Develop Reference

HTML5 Canvas - create striped canvas with lineWidth and createPattern()

I want to create a striped pattern with HTML5 canvas, where the thickness of lines for the striped pattern should be configurable using the property lineWidth.
After I read this answer, I understood that for coord x,y from moveTo()/lineTo(), I need to add like 2.5 for the ctx.lineWidth =5 or maybe create a formula based on thickness like this example. But I can't figure out how to change the values of those coordinates so the pattern remains striped like on the right, not random like in left
Below is my code. How should I calculate the coordonates x,y?
function createStrippedPattern(color) {
const pattern = document.createElement('canvas');
// create a 10x10 px canvas for the pattern's base shape
pattern.width = 10;
pattern.height = 10;
// get the context for drawing
const context = pattern.getContext('2d');
context.strokeStyle = color;
context.lineWidth = 5;
// draw 1st line of the shape
context.beginPath();
context.moveTo(2, 0);
context.lineTo(10, 8);
context.stroke();
// draw 2st line of the shape
context.beginPath();
context.moveTo(0, 8);
context.lineTo(2, 10);
context.stroke();
return context.createPattern(pattern, 'repeat');
};
function fillWithPattern(targetCanvas, patternCanvas) {
const ctx = targetCanvas.getContext('2d', {
antialias: false,
depth: false
});
const width = targetCanvas.width;
const height = targetCanvas.height;
ctx.fillStyle = patternCanvas;
ctx.fillRect(0, 0, width, height);
return targetCanvas;
}
fillWithPattern(
document.getElementById("targetCanvas"),
createStrippedPattern("red")
);
<canvas id="targetCanvas" width=30 height=30></canvas>

Code logic problems
The size of the pattern needs to match the slope of the line. That size must be expanded to allow for a set spacing between the lines.
Your code has a fixed size that does not match the slope of either of the lines you draw.
The lines you draw are both in different directions. You will never get them to create a repeatable pattern.
The code you have given is too ambiguous for me to understand what you wish to achieve thus the example adds some constraints that considers my best guess at your requirements.
Tileable striped pattern
The function in the example below creates a striped repeatable (tilded) pattern.
The function createStripedPattern(lineWidth, spacing, slope, color) requires 4 arguments.
lineWidth width of the line to draw
spacing distance between lines. Eg if lineWidth is 5 and spacing is 10 then the space between the lines is the same width as the line.
slope The slope of the line eg 45 degree slope is 1. I have only tested value >= 1 and am not sure if it will work below 1.
Nor have I tested very large slopes. The point of the example is to show how to draw the line on the pattern to repeat without holes.
color Color of line to draw.
The function works by creating a canvas that will fit the constraints given by the arguments. It then draws a line from the top left to bottom right corners. This leaves a gap in the repeating pattern at the top right and bottom left corners.
To fill the missing pixels two more lines are drawn. One through the top right corner and the other through the bottom left.
Note you could also just copy the canvas onto itself (offset to the corners) to fill the missing corner pixels. For pixel art type patterns this may be preferable.
Note that canvas sizes are integer values and lines are rendered at sub pixel accuracy. For very small input values there will be artifact as the relative error between the canvas (integer) pixel size and required (floating point) size grows larger
Example
The example contains the function to create the pattern as outlined above and then renders some examples.
The first canvas has inset patterns with each pattern increasing the line width will keeping the spacing and slope constant.
The second canvas just fills with a fixed lineWidth as 4, spacing as 8 and a slope of 3
function createAARotatedPattern(lineWidth, spacing, ang, color) {
const can = document.createElement('canvas');
const w = can.width = 2;
const h = can.height = spacing;
const ctx = can.getContext('2d');
ctx.fillStyle = color;
ctx.fillRect(0, 0, 2, lineWidth);
const pat = ctx.createPattern(can, 'repeat');
const xAx = Math.cos(ang);
const xAy = Math.sin(ang);
pat.setTransform(new DOMMatrix([xAx, xAy, -xAy, xAx, 0, 0]));
return pat;
}
function createStripedPattern(lineWidth, spacing, slope, color) {
const can = document.createElement('canvas');
const len = Math.hypot(1, slope);
const w = can.width = 1 / len + spacing + 0.5 | 0; // round to nearest pixel
const h = can.height = slope / len + spacing * slope + 0.5 | 0;
const ctx = can.getContext('2d');
ctx.strokeStyle = color;
ctx.lineWidth = lineWidth;
ctx.beginPath();
// Line through top left and bottom right corners
ctx.moveTo(0, 0);
ctx.lineTo(w, h);
// Line through top right corner to add missing pixels
ctx.moveTo(0, -h);
ctx.lineTo(w * 2, h);
// Line through bottom left corner to add missing pixels
ctx.moveTo(-w, 0);
ctx.lineTo(w, h * 2);
ctx.stroke();
return ctx.createPattern(can, 'repeat');
};
function fillWithPattern(canvas, pattern, inset = 0) {
const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
ctx.clearRect(inset, inset, canvas.width - inset * 2, canvas.height - inset * 2);
ctx.fillStyle = pattern;
ctx.fillRect(inset, inset, canvas.width - inset * 2, canvas.height - inset * 2);
return canvas;
}
fillWithPattern(targetCanvas, createStripedPattern(2, 6, 2, "#000"));
fillWithPattern(targetCanvas, createStripedPattern(3, 6, 2, "#000"), 50);
fillWithPattern(targetCanvas, createStripedPattern(4, 6, 2, "#000"), 100);
fillWithPattern(targetCanvas1, createStripedPattern(4, 8, 3, "#000"));
var y = 0;
var ang = 0;
const ctx = targetCanvas2.getContext('2d');
while (y < targetCanvas2.height) {
ctx.fillStyle = createAARotatedPattern(2, 5, ang, "#000");
ctx.fillRect(0, y, targetCanvas2.width, 34);
y += 40;
ang += 2 * Math.PI / (targetCanvas2.height / 40);
}
<canvas id="targetCanvas" width="300" height="300"></canvas>
<canvas id="targetCanvas1" width="300" height="300"></canvas>
<canvas id="targetCanvas2" width="300" height="600"></canvas>
Update
The above example now includes a second method createAARotatedPattern(lineWidth, spacing, ang, color) that uses the pattern transform. ang replaces slope from the original function and represents the angle of the pattern in radians.
It works by drawing the pattern aligned to the x axis and then rotates the pattern via a DOMMatrix.
It will create a pattern at any angle, though personally the quality can at times be less than the first method.
The example has a 3 canvas with strips showing the pattern drawn at various angles. (Note you do not have to recreate the pattern to change the angle)

