1. SVG Tutorial
2. SVG Examples
3. A Simple SVG Example
4. Displaying SVG in Web Browsers
5. SVG Icons
6. SVG Coordinate System
7. SVG svg element
8. SVG g element
9. SVG rect element
10. SVG circle element
11. SVG ellipse element
12. SVG line element
13. SVG polyline element
14. SVG polygon element
15. SVG path element
16. SVG marker element
17. SVG text element
18. SVG tspan element
19. SVG tref element
20. SVG textpath element
21. SVG switch element
22. SVG image element
23. SVG a element
24. SVG defs Elements
25. SVG symbol Element
26. SVG use Element
27. SVG and CSS - Cascading Style Sheets
28. SVG Stroke
29. SVG Fill
30. SVG Viewport and View Box
31. SVG Animation
32. SVG Scripting
33. SVG Transformation
34. SVG Gradients
35. SVG Fill Patterns
36. SVG Clip Path
37. SVG Masks
38. SVG Filters

• A defs Example

The SVG <defs> element is used to embed definitions that can be reused inside an SVG image. For instance, you can group SVG shapes together and reuse them as a single shape.

A defs Example

Here is a simple <defs> element example:

<svg>
    <defs>
        <g>
            <rect x="100" y="100" width="100" height="100" />
            <circle cx="100" cy="100" r="100" />
        </g>
    </defs>
</svg>

Shapes defined inside a <defs> element are not displayed in the SVG image. They have to be referenced by a <use> element before they are shown. Here is an example:

<svg>
  <defs>
    <g id="shape">
        <rect x="50" y="50" width="50" height="50" />
        <circle cx="50" cy="50" r="50" />
    </g>
  </defs>

  <use xlink:href="#shape" x="50" y="50" />
  <use xlink:href="#shape" x="200" y="50" />

</svg>

Before the <g> element can be referenced, it must have an ID set on it via its id attribute. The <use> element references the <g> element via its xlink:href attribute. Notice the # in front of the ID in the attribute value.

The <use> element specifies where to show the reused shapes via its x and y attributes. Notice that the shapes inside the <g> element are located at 0,0. That is done because their position is added to the position specified in the <use> element.

Here is the resulting image:

The blue dots are not part of the example. They are added to show the x and y of the two <use> elements.

What Elements Can Be Defined Inside the defs Element?

You can put the following elements inside the <defs> element:

• Any shape element (rect, line etc.)
• g
• symbol