# Clamp (function)

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Limiting a position to an area

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In [computer science](/source/Computer_science), **clamping**, or **clipping** is the process of limiting a value to a range between a minimum and a maximum value. Unlike [wrapping](/source/Wrapping_(graphics)), Clamping moves a value to the nearest boundary if it is outside the allowed range.

Y = clamp(X, 1, 3) X Y 0 1 1 1 2 2 3 3 4 3

In [Python](/source/Python_(programming_language)), clamping can be defined as follows:

def clamp(x, minimum, maximum):
    if x < minimum:
        return minimum
    if x > maximum:
        return maximum
    return x

This is equivalent to max(minimum, min(x, maximum)) for languages that support the functions **min** and **max**.

## Uses

Several programming languages and libraries provide functions for fast and vectorized clamping. In Python, the [pandas](/source/Pandas_(software)) library offers the Series.clip[1] and DataFrame.clip[2] [methods](/source/Method_(computer_programming)). The [NumPy](/source/NumPy) library offers the clip[3] function. In the [Wolfram Language](/source/Wolfram_Language), it is implemented as Clip[x, {minimum, maximum}].[4]

In [OpenGL](/source/OpenGL), the glClearColor function takes four GLfloat values which are then 'clamped' to the range [ 0 , 1 ] {\displaystyle [0,1]} .[5]

One of the many uses of clamping in [computer graphics](/source/3D_computer_graphics) is the placing of a detail inside a polygon—for example, a bullet hole on a wall. It can also be used with [wrapping](/source/Wrapping_(graphics)) to create a variety of effects.

In CSS, clamp()[6] can help to implement responsive typography or responsive designs generally.[7]

Although spreadsheets like Excel, Open Office Calc, or Google Sheets don't provide a clamping function directly, the same effect can be achieved by using functions like MAX & MIN together, by MEDIAN,[8][9] or with cell function macros.[10] When attempting to do a clamp where the input is an array, other methods must be used.[11]

## References

1. **[^](#cite_ref-1)** ["Pandas Series.clip method documentation"](https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/reference/api/pandas.Series.clip.html). Retrieved 2023-10-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-2)** ["Pandas DataFrame.clip method documentation"](https://pandas.pydata.org/docs/reference/api/pandas.DataFrame.clip.html). Retrieved 2023-10-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-3)** ["NumPy clip function documentation"](https://numpy.org/doc/stable/reference/generated/numpy.clip.html). Retrieved 2023-10-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-4)** ["Wolfram Language Clip function documentation"](https://reference.wolfram.com/language/ref/Clip.html). Retrieved 2023-10-15.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-5)** ["OpenGL 4 Reference Pages"](https://www.khronos.org/registry/OpenGL-Refpages/gl4/). *www.khronos.org*. Retrieved 2018-10-31.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-6)** ["clamp()"](https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/CSS/clamp). *MDN Web Docs*. Mozilla.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-7)** Bece, Adrian. ["Modern Fluid Typography Using CSS Clamp"](https://www.smashingmagazine.com/2022/01/modern-fluid-typography-css-clamp/). *Smashing Magazine*. Smashing Media AG. Retrieved 29 January 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-8)** Citi, Jasper. ["How do I constrain a value to a range in excel?"](https://stackoverflow.com/a/44716590/1024811). *Stack Overflow*. Retrieved 29 January 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-9)** ["Clamp function in Excel"](https://www.excelforum.com/excel-general/781864-clamp-function-in-excel.html). *Excel Forum*. Retrieved 29 January 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-10)** ["\[Solved\] Math Clamp Function?"](https://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/viewtopic.php?t=90037). *Apache OpenOffice Community Forum*. Retrieved 29 January 2025.

1. **[^](#cite_ref-11)** ["Array-Safe Clamp Value in Google Sheets"](https://webapps.stackexchange.com/questions/80921/array-safe-clamp-value-in-google-sheets). *Stack Exchange > Web Applications*. Stack Overflow. Retrieved 29 January 2025.

## Further reading

- Apodaca, Anthony A.; Gritz, Larry (Dec 1999). [*Advanced RenderMan: Creating CGI for Motion Pictures*](https://books.google.com/books?id=6_4VaJiOx7EC&pg=PA177). Morgan Kaufmann.

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