Set allowed drawing area in JavaScript canvas API

I'm using the JavaScript canvas API for free drawing. I'm stuck at masking the area that is allowed to be drawn on - in my example it should only be the speechbubble area.
I'm using this Vue component: https://github.com/sametaylak/vue-draw/blob/master/src/components/CanvasDraw.vue
draw(event) {
this.drawCursor(event);
if (!this.isDrawing) return;
if (this.tools[this.selectedToolIdx].name === 'Eraser') {
this.canvasContext.globalCompositeOperation = 'destination-out';
} else {
this.canvasContext.globalCompositeOperation = 'source-over';
this.canvasContext.strokeStyle = this.tools[this.selectedToolIdx].color;
}
this.canvasContext.beginPath();
this.canvasContext.moveTo(this.lastX, this.lastY);
this.canvasContext.lineTo(event.offsetX, event.offsetY);
this.canvasContext.stroke();
[this.lastX, this.lastY] = [event.offsetX, event.offsetY];
},
drawCursor(event) {
this.cursorContext.beginPath();
this.cursorContext.ellipse(
event.offsetX, event.offsetY,
this.brushSize, this.brushSize,
Math.PI / 4, 0, 2 * Math.PI
);
this.cursorContext.stroke();
setTimeout(() => {
this.cursorContext.clearRect(0, 0, this.width, this.height);
}, 100);
},

There is a built-in clip() method which sets a path as the clipping region.
var ctx=document.getElementById("cnv").getContext("2d");
ctx.lineWidth=2;
ctx.strokeStyle="red";
ctx.moveTo(0,0);
ctx.lineTo(100,100);
ctx.stroke(); // 1.
ctx.strokeStyle="black";
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(10,10);
ctx.lineTo(100,10);
ctx.lineTo(100,60);
ctx.lineTo(30,60);
ctx.lineTo(10,80);
ctx.closePath();
ctx.stroke(); // 2.
ctx.clip(); // 3.
ctx.strokeStyle="green";
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(0,100);
ctx.lineTo(100,0);
ctx.stroke(); // 4.
<canvas id="cnv"></canvas>
red line is drawn between 0,0 and 100,100, without clipping
bubble is drawn in black
bubble is set as clipping region
green line is drawn between 0,100 and 100,0, and correctly clipped into the bubble.
In practice you may want to have the clipping region one pixel inside the bubble, so a separate path (which is not stroke()-d, just clip()-ped), so drawing can not modify the bubble itself. If you zoom in now as it is, you will see that the green line actually overdraws the inner pixels of the bubble (linewidth is 2 pixels, and the outer one is "unharmed").

