react-avatar-maker

React Character Maker

A flexible, customizable character creation library for React applications. Build profile pictures, character creators, RPG avatars, pixel art characters, and more with ease.

✨ Features

• 🎨 Fully Customizable - Complete control over sprite sheets, positioning, and styling
• 🎮 Pixel Art Support - Perfect pixel-art rendering with crisp scaling and image-rendering: pixelated
• ⚡ High Performance - Efficient canvas rendering with image caching and smooth scaling
• 🔍 Pixel Scale - Scale up pixel art without losing quality (1x to 8x)
• 🔧 Flexible Configuration - Multiple presets and feature flags for different use cases
• 📦 TypeScript Support - Full TypeScript support with comprehensive type definitions
• 🎯 Auto-Positioning - Smart positioning system with content-aware trimming
• 🖼️ Multiple Sprite Sheets - Support for multiple sprite sheets per body part
• 🔀 Body Part Toggling - Enable/disable character parts dynamically
• 💾 Export Options - Export as PNG, JPEG, WebP, or upload to server
• ⚙️ Config Export - Export and share your character configurations

📦 Installation

npm install react-avatar-maker

🚀 Quick Start

Basic Character Creator

import { AvatarRenderer } from "react-avatar-maker";
import { useState } from "react";

const config = {
  width: 300,
  height: 400,
  parts: [
    {
      category: "head",
      spriteSheet: {
        url: "/sprites/heads.png",
        spriteWidth: 100,
        spriteHeight: 100,
        columns: 5,
        rows: 5,
      },
    },
  ],
};

function MyCharacter() {
  const [selection, setSelection] = useState({ head: 0 });

  return <AvatarRenderer config={config} selection={selection} />;
}

Pixel Art Character (RPG Style)

import { AvatarRenderer } from "react-avatar-maker";
import { useState } from "react";

const pixelArtConfig = {
  width: 128,
  height: 128,
  pixelScale: 3, // Scale up 3x for better visibility without losing quality
  parts: [
    {
      category: "body",
      label: "Skin",
      zIndex: 1,
      spriteSheets: [
        {
          url: "/rpg/skin-light.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
        {
          url: "/rpg/skin-dark.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
      ],
    },
    {
      category: "head",
      label: "Hair",
      zIndex: 2,
      optional: true,
      spriteSheets: [
        {
          url: "/rpg/hair-short.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
        {
          url: "/rpg/hair-long.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
      ],
    },
  ],
};

function PixelCharacter() {
  const [selection, setSelection] = useState({
    body: { sheetIndex: 0, spriteIndex: 0 },
    head: { sheetIndex: 0, spriteIndex: 0 },
  });

  return (
    <AvatarRenderer
      config={pixelArtConfig}
      selection={selection}
      style={{ imageRendering: "pixelated" }}
    />
  );
}

🎯 Presets

Choose from built-in presets for common use cases:

Profile Editor

Simple profile picture editor with head, face, and border customization.

const config = {
  preset: "profile-editor",
  width: 200,
  height: 200,
  // ... other config
};

Character Maker

Full character customization with all body parts and toggling support.

const config = {
  preset: "character-maker",
  width: 300,
  height: 400,
  features: {
    allowToggle: true,
    showLabels: true,
  },
  // ... other config
};

RPG Avatar

RPG-style pixel art character with layered sprites.

const config = {
  preset: "rpg-avatar",
  width: 128,
  height: 128,
  features: {
    allowToggle: true,
    multipleSheets: true,
  },
  // ... other config
};

🔧 Configuration

Sprite Sheet Configuration

{
  category: "head",
  label: "Hairstyle",
  zIndex: 2,
  optional: false,
  enabled: true,
  spriteSheet: {
    url: "/sprites/heads.png",
    spriteWidth: 100,
    spriteHeight: 100,
    columns: 5,
    rows: 5,
    spacingX: 5,  // Horizontal spacing between sprites
    spacingY: 5,  // Vertical spacing between sprites
    trim: {       // Remove transparent padding for accurate positioning
      top: 10,
      bottom: 10,
      left: 5,
      right: 5,
    },
  },
}

Pixel Art Configuration

For pixel art characters, ensure crisp rendering without blur:

const pixelArtConfig = {
  width: 128,
  height: 128,
  pixelScale: 4, // Scale up 4x without losing quality (1-8x supported)
  parts: [
    {
      category: "body",
      spriteSheet: {
        url: "/pixel-art/body.png",
        spriteWidth: 128,
        spriteHeight: 128,
        columns: 1,
        rows: 1,
      },
    },
  ],
};

// Render with pixel-perfect styling
<AvatarRenderer
  config={pixelArtConfig}
  selection={selection}
  style={{ imageRendering: "pixelated" }}
/>;

Pixel Scale Options:

• pixelScale: 1 - Original size (default)
• pixelScale: 2 - 2x size (200%)
• pixelScale: 3 - 3x size (300%)
• pixelScale: 4 - 4x size (400%)
• Up to pixelScale: 8 for maximum scaling

The pixelScale property scales the canvas content internally while maintaining crisp pixel art quality. This is perfect for small pixel art sprites that need to be displayed larger without blur.

