Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center

HatchShading[]

is a three-dimensional graphics directive specifying that objects that follow are to be drawn with closely spaced parallel lines.

HatchShading[d]

uses the density d of shading.

HatchShading[col]

uses lines with the specified color col.

HatchShading[d,col]

uses lines with the specified color col and density d.

Details
Details and Options Details and Options
Examples  
Basic Examples  
Scope  
Basic Uses  
Specification  
Lighting  
Possible Issues  
See Also
Related Guides
History
Cite this Page

HatchShading

HatchShading[]

is a three-dimensional graphics directive specifying that objects that follow are to be drawn with closely spaced parallel lines.

HatchShading[d]

uses the density d of shading.

HatchShading[col]

uses lines with the specified color col.

HatchShading[d,col]

uses lines with the specified color col and density d.

Details

  • HatchShading is also known as cross-hatching.
  • HatchShading is typically used to create tonal effects with closely spaced parallel lines.
  • HatchShading[d,col] specifies that lines of color col should vary with overall density d.
  • The density of lines is driven by the luminosity of the surface. Less dense areas are where there is high luminosity.
  • The density d is between 0 and 1. A higher value indicates more lines per area.
  • The color col can be defined by RGBColor, Hue or any other color specification.
  • In HatchShading[d], the color of lines is taken to be Black.
  • HatchShading[col] uses a density of 0.5.
  • HatchShading[] is effectively equivalent to HatchShading[0.5,Black].
  • The setting Lighting"Accent" uses a directional light and faithfully reproduces colors on the surface.

Examples

open all close all

Basic Examples  (4)

Apply hatch shading to the unit sphere with a directional light:

Use hatch shading to show a knot:

Style a surface in a plot:

A cross-hatching portrait of Beethoven:

Scope  (11)

Basic Uses  (5)

Apply hatch shading to a graphics primitive:

Apply hatch shading to a plot:

Apply hatch shading to a chart:

Apply hatch shading to a 3D object:

Summary box:

Specification  (3)

HatchShading with no arguments uses gray tones:

Apply hatch shading to the unit sphere with different densities:

Use colorized hatch shading:

Lighting  (3)

HatchShading works with all types of lights:

Use colored lights:

Use "Accent" lighting to faithfully reproduces colors on the surface:

Possible Issues  (2)

The default light scheme uses several colored light sources:

Use a single directional light to get the standard hatch shading effect:

No shading effect is applied to faces of polygons or filled graphic objects:

Wolfram Research (2020), HatchShading, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/HatchShading.html.

Text

Wolfram Research (2020), HatchShading, Wolfram Language function, https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/HatchShading.html.

CMS

Wolfram Language. 2020. "HatchShading." Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Wolfram Research. https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/HatchShading.html.

APA

Wolfram Language. (2020). HatchShading. Wolfram Language & System Documentation Center. Retrieved from https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/HatchShading.html

BibTeX

@misc{reference.wolfram_2025_hatchshading, author="Wolfram Research", title="{HatchShading}", year="2020", howpublished="\url{https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/HatchShading.html}", note=[Accessed: 01-March-2026]}

BibLaTeX

@online{reference.wolfram_2025_hatchshading, organization={Wolfram Research}, title={HatchShading}, year={2020}, url={https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/HatchShading.html}, note=[Accessed: 01-March-2026]}