Establishing if a given point belongs to polygon's area is a quite tricky and solved problem in Computer Science.
In this concrete scenario, where you have canvas with above image set as background and 500x300 dimension you don't really need to use ray casting algorithm.
You can for example divide speech bubble area to a rectangle and a triangle, and then using event.offsetX, event.offsetY check if any given point lies inside of any of these two figures.
Code example:
isPointInArea(event) {
const x = event.offsetX;
const y = event.offsetY;
// For rectangle it is straightforward
if (x >= 60 && x <= 325 && y >= 60 && y <= 215) {
return true;
}
/* Since two sides of this triangle are parallel to canvas
It is enough to check y coordinate with one linear function of a third one
in form of y = ax + b */
if(x >= 60 && x <= 120 && y >= 215) {
const boundaryY = -0.81818181818 * x + 313.181818182;
if (y <= boundaryY) {
return true;
}
}
return false;
}
In draw function of CanvasDraw.vue
draw(event) {
if(!this.isPointInArea(event)) {
return;
}
this.drawCursor(event);
if (!this.isDrawing) return;
...
Working example on codesandbox
Result:
Edit:
As pointed out by #tevemadar you can also use simply clip() method of Canvas API. If there is nothing else you want to render (And since it is not a game, so probably that is the case), then you can just execute clip() once and you are all set. Otherwise remember to use save() method (and then of course restore(), so that you can render stuff also outside of speech bubble clipping region.

How Swiffy antialias canvas?

I don't understand how swiffy succefully antialias clipping mask when it exports a flash animation that contains mask.
Here is my exemple :
Full canvas, with mask. Super dirty in Chrome : http://goo.gl/n8yB5h
And a swiffy export where there is a picture that move inside a mask. Super clean on Chrome :
http://www.creaktif.com/lab/test4.html
I tried a lot of things, including draw a 200% canvas then scale it down, adding more points when I draw my mask, but no way to get a clean mask in my canvas.
How does swiffy ?
It just turn me crazy.
Thanks. :)

Instead of using clip() you can draw the clipping path into an off-screen canvas and use that as a "matte", or rather, an alpha mask.
Now you can use the mask with various composite modes to get anti-aliased edges. Draw in the background you want to clip, set a composite mode (operator) and draw in mask. Depending on operator you can cut out center or the surroundings (destination-in is typical equivalent to using clip() though).
Note: demo below is only useful in Chrome/Opera as Firefox/IE already apply anti-aliasing to the clip mask - here's a snapshot showing the difference:
var ctxC = document.getElementById("clip").getContext("2d");
var ctxM = document.getElementById("mask").getContext("2d");
var w = ctxC.canvas.width, h = ctxC.canvas.height;
var img = new Image();
img.onload = demo;
img.src = "http://i.imgur.com/s9ksOb1.jpg";
function demo() {
// define a clip path
ctxC.save();
createPath(ctxC);
ctxC.clip();
ctxC.drawImage(this, 0, 0, w, h);
ctxC.restore();
// create a "matte" / alpha mask
var matte = document.createElement("canvas"),
ctx = matte.getContext("2d");
matte.width = w;
matte.height = h;
// fill the path instead:
createPath(ctx);
ctx.fill(); // color doesn't matter, alpha does
// now use composition to "clip"
ctxM.drawImage(this, 0, 0, w, h); // draw image
ctxM.globalCompositeOperation = "destination-in"; // will keep bg where mask cover
ctxM.drawImage(matte, 0, 0);
ctxM.globalCompositeOperation = "source-over"; // default mode
// zoom some details:
zoom(ctxC);
zoom(ctxM);
}
function createPath(ctx) {
var r = 88;
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(100 + r, 90);
ctx.arc(100,90,r, 0, 6.28);
}
function zoom(ctx) {
ctx.imageSmoothingEnabled =
ctx.webkitImageSmoothingEnabled =
ctx.mozImageSmoothingEnabled = false;
ctx.drawImage(ctx.canvas, 10, 10, 100, 100, 70,0, 400, 400);
}
html, body {margin:4px 0 0 4px;overflow:hidden}
canvas{background:#000;border:1px solid #000;margin:0 1px 0 0}
<canvas id="clip" height=180></canvas>
<canvas id="mask" height=180></canvas>

In a 2D canvas, is there a way to give a sprite an outline?

