The code for this component has moved to the main PWABuilder monorepo and this repository has been archived. Please visit our monorepo for the latest source.

pwa-inking

Please use our main repository for any issues/bugs/features suggestion.

A web component from the PWABuilder team that allows you to quickly add a 2D inking canvas (with an optional toolbar) to your Progressive Web App 🎨 ✨

Built with lit-element

What does it look like?

Supported Browsers

• Edge
• Chrome
• Firefox
• Safari

Using this component

Install

There are two ways to use this component. For simple projects or just to get started fast, we recommend using the component by script tag. If your project is using npm then we recommend using the npm package.

Script tag

1. Add this script tag in the head of your index.html:

    <script
        type="module"
        src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/@pwabuilder/pwa-inking"
    ></script>

NPM

1. Run this command in your project directory:

    npm install @pwabuilder/pwa-inking

2. Add this import statement to your script file:

    import @pwabuilder/pwa-inking

Adding the component to your code

Canvas only

You can use the element <inking-canvas></inking-canvas> anywhere in your template, JSX, html, etc. By itself, you will get a blank, bordered canvas which you can control through its APIs (see table for details). Every <inking-canvas></inking-canvas> must have a distinct name so that its data can be properly cached, transmitted, etc.

    <inking-canvas name="myInkingCanvas"></inking-canvas>

Try it: live | code

Canvas with default toolbar

You can also add the <inking-toolbar></inking-toolbar> element within the <inking-canvas></inking-canvas> element so the user can control the canvas visually. To connect these elements, their respective canvas and name attribute values must match. The default toolbar contains the default 6 tools in the following order: pen, pencil, highlighter, eraser, copy, and save.

    <inking-canvas name="myInkingCanvas">
        <inking-toolbar canvas="myInkingCanvas"></inking-toolbar>
    </inking-canvas>

Try it: live | code

Canvas with customized toolbar

You can also specify the toolbar layout and select which subset of tools you want to include (up to 6 tools).

Toolbar layout options	Possible values
orientation	horizontal or vertical
vertical	top, center, or bottom
horizontal	left, center, or right

Available tool components (which can be added in any order):

• <inking-toolbar-pen></inking-toolbar-pen>
• <inking-toolbar-pencil></inking-toolbar-pencil>
• <inking-toolbar-highlighter></inking-toolbar-highlighter>
• <inking-toolbar-eraser></inking-toolbar-eraser>
• <inking-toolbar-copy></inking-toolbar-copy>
• <inking-toolbar-save></inking-toolbar-save>
• <inking-toolbar-more></inking-toolbar-more>

Example usage:

    <inking-canvas name="myInkingCanvas">
        <inking-toolbar canvas="myInkingCanvas" orientation="vertical" vertical="bottom" horizontal="right">
            <inking-toolbar-highlighter></inking-toolbar-highlighter>
            <inking-toolbar-pen></inking-toolbar-pen>
            <inking-toolbar-eraser></inking-toolbar-eraser>
            <inking-toolbar-save></inking-toolbar-save>
        </inking-toolbar>
    </inking-canvas>

Try it: live | code

More options tool

Want to add the entire feature set beyond drawing, erasing, and copying? Instead of including the <inking-toolbar-save></inking-toolbar-save> tool, you can instead opt to add the <inking-toolbar-more></inking-toolbar-more> tool which includes a dropdown exposing both a save and import button.

Example usage:

    <inking-canvas name="myInkingCanvas">
        <inking-toolbar canvas="myInkingCanvas" horizontal="center">
            <inking-toolbar-pen></inking-toolbar-pen>
            <inking-toolbar-pencil></inking-toolbar-pencil>
            <inking-toolbar-highlighter></inking-toolbar-highlighter>
            <inking-toolbar-eraser></inking-toolbar-eraser>
            <inking-toolbar-copy></inking-toolbar-copy>
            <inking-toolbar-more></inking-toolbar-more>
        </inking-toolbar>
    </inking-canvas>

Try it: live | code

Default inking behavior

By default <inking-canvas></inking-canvas> will create ink strokes with a width depending on the active pointer event:

Pointer event	Property influencing ink stroke width	Ink stroke width details
mouse	none	Should match the default inking-toolbar tool slider value
touch	width	Changes with surface area of inking screen pressed
pen	pressure	Changes with downward force applied to inking screen

If a browser does not provide a value for its pointer event's pressure/width, then the canvas should default to treating this input like a mouse event.

The stroke width regardless of pointer event type can be set and fixed through the <inking-toolbar></inking-toolbar>.

