perfect-freehand

Perfect Freehand

Perfect freehand is a library for creating freehand paths by @steveruizok.

🔗 Demo

Installation

npm install perfect-freehand

or

yarn add perfect-freehand

Usage

The library exports a default function, getPath, that accepts an array of points and an (optional) options object and returns SVG path data for a stroke.

The array of points may be either an array of number pairs representing the point's x, y, and (optionally) pressure...

import getPath from 'perfect-freehand'

const path = getPath([
  [0, 0],
  [10, 5],
  [20, 8],
])

const path = getPath([
  [0, 0, 0],
  [10, 5, 0.5],
  [20, 8, 0.3],
])

...or an array of objects with x, y, and (optionally) pressure properties.

getPath([
  { x: 0, y: 0 },
  { x: 10, y: 5 },
  { x: 20, y: 8 },
])

getPath([
  { x: 0, y: 0, pressure: 0, },
  { x: 10, y: 5, pressure: 0.5 },
  { x: 20, y: 8, pressure: 0.3 },
])

Options

The options object is optional, as are its properties.

Property	Type	Default	Description
minSize	number	2.5	The thinnest size of the stroke.
maxSize	number	8	The thickest size of the stroke.
pressure	boolean	true	Whether to apply (or simulate) pressure from the input device.
streamline	number	.5	How much to streamline the stroke.
smooth	number	.5	How much to soften the stroke's edges.
clip	boolean	true	Whether to flatten the stroke into a single polygon.

getPath(myPoints, {
  type: 'pen',
  minSize: 2.5,
  maxSize: 8,
  simulatePressure: true,
  streamline: 0.5,
  smooth: 0.5,
})

Example

import * as React from 'react'
import getPath from 'perfect-freehand'

export default function Example() {
  const [currentType, setCurrentType] = React.useState('mouse')
  const [currentMark, setCurrentMark] = React.useState([])

  function handlePointerDown(e) {
    setCurrentType(e.pointerType)
    setCurrentMark([[e.pageX, e.pageY, e.pressure]])
  }

  function handlePointerMove(e) {
    if (e.buttons === 1 && e.pointerType === currentType) {
      setCurrentMark([...currentMark, [e.pageX, e.pageY, e.pressure]])
    }
  }

  return (
    <svg
      width={800}
      height={600}
      onPointerDown={handlePointerDown}
      onPointerMove={handlePointerMove}
    >
      <path d={getPath(currentMark)} />
    </svg>
  )
}

Advanced Usage

For advanced usage, the library also exports smaller functions that getPath uses to generate its SVG data. While you can use getPath's data to render strokes with an HTML canvas (via the Path2D element) or with SVG paths, these new functions will allow you to create paths in other rendering technologies.

getStrokePoints

Accepts an array of points (formatted either as [x, y, pressure] or { x: number, y: number, pressure: number}) and returns a set of streamlined points as [x, y, pressure, angle, distance, length]. The path's total length will be the length of the last point in the array.

getStrokeOutlinePoints

Accepts an array of points (formatted as [x, y, pressure, angle, distance, length], i.e. the output of getStrokePoints) and returns an array of points ([x, y]) defining the outline of a pressure-sensitive stroke.

getShortStrokeOutlinePoints

Works like getStrokeOutlinePoints, but designed to work with short paths.

clipPath

Accepts a series of points (formatted as [x, y], i.e. the output of getStrokeOutlinePoints or getShortStrokeOutlinePoints) and returns a polygon (a series of faces) from the stroke.