I'd like to give a sprite an outline when the character gets healed/damaged/whatever but I can't think of a way to code this using the 2d canvas. If it were possible, I'd think it would be a global composite operation, but I can't think of a way to achieve it with one of them.
I did find this stackoverflow answer that recommends creating a fatter, solid color version of the original and put the original on top of it. That would give it an outline, but it seems like a lot of extra work especially considering I'm using placeholder art. Is there an easier way?
This question is different from the one linked because this is specifically about the HTML5 2D canvas. It may have a solution not available to the other question.
For what it's worth, I don't mind if the outline creates a wider border or keeps the sprite the same size, I just want the outline look.

Just draw your original image in 8 position around the original image
Change composite mode to source-in and fill with the outline color
Change composite mode back to source-over and draw in the original image at correct location
This will create a clean sharp outline with equal border thickness on every side. It is not so suited for thick outlines however. Image drawing is fast, especially when image is not scaled so performance is not an issues unless you need to draw a bunch (which in that case you would cache the drawings or use a sprite-sheet anyways).
Example:
var ctx = canvas.getContext('2d'),
img = new Image;
img.onload = draw;
img.src = "http://i.stack.imgur.com/UFBxY.png";
function draw() {
var dArr = [-1,-1, 0,-1, 1,-1, -1,0, 1,0, -1,1, 0,1, 1,1], // offset array
s = 2, // scale
i = 0, // iterator
x = 5, // final position
y = 5;
// draw images at offsets from the array scaled by s
for(; i < dArr.length; i += 2)
ctx.drawImage(img, x + dArr[i]*s, y + dArr[i+1]*s);
// fill with color
ctx.globalCompositeOperation = "source-in";
ctx.fillStyle = "red";
ctx.fillRect(0,0,canvas.width, canvas.height);
// draw original image in normal mode
ctx.globalCompositeOperation = "source-over";
ctx.drawImage(img, x, y);
}
<canvas id=canvas width=500 height=500></canvas>

Maybe it would be worth trying this :
• build a canvas 1.1 time bigger than the original sprite
• fill it with the outline color
• draw the sprite scaled by 1.1 on the canvas using destination-in globalCompositeOperation.
Then you have a bigger 'shadow' of your sprite in the outline color.
When you want to draw the outline :
• draw the 'shadow' (centered)
• draw your sprite within the shadow.
Depending on the convexity of your sprite, this will work more or less nicely, but i think it's worth trying since it avoids you doubling the number of input graphic files.
I just did a short try as proof-of-concept and it quite works :
http://jsbin.com/dogoroxelupo/1/edit?js,output
Before :
After :
html
<html>
<body>
<image src='http://www.gifwave.com/media/463554/cartoons-comics-video-games-sprites-scott-pilgrim-paul-robertson_200s.gif' id='spr'></image>
<canvas id='cv' width = 500 height= 500 ></canvas>
</body>
</html>
code
window.onload=function() {
var spr = document.getElementById('spr');
var margin = 4;
var gh = createGhost(spr, '#F80', margin);
var cv = document.getElementById('cv');
var ctx = cv.getContext('2d');
var outlined = true;
setInterval(function() {
ctx.clearRect(0,0,cv.width, cv.height);
if (outlined)
ctx.drawImage(gh, 0, 0)
ctx.drawImage(spr, 0, 0)
outlined = !outlined;
}, 400);
}
function createGhost (img, color, margin) {
var cv= document.createElement('canvas');
cv.width = img.width+2*margin;
cv.height = img.height + 2*margin;
var ctx = cv.getContext('2d');
ctx.fillStyle = color;
ctx.fillRect(0,0, cv.width, cv.height);
ctx.save();
ctx.globalCompositeOperation = 'destination-in';
var scale = cv.width/spr.width;
ctx.scale(cv.width/spr.width, cv.height/spr.height);
ctx.drawImage(img, -margin, -margin);
ctx.restore();
return cv;
}

You could use strokeRect method to outline the sprite after drawing it. It should be asy if you know your sprite's dimensions...

Draw an arrow on HTML5 Canvas between two objects

I'm working on concept maps application, which has a set of nodes and links. I have connected the links to nodes using the center of the node as reference. Since I have nodes with different size and shapes, it is not advisable to draw arrow-head for the link by specifying height or width of the shape. My approach is to draw a link, starting from one node, pixel by pixel till the next node is reached(here the nodes are of different color from that of the background), then by accessing the pixel value, I want to be able to decide the point of intersection of link and the node, which is actually the co-ordinate for drawing the arrow-head.
It would be great, if I could get some help with this.
Sample Code:
http://jsfiddle.net/9tUQP/4/
Here the green squares are nodes and the line starting from left square and entering into the right square is the link. I want the arrow-head to be drawn at the point of intersection of link and the right square.

