comic.js

Javascript library that acts as plugin for Raphael.js, D3.js, SVG.js or as lib for the HTML5 Canvas, providing functions for cartoon style drawing. Try it in the comic.js lab.

Provides either methods for drawing comic style shapes (cEllipse, cLine, cRect, ...) or the magic method for cartoonizing an already existing SVG. When using the magic method or drawing on a canvas no further libraries are required.

Examples

Cartoonized D3 examples: D3 Cartoonized!

Cartoon R widget built by Kent Russell using comic.js: R Cartoonized!

using raphael.js, d3.js, svg.js and canvas: comic.js lab

using "magic": on images, on drawings

NOTE

Chrome versions > 48.x need a polyfill for the missing pathSegList API to make the magic method of comic.js work. This means you have to get pathseg.js here and include it in your site via <script type="text/javascript" src="pathseg.js"></script>.

Usage

Simply include comic.min.js after including one of the supported libraries (Raphael.js, D3.js, SVG.js) - or none of them if you are using a HTML5 Canvas or just the magic function for images. Then it can be used as follows, assuming that you have a container div or canvas with id paper where needed:

The "magic" function universally goes:

// for images
COMIC.magic([ document.getElementById('img1'),
              document.getElementById('img2') ]);
// for drawings
shapes.magic(); // where "shapes" is a drawing group created on "paper"
                // via the lib of your choice (see examples below)

Drawing depending on the lib you use:

// Raphael.js
paper = Raphael("paper", width, height);
stuff = paper.set();

or

// D3.js
paper = d3.select("#paper").append('svg');
stuff = paper.append("g");

or

// SVG.js
paper = SVG('paper').size(width, height);
stuff = paper.group();

or

// canvas
paper = document.getElementById("paper");
ctx = paper.getContext("2d");
// IMPORTANT: here we bind comic.js to the canvas context
COMIC.ctx(ctx);

and then for the SVG libs (SVG.js, D3.js, Raphael.js):

// these are the default values if you do not call "init"
// NOTE: values have changed with beta5
COMIC.init({
    ff: 8,      // fuzz factor for line drawing: bigger -> fuzzier
    ffc: 5,     // fuzz factor for curve drawing: bigger -> fuzzier
    fsteps: 5,  // number of pixels per step: smaller -> fuzzier
    msteps: 3,  // min number of steps: bigger -> fuzzier
});
// lets draw!
stuff.cLine(x1, y1, x2, y2);         // LINE from starting point to end point
stuff.cTrian(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3); // TRIANGLE over three corner points
stuff.cRect(x1, y1, width, height, rh, rv); // RECTANGLE at upper left point (x1, y1) with
                                            // width & height and with rounded (elliptic) corners
                                            // with horizontal radius rh & vertical radius rv
stuff.cBezier2(x1, y1, cx, cy, x2, y2); // BEZIER (quadratic) curve with start point (x1, y1),
                                        // control point (cx, cy) and end point (x2, y2)
stuff.cBezier3(x1, y1, cx1, cy1, cx2, cy2, x2, y2); // BEZIER (cubic) curve with start point
                                                    // (x1, y1), control points (cx1, cy1) & (cx2, cy2)
                                                    // and end point (x2, y2)
stuff.cCircle(x1, y1, r, start, end); // CIRCLE at center point (x1, y1) with radius r and drawn
                                      // starting from 0 < start < 2*PI to 0 < end < 2*PI
stuff.cEllipse(x1, y1, rh, rv, rot, start, end); // ELLIPSE at center point with horizontal radius
                                                 // rh & vertical radius rv, rotation 0 < rot < 2*PI
                                                 // and drawn from 0 < start < 2*PI to 0 < end < 2*PI
// changing the look
stuff.attr({
    "stroke":"#E0AE9F",
    "stroke-width": 2,
    "fill": "none"
});

Beyond this all depends on your choice of library - e.g. translation:

// Raphael.js
stuff.transform("t100,100r45");
// D3.js
stuff.attr({ "transform":"translate(30) rotate(45)" });
// SVG.js
stuff.transform({ x:100, y:100, rotation:45 });

For the HTML5 Canvas almost everything works identically. However to change the looks:

// changing the look
ctx.strokeStyle = "#FDD1BD";
ctx.lineWidth = 3;
ctx.globalCompositeOperation = 'destination-over';

While the drawing works exactly as above:

// lets draw!
stuff.cLine(x1, y1, x2, y2)
     .cTrian(x1, y1, x2, y2, x3, y3)
     .cRect(x1, y1, width, height);

All further things should work the default way of your chosen library. I have done little experiments though and errors are probable - please let me know if you encounter any.

Release

To release a new version on npm:

• Update version number in package.json
• Test and push the latest master branch to Github
• Run npm publish to publish to https://www.npmjs/package/comic.js

Credits

Inspired by and based on Jonas Wagner's work which is based on this paper