Cairo DISPLAY DRIVER - GRASS Manual
Author: GRASS Development Team
Description: Cairo DISPLAY DRIVER: GRASS Reference Manual

## Cairo DISPLAY DRIVER

Cairo display driver for bitmap or vector output using the Cairo graphics library.

## DESCRIPTION

The Cairo driver generates PNG, BMP, PPM, PS, PDF or SVG images by GRASS display commands, using the Cairo graphics library. The image format is selected from the extension of the output file. The Cairo driver is used for GRASS display commands by default if available, otherwise PNG driver is used.

## USAGE

### Environment variables

The Cairo driver can be enabled by setting GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE variable, eg.

    export GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE=cairo

Several environment variables affect the operation of the Cairo driver:

- GRASS_RENDER_WIDTH=xxx
  the width of the image map (default is 640).
- GRASS_RENDER_HEIGHT=yyy
  the height of the image map (default is 480).
- GRASS_RENDER_BACKGROUNDCOLOR=RRGGBB
  specifies the background color to use in RGB notation (hex or R:G:B values). Named colors are also supported. Default is FFFFFF (white).
- GRASS_RENDER_TRANSPARENT=[TRUE|FALSE]
  sets transparent background on (TRUE) or off (FALSE, default).
- GRASS_RENDER_ANTIALIAS
  can be default, none, gray, or subpixel, corresponding to cairo_antialias_t
- GRASS_RENDER_FILE=filename
  the name and format of the resulting image file, default is `map.png`.
  The image format is determined from the file extension.
  Supported bitmap formats:
  - .png - Portable Network Graphics (PNG)
  - .bmp - Windows Bitmap (BMP, 32-bpp) (these are not readable by some older viewers)
  - .ppm - Portable Pixmap (PPM + PGM for alpha channel)
  Supported vector formats:
  - .pdf - Portable Document Format (PDF)
  - .ps - PostScript (PS)
  - .svg - Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG)
  (Note: Some formats may not be available, depending on your platform and the Cairo library that GRASS was built with.)
- GRASS_RENDER_FILE_READ
  if `TRUE`, the Cairo driver will initialize the image from the contents of GRASS_RENDER_FILE.
  (Note: This is only supported for bitmap formats)
- GRASS_RENDER_FILE_MAPPED
  if `TRUE`, the Cairo driver will map GRASS_RENDER_FILE as its framebuffer, rather than using memory.
  (Note: This only works with BMP files.)
- GRASS_RENDER_CAIRO_SCREEN
  defines Cairo screen
- GRASS_RENDER_CAIRO_VISUAL
  defines Cairo visual

## EXAMPLES

### PNG Example

Example: using the driver to generate a PNG file (bash-syntax):

    export GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE=cairo
    export GRASS_RENDER_FILE=nc_spm.png
    export GRASS_RENDER_WIDTH=800
    export GRASS_RENDER_HEIGHT=800
    export GRASS_RENDER_FILE_READ=TRUE

    g.region raster=elevation
    d.rast map=elevation
    d.vect map=streams width=1 color=blue fcolor=aqua type=area,line
    d.vect map=roadsmajor width=2

### PDF Examples

Example: using the driver to generate a PDF vector file with a vector map (bash-syntax):

    export GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE=cairo
    export GRASS_RENDER_FILE=nc_spm.pdf
    export GRASS_RENDER_WIDTH=800
    export GRASS_RENDER_HEIGHT=800

    g.region vector=roadsmajor
    # activate vector font
    d.font Vera
    d.vect map=roadsmajor layer=1 display=shape attrcolumn=ROAD_NAME lcolor=0:90:255

Example: using the driver to generate a PDF raster file with a raster map (bash-syntax):

    export GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE=cairo
    export GRASS_RENDER_FILE=nc_spm.pdf
    export GRASS_RENDER_WIDTH=800
    export GRASS_RENDER_HEIGHT=800

    g.region raster=elevation
    d.rast map=elevation

### SVG Example

Example: using the driver to generate a SVG vector file with a vector map (bash-syntax):

    export GRASS_RENDER_IMMEDIATE=cairo
    export GRASS_RENDER_FILE=vectormap.svg

    g.region vector=roadsmajor
    d.vect map=roadsmajor -c

## NOTES

The driver is still in development. Enable it by specifying `--with-cairo` when configuring GRASS. This requires a reasonably recent version of the Cairo libraries and a working `pkg-config`.

Antialiasing is enabled by default for bitmap formats. There is currently no way of disabling this.

The resolution of the output images is defined by current region extents. Use `g.region -p` to get the number of rows and cols and use the environment variables to set the image size. If you would like a larger image, multiply both rows and cols by the same whole number to preserve the aspect ratio.

Cairo supports true vector format output whenever possible. However, if the selected format doesn't support a necessary feature, Cairo may fall back on rendering a bitmap representation of the image wrapped in the selected vector format.

## SEE ALSO

PNG driver, PS driver, HTML driver, variables

d.rast, d.vect, d.mon, d.erase, d.redraw

## AUTHOR

Lars Ahlzen <lars (at) ahlzen.com>
and the GRASS Development Team.

## SOURCE CODE

Available at: Cairo DISPLAY DRIVER source code (history)

Accessed: Thursday May 14 20:48:02 2026

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