SVG Glyph Orientation
text-orientation controls whether individual characters rotate to match a vertical writing direction or remain upright.
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Controlling Character Rotation in Vertical Text
When text flows vertically (via writing-mode), the text-orientation property determines whether individual characters rotate 90 degrees to lie sideways along that vertical flow, or remain upright while the overall line still progresses vertically — a distinction that matters significantly for correctly typesetting different scripts.
- text-orientation determines whether characters rotate within vertical text flow
- Characters can rotate sideways or remain upright while the line flows vertically
- This distinction matters significantly for correctly typesetting different scripts
Script-Specific Orientation Considerations
Logographic scripts like Japanese and Chinese typically render correctly with upright characters in vertical text, while Latin script mixed into that same vertical flow often needs to rotate sideways to remain readable, making text-orientation: mixed (the common default) a practical choice that applies the traditionally correct orientation per script automatically.
- Logographic scripts typically render correctly with upright characters
- Latin script mixed into vertical flow often needs to rotate sideways to read correctly
- text-orientation: mixed applies the traditionally correct orientation per script automatically
Frequently Asked Questions
Is glyph-orientation-vertical still used, or has it been replaced?
The older SVG-specific glyph-orientation-vertical and glyph-orientation-horizontal presentation attributes have largely been superseded by the standard CSS text-orientation and writing-mode properties, which are the current recommended approach.
What value should I use for mixed English and Japanese vertical text?
text-orientation: mixed is specifically designed for this case, automatically keeping Japanese characters upright while rotating embedded Latin script sideways for correct readability within the same vertical text flow.
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