Attention: Here be dragons

This is the latest (unstable) version of this documentation, which may document features not available in or compatible with released stable versions of Godot.

CanvasItem

Inherits: Node < Object

Inherited By: Control, Node2D

Abstract base class for everything in 2D space.

Description

Abstract base class for everything in 2D space. Canvas items are laid out in a tree; children inherit and extend their parent's transform. CanvasItem is extended by Control for GUI-related nodes, and by Node2D for 2D game objects.

Any CanvasItem can draw. For this, queue_redraw is called by the engine, then NOTIFICATION_DRAW will be received on idle time to request a redraw. Because of this, canvas items don't need to be redrawn on every frame, improving the performance significantly. Several functions for drawing on the CanvasItem are provided (see draw_* functions). However, they can only be used inside _draw, its corresponding Object._notification or methods connected to the draw signal.

Canvas items are drawn in tree order. By default, children are on top of their parents, so a root CanvasItem will be drawn behind everything. This behavior can be changed on a per-item basis.

A CanvasItem can be hidden, which will also hide its children. By adjusting various other properties of a CanvasItem, you can also modulate its color (via modulate or self_modulate), change its Z-index, blend mode, and more.

Tutorials

Properties

ClipChildrenMode

clip_children

0

int

light_mask

1

Material

material

Color

modulate

Color(1, 1, 1, 1)

Color

self_modulate

Color(1, 1, 1, 1)