Background color of text in SVG

Question

I want to color the background of svg text similar to background-color in css

I was only able to find documentation on fill, which colors the text itself

Is it even possible?

Answer 1

When using a monospace font, here's an easy solution inspired somewhat by dbarton_uk's answer. Similar to that answer, it repeats two lines in the same location. I prefer the approach in that answer because, unlike most other answers here, it greatly simplifies (if not avoids) calculating the position at which to draw a background (either manually or via JavaScript).

Where this diverges from the above answer, however, is that rather than specifying the same X/Y, this approach uses a dy="0" to draw the next (foreground) line on top of the previous (background) one. The dy for background lines (or lines without any background) is simply your desired line-height.

Since we're using a monospace font, we can specify the background "x" location by simply filling with spaces up to that point, then create the background itself using a Unicode "full-block" character (U+2588) equal in width to the backgrounded text.

<svg>
<style>
tspan {
  white-space: pre;
  font-size: 16pt;
}
</style>
<text y="1em" font-family="monospace" font-size="14">
<tspan x="10" dy="1.2em"><tspan>   </tspan><tspan>     </tspan><tspan fill="rgb(205,0,0)">███</tspan>  </tspan>
<tspan x="10" dy="0"><tspan fill="rgb(205,0,0)">Red</tspan><tspan>     </tspan><tspan fill="rgb(229,229,229)" background="rgb(205,0,0)">Red</tspan>  </tspan>
<tspan x="10" dy="1.2em"><tspan>     </tspan><tspan>   </tspan><tspan fill="rgb(0,205,0)">█████</tspan></tspan>
<tspan x="10" dy="0"><tspan fill="rgb(0,205,0)">Green</tspan><tspan>   </tspan><tspan fill="rgb(229,229,229)" background="rgb(0,205,0)">Green</tspan></tspan>
<tspan x="10" dy="1.2em"><tspan>    </tspan><tspan>    </tspan><tspan fill="rgb(0,0,238)">████</tspan> </tspan>
<tspan x="10" dy="0"><tspan fill="rgb(0,0,238)">Blue</tspan><tspan>    </tspan><tspan fill="rgb(229,229,229)" background="rgb(0,0,238)">Blue</tspan> </tspan>
</text>
</svg>

Answer 2

Answer by Robert Longson (@RobertLongson) with modifications:

<svg width="100%" height="100%">
  <defs>
    <filter x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" id="solid">
      <feFlood flood-color="yellow"/>
      <feComposite in="SourceGraphic" operator="xor"/>
    </filter>
  </defs>
  <text filter="url(#solid)" x="20" y="50" font-size="50"> solid background </text>
  <text x="20" y="50" font-size="50">solid background</text>
</svg>

and we have no bluring and no heavy "getBBox" :) Padding is provided by white spaces in text-element with filter. It's worked for me

Answer 3

For those wondering how to apply padding to a text element when it has a background like in the Robert's answer, do the following:

<svg>
  <defs>
    <filter x="-0.1" y="-0.1" width="1.2" height="1.2" id="solid">
      <feFlood flood-color="#171717"/>
      <feComposite in="SourceGraphic" operator="xor" />
    </filter>
  </defs>
  <text filter="url(#solid)" x="20" y="50" font-size="50">Hello</text>
</svg>

In the example above, filter's x and y positions can be used as transform: translate(-10%, -10%) would, and width and height values can be read as 120% and 120%. So we made background 20% bigger, and offsetted it -10%, so background is now 10% bigger on each side of the text.

Answer 4

The previous answers relied on doubling up text and lacked sufficient whitespace.

By using atop and   I was able to get the results I wanted.

This example also includes arrows, a common use case for SVG text labels:

