The HTML <picture> element allows you to display different pictures for different devices or screen sizes.
The HTML <picture> Element
The HTML <picture> element gives web developers more flexibility in specifying image resources.
The <picture> element contains one or more <source> elements, each referring to different images through the srcset attribute. This way the browser can choose the image that best fits the current view and/or device.
Each <source> element has a media attribute that defines when the image is the most suitable.
Example
<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>Live preview
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 match.
When to use the Picture Element
There are two main purposes for the <picture> element:
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 elements.
Example
<picture>
<source srcset="img_avatar.png">
<source srcset="img_girl.jpg">
<img src="img_beatles.gif"
alt="Beatles" style="width:auto;">
</picture>Live preview
Note
The browser will use the first <source> element with matching attribute values, and ignore any following <source> elements.
HTML Image Tags
| Tag | Description |
|---|---|
| <img> | Defines an image |
| <map> | Defines an image map |
| <area> | Defines a clickable area inside an image map |
| <picture> | Defines a container for multiple image resources |
For a complete list of all available HTML tags, visit our HTML Tag Reference .