Canvas and Drawables
In this document
Draw with a Canvas
On a View
On a SurfaceView
Drawables
Creating from resource images
Creating from resource XML
Shape Drawable
Nine-patch
See also
OpenGL with the Framework APIs
RenderScript
The Android framework APIs provides a set of 2D-drawing APIs that allow you to render your own custom graphics onto a canvas or to modify existing Views to customize their look and feel. When drawing 2D graphics, you'll typically do so in one of two ways:
Draw your graphics or animations into a View object from your layout. In this manner, the drawing of your graphics is handled by the system's normal View hierarchy drawing process — you simply define the graphics to go inside the View.
Draw your graphics directly to a Canvas. This way, you personally call the appropriate class's onDraw() method (passing it your Canvas), or one of the Canvas draw...() methods (like drawPicture()). In doing so, you are also in control of any animation.