctor. Massa tincidunt dui ut ornare lectus sit amet. Pellentesque elit eget gravida cum sociis natoque penatibus et. Sed vulputate odio ut enim blandit volutpat maecenas volutpat. Purus viverra accumsan in nisl nisi. Dignissim enim sit amet venenatis urna cursus eget. Ornare arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit. Vitae justo eget magna fermentum iaculis.</p>

Here we have a div floated to the left. Now, because I've applied shape-outside: circle() to it, the subsequent text flows around the (invisible) circle that I specified.

It's easier to visualize this concept by looking at the following example.

<style>
div {  
  float: left;
  width: 200px;
  height: 150px;
  shape-outside: circle();
  background: yellow;
}
</style>

<div></div>
<p>Ornare quam viverra orci sagittis eu volutpat odio. Viverra adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. Adipiscing bibendum est ultricies integer quis auctor. Massa tincidunt dui ut ornare lectus sit amet. Pellentesque elit eget gravida cum sociis natoque penatibus et. Sed vulputate odio ut enim blandit volutpat maecenas volutpat. Purus viverra accumsan in nisl nisi. Dignissim enim sit amet venenatis urna cursus eget. Ornare arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit. Vitae justo eget magna fermentum iaculis.</p>

As you can see, the circle is drawn within the floated box. The floated box actually protrudes out from the circle, into the surrounding text. But because we've applied shape-outside: circle(), the text is allowed to flow right up to the edges of the circle. The extent to which it does this depends on any argument that you pass to the circle() function.

This example doesn't use any arguments to specify the circle's radius. Therefore, it uses the default value (which is closest-side).

How to Specify the Circle's Radius

You can specify the radius of the circle by passing an argument to the circle() function. As mentioned, closest-side is the default value. Here's how it works:

Diagram of a circle with the closest-side setting in relation to its rectangle box.

The circle's radius will be based on the length from the center of the shape to the closest side of the reference box.

You can also specify farthest-side, which is calculated like this:

Diagram of a circle with the farthest-side setting in relation to its rectangle box.

In this case, the circle will base its radius on the length from the center of the shape to the farthest side of the reference box.

You can also use length values (such as px, em, vw, etc) and percentage values to specify the circle's radius.

Here's an example of using a percentage value.

<style>
div {  
  float: left;
  width: 200px;
  height: 150px;
  shape-outside: circle(30%);
  background: yellow;
}
</style>

<div></div>
<p>Ornare quam viverra orci sagittis eu volutpat odio. Viverra adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. Adipiscing bibendum est ultricies integer quis auctor. Massa tincidunt dui ut ornare lectus sit amet. Pellentesque elit eget gravida cum sociis natoque penatibus et. Sed vulputate odio ut enim blandit volutpat maecenas volutpat. Purus viverra accumsan in nisl nisi. Dignissim enim sit amet venenatis urna cursus eget. Ornare arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit. Vitae justo eget magna fermentum iaculis.</p>

How to Position the Circle

You can specify a position for the circle by following the radius argument with a valid CSS position. This position specifies the circle's center. Just separate the radius and the position with at. Like this:

The center of this circle is 10 pixels from the left and 150 pixels from the top.

Here's a working example:

<style>
div {  
  float: left;
  width: 200px;
  height: 200px;
  shape-outside: circle(100px at 0px 150px);
  background: yellow;
}
</style>

<div></div>
<p>Ornare quam viverra orci sagittis eu volutpat odio. Viverra adipiscing at in tellus integer feugiat scelerisque. Adipiscing bibendum est ultricies integer quis auctor. Massa tincidunt dui ut ornare lectus sit amet. Pellentesque elit eget gravida cum sociis natoque penatibus et. Sed vulputate odio ut enim blandit volutpat maecenas volutpat. Purus viverra accumsan in nisl nisi. Dignissim enim sit amet venenatis urna cursus eget. Ornare arcu odio ut sem nulla pharetra diam sit. Vitae justo eget magna fermentum iaculis.</p>
<p>Faucibus ornare suspendisse sed nisi lacus sed viverra tellus. Rhoncus est pellentesque elit ullamcorper dignissim cras. Sodales ut etiam sit amet nisl purus in mollis nunc. Hendrerit gravida rutrum quisque non tellus orci ac auctor. Enim ut sem viverra aliquet eget. Eu nisl nunc mi ipsum faucibus. Enim facilisis gravida neque convallis a cras semper auctor neque. Sit amet mauris commodo quis imperdiet massa tincidunt nunc.</p>

Position can be represented as a length value, a percentage value, or a combination of the left, center, right, top, and bottom keywords.

Using `circle()` with `clip-path()`

Here's an example of using the CSS circle() function with the clip-path property.

<style>
img {
 -webkit-clip-path: circle();
 clip-path: circle();
}
</style>

<img src="/pix/samples/15m.jpg" alt="Longtail boat in Thailand">

If your browser supports the clip-path property (and the circle() function), the above image should appear in the shape of a circle. Otherwise it will appear as a normal rectangle shape.

At the time of writing, browser support for the clip-path property is limited. None of the major browsers support it, however, webkit browsers have partial support using the -webkit- prefix.

Official Syntax

The official syntax of the circle() function is as follows:

And the syntax of <shape-radius> is:

The default value is closest-side.

The syntax for <position> is:

If only one value is specified, the second value is assumed to be center. If two values are given, a length or percentage as the first value represents the horizontal position (or offset) and a length or percentage as the second value represents the vertical position (or offset).

Possible Values

The following values can be used to specify the circle's radius:

shape-radius

This can be specified in either of the following ways:

length

Specifies a length value to use (e.g. px, em, vw, etc) for the radius.

percentage

Specifies a percentage value to use. The percentage value uses the width and height of the reference box.

closest-side

This is the default value.

Specifies that the circle's radius will use the length from the center of the shape to the closest side of the box that uses the circle() function.

farthest-side

Specifies that the circle's radius will use the length from the center of the shape to the farthest side of the reference box.

position

The position argument defines the center of the circle. It is specified as a value from the top, left corner of the reference box using the values listed above (under Official Syntax).

CSS Specifications

The circle() function is defined in CSS Shapes Module Level 1 (W3C Candidate Recommendation, 20 March 2014)
It's also being further defined in CSS Shapes Module Level 2 (Editorâ€™s Draft)

Browser Support

The following table provided by Caniuse.com shows the level of browser support for this feature.