I've created an example that does this. I use Bresenham's Line Algorithm to walk the line of whole canvas pixels and check the alpha at each point; whenever it crosses a 'threshold' point I record that as a candidate. I then use the first and last such points to draw an arrow (with properly-rotated arrowhead).
Here's the example: http://phrogz.net/tmp/canvas_shape_edge_arrows.html
Refresh the example to see a new random test case. It 'fails' if you have another 'shape' already overlapping one of the end points. One way to solve this would be to draw your shapes first to a blank canvas and then copy the result (drawImage) to the final canvas.
For Stack Overflow posterity (in case my site is down) here's the relevant code:
<!DOCTYPE html>
<html><head>
<meta charset="utf-8">
<title>HTML5 Canvas Shape Edge Detection (for Arrow)</title>
<style type="text/css">
body { background:#eee; margin:2em 4em; text-align:center; }
canvas { background:#fff; border:1px solid #666 }
</style>
</head><body>
<canvas width="800" height="600"></canvas>
<script type="text/javascript">
var ctx = document.querySelector('canvas').getContext('2d');
for (var i=0;i<20;++i) randomCircle(ctx,'#999');
var start = randomDiamond(ctx,'#060');
var end = randomDiamond(ctx,'#600');
ctx.lineWidth = 2;
ctx.fillStyle = ctx.strokeStyle = '#099';
arrow(ctx,start,end,10);
function arrow(ctx,p1,p2,size){
ctx.save();
var points = edges(ctx,p1,p2);
if (points.length < 2) return
p1 = points[0], p2=points[points.length-1];
// Rotate the context to point along the path
var dx = p2.x-p1.x, dy=p2.y-p1.y, len=Math.sqrt(dx*dx+dy*dy);
ctx.translate(p2.x,p2.y);
ctx.rotate(Math.atan2(dy,dx));
// line
ctx.lineCap = 'round';
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(0,0);
ctx.lineTo(-len,0);
ctx.closePath();
ctx.stroke();
// arrowhead
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.moveTo(0,0);
ctx.lineTo(-size,-size);
ctx.lineTo(-size, size);
ctx.closePath();
ctx.fill();
ctx.restore();
}
// Find all transparent/opaque transitions between two points
// Uses http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bresenham's_line_algorithm
function edges(ctx,p1,p2,cutoff){
if (!cutoff) cutoff = 220; // alpha threshold
var dx = Math.abs(p2.x - p1.x), dy = Math.abs(p2.y - p1.y),
sx = p2.x > p1.x ? 1 : -1, sy = p2.y > p1.y ? 1 : -1;
var x0 = Math.min(p1.x,p2.x), y0=Math.min(p1.y,p2.y);
var pixels = ctx.getImageData(x0,y0,dx+1,dy+1).data;
var hits=[], over=null;
for (x=p1.x,y=p1.y,e=dx-dy; x!=p2.x||y!=p2.y;){
var alpha = pixels[((y-y0)*(dx+1)+x-x0)*4 + 3];
if (over!=null && (over ? alpha<cutoff : alpha>=cutoff)){
hits.push({x:x,y:y});
}
var e2 = 2*e;
if (e2 > -dy){ e-=dy; x+=sx }
if (e2 < dx){ e+=dx; y+=sy }
over = alpha>=cutoff;
}
return hits;
}
function randomDiamond(ctx,color){
var x = Math.round(Math.random()*(ctx.canvas.width - 100) + 50),
y = Math.round(Math.random()*(ctx.canvas.height - 100) + 50);
ctx.save();
ctx.fillStyle = color;
ctx.translate(x,y);
ctx.rotate(Math.random() * Math.PI);
var scale = Math.random()*0.8 + 0.4;
ctx.scale(scale,scale);
ctx.lineWidth = 5/scale;
ctx.fillRect(-50,-50,100,100);
ctx.strokeRect(-50,-50,100,100);
ctx.restore();
return {x:x,y:y};
}
function randomCircle(ctx,color){
ctx.save();
ctx.beginPath();
ctx.arc(
Math.round(Math.random()*(ctx.canvas.width - 100) + 50),
Math.round(Math.random()*(ctx.canvas.height - 100) + 50),
Math.random()*20 + 10,
0, Math.PI * 2, false
);
ctx.fillStyle = color;
ctx.fill();
ctx.lineWidth = 2;
ctx.stroke();
ctx.restore();
}
</script>
</body></html>