Live sharing

Individual stroke data

The <inking-canvas></inking-canvas> supports live sharing the drawing of its contents on different browsers and devices. A custom event is broadcasted for external influencers to collect. The following snippet detailing the stroke data is taken from the inking-canvas source code:

    // broadcast stroke details for live sharing
    let inkingCanvasPointerMoveEvent = new CustomEvent("inking-canvas-pointer-move", { 
        detail: { 
            pointer: pointer,
            previous: previous,
            event: event,
            x0: previous.clientX,
            y0: previous.clientY,
            x1: (event as PointerEvent).clientX,
            y1: (event as PointerEvent).clientY,
            color: this.strokeColor,
            pointerType: (event as PointerEvent).pointerType,
            pressure: (event as PointerEvent).pressure,
            width: (event as PointerEvent).width,
            strokeSize: this.strokeSize,
            toolStyle: this.toolStyle,
            inkingCanvasName: this.name
        }
    });
    this.dispatchEvent(inkingCanvasPointerMoveEvent);

External strokes (ones originally drawn on a different browser or device) can also be drawn on the local <inking-canvas></inking-canvas> instance by accepting a data package like the one defined above using the drawRemoteStrokes(strokeData: any) function. This is the fastest and most lightweight way to share pwa-inking drawing in real time.

You can use any websocket-based sharing solution to broadcast and deliver stroke data. We recommend preventing stroke duplication by ensuring the recipient client is not the stroke's origin and that the destination <inking-canvas></inking-canvas> matches the origin <inking-canvas></inking-canvas> by name (in case the app hosts multiple instances of this inking web component).

The following code is a snippet from a Socket.IO example client (found in its src/script/pages/app-home.ts):

    socket.on('drawing', (data: any) => {
        if (data.originID !== this.socket.id) {
            if (data.contents.inkingCanvasName === this.firstInkingCanvas.name) {
                this.firstInkingCanvas.drawRemoteStroke(data.contents);
            } else if (data.contents.inkingCanvasName === this.secondInkingCanvas.name) {
                this.secondInkingCanvas.drawRemoteStroke(data.contents);
            }
        }
    });

Entire image (blob)

If transmitting the entire canvas state as a snapshot is necessary (in the case your users have imported a picture that otherwise wouldn't be dispatched), you can call the requestBlob() function and capture the broadcasted custom event which contains the blob image.

Example usage:

    this.secondInkingCanvas.requestBlob();

    this.secondInkingCanvas.addEventListener('inking-canvas-blob-requested', (e: CustomEvent) => {
        console.log("blob updated event received");
        console.log(e.detail.blob);
    }, false);

Try it: live | code

APIs

inking-canvas

Properties

Property	Attribute	Description	Type	Default
name	name	Used to connect an inking toolbar	string	""
canvasHeight	height	Fills parent height default	number	-1
canvasWidth	width	Fills parent width by default	number	-1

Methods

Name	Description
getStrokeColor()	Returns ink color
setStrokeColor(color: string)	Changes ink color
getStrokeSize()	Returns ink stroke width
setStrokeSize(strokeSize: number)	Changes ink stroke width
getStrokeStyle()	Returns name of active tool defining ink style
setStrokeStyle(toolName: string)	Changes ink style to reflect provided tool name (pen, pencil, highlighter, or eraser)
async copyCanvasContents()	Copies canvas state to clipboard via Clipboard API (if supported by browser)
async importCanvasContents()	Opens native file system to allow user to upload a picture
async saveCanvasContents()	Opens native file system to allow user to save canvas state as png image
drawRemoteStroke(strokeData: any)	Draws remote stroke to local canvas based on passed pointer event and remote canvas state
eraseAll()	Deletes all visible and cached canvas ink
getCanvas()	Returns inner html canvas object for advanced use cases
getScale()	Returns canvas size relative to its content's aspect ratio
requestBlob()	Dispatches custom event "inking-canvas-blob-requested" which contains the image blob of the current canvas state
requestDrawCanvas()	Triggers an additional canvas redraw if one is not already queued up
setMinWidth(newMinWidth: number)	Changes minimum canvas width and overrides default 300px value

inking-toolbar

Properties

Property	Attribute	Description	Type	Default
orientation	orientation	Toolbar layout direction	string	horizontal
verticalAlignment	vertical	Toolbar layout vertical alignment	string	top
horizontalAlignment	horizontal	Toolbar layout horizontal alignment	string	left
targetInkingCanvas	canvas	Connects toolbar to canvas whose name matches this value	string	""

Methods

Name	Description
getCurrentToolName()	Returns the active tool name
getCurrentStrokeColor()	Returns the current toolbar ink color of the active tool
getCurrentStrokeColorName()	Returns the current stroke color name of the active tool
getCurrentStrokeSize()	Returns the current stroke width of the active tool
requestDrawSineCanvas()	Triggers an additional example stroke redraw if one is not already queued up

Styling

Shadow parts

You can style the different parts of pwa-inking using CSS ::part selectors. Below are the list of parts available for styling:

Component	Part Name	Description
inking-canvas	canvas	The html canvas object
inking-toolbar-pen	button	The toolbar pen button
inking-toolbar-pencil	button	The toolbar pencil button
inking-toolbar-highlighter	button	The toolbar highlighter button
inking-toolbar-eraser	button	The toolbar eraser button
inking-toolbar-copy	button	The toolbar copy button
inking-toolbar-save	button	The toolbar save button
inking-toolbar-more	button	The toolbar more options button

Styling samples

Remove the canvas border:

    inking-canvas::part(canvas) {
        border: none;
    }

Change the save button color:

    inking-toolbar-save::part(button) {
        background-color: blue;
    }

Try it: live | code