Clinical evaluation of cardiac function is routine and important. Cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) cine sequence can obtain dynamic images of the whole cardiac cycle. Based on echocardiographic techniques, CMR has been used to establish a set of scanning sequences and an evaluation index system to evaluate cardiac function, including ejection fraction, ventricular mass index, strain, interventricular septum curvature ratio, tricuspid annular plane systolic excursion and vascular compliance. Understanding the principles, significance and indications of these indicators is helpful to optimize the scanning sequence and make timely and effective diagnosis, which is of great significance for clinical treatment and prognosis evaluation. This review sums up the status and progress of clinical application of CMR in evaluation of cardiac function.