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The Java™ Tutorials
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Compositing Graphics
Trail: 2D Graphics
Lesson: Advanced Topics in Java2D

Compositing Graphics

The AlphaComposite class encapsulates various compositing styles, which determine how overlapping objects are rendered. An AlphaComposite can also have an alpha value that specifies the degree of transparency: alpha = 1.0 is totally opaque, alpha = 0.0 totally transparent (clear). AlphaComposite supports most of the standard Porter-Duff compositing rules shown in the following table.

Compositing Rule Description
Source-over (SRC_OVER)
Source-over compositing
If pixels in the object being rendered (the source) have the same location as previously rendered pixels (the destination), the source pixels are rendered over the destination pixels.
Source-in (SRC_IN)
Source-in compositing
If pixels in the source and the destination overlap, only the source pixels in the overlapping area are rendered.
Source-out (SRC_OUT)
Source-out compositing
If pixels in the source and the destination overlap, only the source pixels outside of the overlapping area are rendered. The pixels in the overlapping area are cleared.
Destination-over (DST_OVER)
Destination-over compositing
If pixels in the source and the destination overlap, only the source pixels outside of the overlapping area are rendered. The pixels in the overlapping area are not changed.
Destination-in (DST_IN)
Destination-in compositing
If pixels in the source and the destination overlap, the alpha from the source is applied to the destination pixels in the overlapping area. If the alpha = 1.0, the pixels in the overlapping area are unchanged; if the alpha is 0.0, pixels in the overlapping area are cleared.
Destination-out (DST_OUT)
Destination-out compositing
If pixels in the source and the destination overlap, the alpha from the source is applied to the destination pixels in the overlapping area. If the alpha = 1.0, the pixels in the overlapping area are cleared; if the alpha is 0.0, the pixels in the overlapping area are unchanged.
Clear (CLEAR)
Clear with overlap compositing
If the pixels in the source and the destination overlap, the pixels in the overlapping area are cleared.

To change the compositing style used by the Graphics2D class, create an AlphaComposite object and pass it into the setComposite method.

Example: Composite

This program illustrates the effects of various compositing style and alpha combinations.


Note:  If you don't see the applet running, you need to install at least the Java SE Development Kit (JDK) 7 release.

Composite.java. contains the full code for this applet.

A new AlphaComposite object ac is constructed by calling AlphaComposite.getInstance and specifying the desired compositing rule.

AlphaComposite ac =
  AlphaComposite.getInstance(AlphaComposite.SRC);

When a different compositing rule or alpha value is selected, AlphaComposite.getInstance is called again, and the new AlphaComposite is assigned to ac. The selected alpha is applied in addition to the per-pixel alpha value and is passed as a second parameter to AlphaComposite.getInstance.

ac = AlphaComposite.getInstance(getRule(rule), alpha);

The composite attribute is modified by passing the AlphaComposite object to Graphics 2D setComposite. The objects are rendered into a BufferedImage and are later copied to the screen, so the composite attribute is set on the Graphics2D context for the BufferedImage:

BufferedImage buffImg = new BufferedImage(w, h,
                        BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB);
Graphics2D gbi = buffImg.createGraphics();
...
gbi.setComposite(ac);

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