<svg viewBox="-105 -40 210 234">
<title>Size Guide</title>
<defs>
    <filter x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" id="solid">
        <feFlood flood-color="white"></feFlood>
        <feComposite in="SourceGraphic" operator="atop"></feComposite>
    </filter>
    <marker id="arrow" viewBox="0 0 10 10" refX="5" refY="5" markerWidth="6" markerHeight="6" orient="auto-start-reverse">
        <path d="M 0 0 L 10 5 L 0 10 z"></path>
    </marker>
</defs>
<g id="garment">
    <path id="right-body" fill="none" stroke="black" stroke-width="1" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M0 0 l30 0 l0 154 l-30 0"></path>
    <path id="right-sleeve" d="M30 0 l35 0 l0 120 l-35 0" fill="none" stroke-linejoin="round" stroke="black" stroke-width="1"></path>
    <use id="left-body" href="#right-body" transform="scale(-1,1)"></use>
    <use id="left-sleeve" href="#right-sleeve" transform="scale(-1,1)"></use>
    <path id="collar-right-top" fill="none" stroke="black" stroke-width="1" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M0 -6.5 l11.75 0 l6.5 6.5"></path>
    <use id="collar-left-top" href="#collar-right-top" transform="scale(-1,1)"></use>
    <path id="collar-left" fill="white" stroke="black" stroke-width="1" stroke-linejoin="round" d="M-11.75 -6.5 l-6.5 6.5 l30 77 l6.5 -6.5 Z"></path>
    <path id="front-right" fill="white" stroke="black" stroke-width="1" d="M18.25 0 L30 0 l0 154 l-41.75 0 l0 -77 Z"></path>
    <line x1="0" y1="0" x2="0" y2="154" stroke="black" stroke-width="1" stroke-dasharray="1 3"></line>
    <use id="collar-right" href="#collar-left" transform="scale(-1,1)"></use>
</g>
<g id="dimension-labels">
    <g id="dimension-sleeve-length">
        <line marker-start="url(#arrow)" marker-end="url(#arrow)" x1="85" y1="0" x2="85" y2="120" stroke="black" stroke-width="1"></line>
        <text font-size="10" filter="url(#solid)" fill="black" x="85" y="60" class="dimension" text-anchor="middle" dominant-baseline="middle"> 120 cm</text>
    </g>
    <g id="dimension-length">
        <line marker-start="url(#arrow)" marker-end="url(#arrow)" x1="-85" y1="0" x2="-85" y2="154" stroke="black" stroke-width="1"></line>
        <text font-size="10" filter="url(#solid)" fill="black" x="-85" y="77" text-anchor="middle" dominant-baseline="middle" class="dimension"> 154 cm</text>
    </g>
    <g id="dimension-sleeve-to-sleeve">
        <line marker-start="url(#arrow)" marker-end="url(#arrow)" x1="-65" y1="-20" x2="65" y2="-20" stroke="black" stroke-width="1"></line>
        <text font-size="10" filter="url(#solid)" fill="black" x="0" y="-20" text-anchor="middle" dominant-baseline="middle" class="dimension">&nbsp;130 cm&nbsp;</text>
    </g>
    <g title="Back Width" id="dimension-back-width">
        <line marker-start="url(#arrow)" marker-end="url(#arrow)" x1="-30" y1="174" x2="30" y2="174" stroke="black" stroke-width="1"></line>
        <text font-size="10" filter="url(#solid)" fill="black" x="0" y="174" text-anchor="middle" dominant-baseline="middle" class="dimension">&nbsp;60 cm&nbsp;</text>
    </g>
</g>
</svg>

Answer 5

An obvious workaround to the problem of the blur produced by the filter effect is to render the <text> two times: once for the background (with transparent characters) and once for the characters (without a background filter).

For me, this was the only way to make the text readable in Safari.

<svg width="100%" height="100%">
    <filter x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" id="solid">
        <feFlood flood-color="yellow" />
    </filter>
    <g transform="translate(20, 50)" font-size="50">
        <text aria-hidden="true" fill="none" filter="url(#solid)">solid background</text>
        <text fill="blue">solid background</text>
    </g>
</svg>

The aria-hidden="true" attribute is there to prevent screen readers from speaking the text twice, if the user uses a screen reader.

Answer 6

Going further with @dbarton_uk answer, to avoid duplicating text you can use paint-order=stroke style:

<svg>
  <line x1="100" y1="100" x2="350" y2="100" style="stroke:grey; stroke-width: 100"/>    
  <text x="150" y="105" style="stroke:white; stroke-width:0.5em; fill:black; paint-order:stroke; stroke-linejoin:round">Hello World!</text>
</svg>

Note the stroke-linejoin:round which is needed to avoid seeing spikes for the W sharp angle.

Answer 7

You could use a filter to generate the background.

