SVG to CSS Shape Converter

Shape master Temani Afif has what might be the largest collection of CSS shapes on the planet with all the tools to generate them on the fly. There’s a mix of clever techniques he’s typically used to make those shapes, many of which he’s covered here at CSS-Tricks over the years.

Some of the more complex shapes were commonly clipped with the path() function. That makes a lot of sense because it literally accepts SVG path coordinates that you can draw in an app like Figma and export.

But Temani has gone all-in on the newly-released shape() function which recently rolled out in both Chromium browsers and Safari. That includes a brand-new generator that converts path() shapes in shape() commands instead.

So, if we had a shape that was originally created with an SVG path, like this:

.shape {
  clip-path: path(
    M199.6,18.9
    c-4.3-8.9-12.5-16.4-22.3-17.8
    c-11.9-1.7-23.1,5.4-32.2,13.2
    c-9.1,7.8-17.8,16.8-29.3,20.3
    c-20.5,6.2-41.7-7.4-63.1-7.5
    c38.7,27,24.8,33,15.2,43.3
    c-35.5,38.2-0.1,99.4,40.6,116.2
    c32.8,13.6,72.1,5.9,100.9-15
    c27.4-19.9,44.3-54.9,47.4-88.6
    c0.2-2.7,0.4-5.3,0.5-7.9
    c204.8,38,203.9,27.8,199.6,18.9
    z
  );
}

…the generator will spit this out:

.shape {
  clip-path: shape(
    from 97.54% 10.91%,
    curve by -10.93% -10.76% with -2.11% -5.38%/-6.13% -9.91%,
    curve by -15.78% 7.98% with -5.83% -1.03%/-11.32% 3.26%,
    curve by -14.36% 12.27% with -4.46% 4.71%/-8.72% 10.15%,
    curve by -30.93% -4.53% with -10.05% 3.75%/-20.44% -4.47%,
    curve to 7.15% 25.66% with 18.67% 15.81%/11.86% 19.43%,
    curve by 19.9% 70.23% with -17.4% 23.09%/-0.05% 60.08%,
    curve by 49.46% -9.07% with 16.08% 8.22%/35.34% 3.57%,
    curve by 23.23% -53.55% with 13.43% -12.03%/21.71% -33.18%,
    curve by 0.25% -4.77% with 0.1% -1.63%/0.2% -3.2%,
    curve to 97.54% 10.91% with 100.09% 22.46%/99.64% 16.29%,
    close
  );
}

Pretty cool!

Honestly, I’m not sure how often I’ll need to convert path() to shape(). Seems like a stopgap sorta thing where the need for it dwindles over time as shape() is used more often — and it’s not like the existing path() function is broken or deprecated… it’s just different. But still, I’m using the generator a LOT as I try to wrap my head around shape() commands. Seeing the commands in context is invaluable which makes it an excellent learning tool.

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