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SVG matrix to flip the Y-axis direction
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The Y-axis in an SVG document points towards the bottom of the page, that is the Y value increases the further down the page | |
you go. When positioning items in a maths or physics context however it is more appropriate to have the Y-axis pointing up | |
the page like a normal coordinate system. We can provide an affine transformation matrix to a g element's transform | |
attribute that flips the Y-axis for its children. | |
Let the value of the viewBox attribute of the document's SVG element equal "0 0 w h". Suppose we want a coordinate system | |
whose origin is at the centre of the viewbox and whose Y-axis points up to the top of the page. | |
(0, 0) | |
O_ _ _ _ _ _ _ _\ X (Default SVG coordinate system/frame) | |
| / | |
| | |
| | |
| /|\ Y | |
| | | |
| | | |
| | | |
Y \|/ | _ _ _ _ _ _\ X (New coordinate system/frame) | |
O / | |
(w/2, h/2) | |
We require a transformation that transforms coordinates in the new coordinate system frame back to coordinates in the SVG | |
default standard frame. This change of frame transformation matrix, M, has six unknowns | |
M = | a c e | Note that this is a shorthand version of an affine transformation matrix M = | a c e | | |
| b d f | | b d f | | |
| 0 0 1 | | |
The first column's unknowns are the components of the unit vector describing the new X-axis direction, so (1, 0) in this | |
case. The second column's unknowns are the components of the unit vector describing the new Y-axis direction, so (0, -1) | |
in this case. The third column's unknowns are the coordinates of the new origin, so (w/2, h/2) in this case. | |
M = | 1 0 w/2 | | |
| 0 -1 h/2 | | |
The SVG transform attribute accepts matrices given in the form matrix(a b c d e f), so in this case the correct form is | |
matrix(1 0 0 -1 w/2 h/2). | |
Consider as an example a square viewbox of length 10, that is w = h = 10. | |
<!-- An SVG document --> | |
<!-- The height and preserveAspectRatio attributes are provided here just for completeness --> | |
<!-- The main attributes to note are the viewBox and transform attributes on the svg and g elements respectively --> | |
<svg viewBox="0 0 10 10" preserveAspectRatio="xMidYMid slice" height="100%"> | |
<g transform="matrix(1 0 0 -1 5 5)"> | |
<!-- The child elements of this g element can use normal math style coordinates --> | |
<!-- The origin is at the viewBox centre, the X-axis domain is -5 to 5 and the Y-axis range is -5 to 5 --> | |
... | |
</g> | |
</svg> |
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