Introduction

The <canvas> element is a new element apart of HTML5. It allows you to draw shapes, paths, images, and other drawings on a blank element called the canvas.

Creating a canvas

Before you can draw on the canvas, you need to create one.

<canvas width="300" height="150"></canvas>

Of course, the canvas can be any width/height you want. You may also wish to give the canvas an ID (for future reference).

Note: Setting width and height properly

As a side note, you cannot accurately set a canvas’s width and height via CSS; you can only do so through the canvas element’s width and height attributes. This is best achieved through jQuery’s prop() method.

// BAD (will stretch and distort the canvas)
$('#myCanvas').css({ width: 800, height: 500 });
// GOOD (correct way)
$('#myCanvas').prop({ width: 800, height: 500 });

Importing jCanvas

You also need to add jCanvas to your page somehow (usually a <script> element will do).

<script src="jcanvas.min.js"></script>

If your application is bundled or uses ES Modules (ESM), you can import jCanvas like so (remember to npm install jcanvas first!):

import $ from 'jquery';
import 'jcanvas';

Drawing

HTML5 provides a native JavaScript API for drawing on the canvas. However, we will be using jCanvas instead.

Using jCanvas requires basic knowledge of using jQuery.

Learn the jCanvas syntax