<svg width="100%" height="100%">
  <defs>
    <filter x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" id="solid">
      <feFlood flood-color="yellow" result="bg" />
      <feMerge>
        <feMergeNode in="bg"/>
        <feMergeNode in="SourceGraphic"/>
      </feMerge>
    </filter>
  </defs>
  <text filter="url(#solid)" x="20" y="50" font-size="50">solid background</text>
</svg>

Answer 8

The solution I have used is:

<svg>
  <line x1="100" y1="100" x2="500" y2="100" style="stroke:black; stroke-width: 2"/>    
  <text x="150" y="105" style="stroke:white; stroke-width:0.6em">Hello World!</text>
  <text x="150" y="105" style="fill:black">Hello World!</text>  
</svg>

A duplicate text item is being placed, with stroke and stroke-width attributes. The stroke should match the background colour, and the stroke-width should be just big enough to create a "splodge" on which to write the actual text.

A bit of a hack and there are potential issues, but works for me!

Answer 9

You can combine filter with the text.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset=utf-8 />
    <title>SVG colored patterns via mask</title>
  </head>
  <body>
    <svg viewBox="0 0 300 300" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg">
      <defs>
        <filter x="0" y="0" width="1" height="1" id="bg-text">
          <feFlood flood-color="white"/>
          <feComposite in="SourceGraphic" operator="xor" />
        </filter>
      </defs>
	  <!-- something has already existed -->
    <rect fill="red" x="150" y="20" width="100" height="50" />
    <circle cx="50"  cy="50" r="50" fill="blue"/>
      
      <!-- Text render here -->
      <text filter="url(#bg-text)" fill="black" x="20" y="50" font-size="30">text with color</text>
      <text fill="black" x="20" y="50" font-size="30">text with color</text>
    </svg>
  </body>
</html> 

Answer 10

You can add style to your text:

  style="-webkit-tap-highlight-color: rgba(0, 0, 0, 0); 
    text-shadow: rgb(255, 255, 255) -2px -2px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) -2px 2px 0px, 
     rgb(255, 255, 255) 2px -2px 0px, rgb(255, 255, 255) 2px 2px 0px;"

White, in this example. Does not work in IE :)

Answer 11

Instead of using a <text> tag, the <foreignObject> tag can be used, which allows for XHTML content with CSS.

Answer 12

this is my favorite hack (not sure it should work). It refer an element that is not yet displayed, and it works pretty well

<svg version="1.1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" viewBox="0 0 620 40" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid meet">
    <defs>
        <filter x="-0.02" y="0" width="1.04" height="1.1" id="removebackground">
            <feFlood flood-color="#00ffff"/>
        </filter>
    </defs>

    <!--Draw the text--> 
    <use xlink:href="#mygroup" filter="url(#removebackground)" />
    <g id="mygroup">
        <text id="text1" x="9" y="20" style="text-anchor:start;font-size:14px;">custom text with background</text>  
        <line x1="200" y1="18" x2="200" y2="36" stroke="#000" stroke-width="5"/> 
        <line x1="120" y1="27" x2="203" y2="27" stroke="#000" stroke-width="5"/> 
    </g>
</svg>

Answer 13

No this is not possible, SVG elements do not have background-... presentation attributes.

To simulate this effect you could draw a rectangle behind the text attribute with fill="green" or something similar (filters). Using JavaScript you could do the following:

var ctx = document.getElementById("the-svg"),
textElm = ctx.getElementById("the-text"),
SVGRect = textElm.getBBox();

var rect = document.createElementNS("http://www.w3.org/2000/svg", "rect");
    rect.setAttribute("x", SVGRect.x);
    rect.setAttribute("y", SVGRect.y);
    rect.setAttribute("width", SVGRect.width);
    rect.setAttribute("height", SVGRect.height);
    rect.setAttribute("fill", "yellow");
    ctx.insertBefore(rect, textElm);

Answer 14

No, you can not add background color to SVG elements. You can do it programmatically with d3.

var text = d3.select("text");
var bbox = text.node().getBBox();
var padding = 2;
var rect = self.svg.insert("rect", "text")
    .attr("x", bbox.x - padding)
    .attr("y", bbox.y - padding)
    .attr("width", bbox.width + (padding*2))
    .attr("height", bbox.height + (padding*2))
    .style("fill", "red");