HTML Picture Element
The picture element allows us to display different pictures for different devices or screen sizes.
The HTML <picture> Element
HTML5 introduced the <picture> element to add more flexibility when
specifying image resources.
The <picture> element contains a number of
<source> elements, each referring
to different image sources. This way the browser can choose the image that best
fits the current view and/or device.
Each <source> element have attributes describing when their image is the
most suitable.
Example
Show different images on different screen sizes:
<picture>
<source media="(min-width: 650px)" srcset="img_food.jpg">
<source media="(min-width: 465px)" srcset="img_car.jpg">
<img src="img_girl.jpg">
</picture>
Try it Yourself »
Note: Always specify an <img> element as the last child
element of the <picture> element. The <img> element is used by browsers that
do
not support the <picture> element, or if none of the <source> tags matched.
When to use the Picture Element
There are two main purposes for the <picture> element:
1. Bandwidth
If you have a small screen or device, it is not necessary to load a large
image file. The browser will use the first <source>
element with matching attribute values, and ignore any of the following
elements.
2. Format Support
Some browsers or devices may not support all image formats. By using the
<picture> element, you can add images of all
formats, and the browser will use the first format it recognizes and ignore any
of the following.
Example
The browser will use the first image format it recognizes:
<picture>
<source srcset="img_avatar.png">
<source srcset="img_girl.jpg">
<img src="img_beatles.gif"
alt="Beatles" style="width:auto;">
</picture>
Try it Yourself »
Note: The browser will use the first <source> element with matching attribute
values, and ignore any following <source> elements.