Body Part Toggling

Enable/disable character parts dynamically:

const config = {
  parts: [
    {
      category: "head",
      label: "Hair",
      optional: true, // Allows toggling on/off
      enabled: true, // Initial state
      spriteSheet: {
        /* ... */
      },
    },
    {
      category: "cosmetic",
      label: "Hat",
      optional: true,
      enabled: false, // Initially disabled
      spriteSheet: {
        /* ... */
      },
    },
  ],
};

// Toggle a part programmatically
const togglePart = (category: string) => {
  setConfig((prev) => ({
    ...prev,
    parts: prev.parts.map((part) =>
      part.category === category ? { ...part, enabled: !part.enabled } : part
    ),
  }));
};

Auto-Positioning

Position parts relative to each other:

{
  category: "body",
  autoPosition: {
    relativeTo: "head",
    position: "below",  // "above" | "below" | "left" | "right" | "center"
    gap: 0, // Gap in pixels
  },
}

Multiple Sprite Sheets

Support multiple sprite sheets per category:

{
  category: "head",
  spriteSheets: [
    { url: "/sprites/heads1.png", /* ... */ },
    { url: "/sprites/heads2.png", /* ... */ },
  ],
}

// Selection format for multiple sheets
const selection = {
  head: { sheetIndex: 0, spriteIndex: 5 }
};

Feature Flags

Enable/disable features based on your needs:

const config = {
  features: {
    allowToggle: true, // Allow parts to be toggled on/off
    multipleSheets: true, // Enable multiple sprite sheets
    showLabels: true, // Show part labels in UI
    allowConfigExport: true, // Allow exporting configuration
    autoPositioning: true, // Enable auto-positioning
  },
  // ... other config
};

📤 Export Options

Download as Image

import { useAvatarExport } from "react-avatar-maker";

function MyComponent() {
  const canvasRef = useRef(null);
  const { download } = useAvatarExport(canvasRef);

  return (
    <>
      <AvatarRenderer ref={canvasRef} config={config} selection={selection} />
      <button onClick={() => download("avatar.png")}>Download</button>
    </>
  );
}

Export as Data URL

const { exportAsDataURL } = useAvatarExport(canvasRef);
const dataURL = exportAsDataURL({ format: "png", quality: 1 });

Upload to Server

const { upload } = useAvatarExport(canvasRef);

await upload({
  endpoint: "https://api.example.com/avatars",
  method: "POST",
  fieldName: "avatar",
  additionalData: { userId: "123" },
});

Export Configuration

import { downloadConfig, copyConfigToClipboard } from "react-avatar-maker";

// Download as JSON file
downloadConfig(config, "my-avatar-config.json");

// Copy to clipboard
await copyConfigToClipboard(config);

🎨 Styling

The library provides minimal styling by default. Customize the appearance using CSS:

Standard Styling

.character-canvas {
  border-radius: 8px;
  box-shadow: 0 4px 12px rgba(0, 0, 0, 0.1);
  background: linear-gradient(135deg, #667eea 0%, #764ba2 100%);
}

Pixel Art Styling

For pixel-perfect rendering without blur:

.pixel-art-canvas {
  image-rendering: pixelated;
  image-rendering: -moz-crisp-edges;
  image-rendering: crisp-edges;
  -ms-interpolation-mode: nearest-neighbor;

  /* Scale up while maintaining crisp pixels */
  width: 256px;
  height: 256px;
}

Responsive Scaling

.character-canvas {
  max-width: 100%;
  height: auto;
  image-rendering: pixelated; /* For pixel art */
}

@media (max-width: 768px) {
  .character-canvas {
    width: 100%;
  }
}

📚 API Reference

Components

<AvatarRenderer />

Main component for rendering avatars.

Props:

• config: AvatarMakerConfig - Avatar configuration
• selection: AvatarSelection - Selected parts
• className?: string - CSS class name
• style?: React.CSSProperties - Inline styles
• onReady?: () => void - Callback when avatar is ready

<AvatarMaker />

Full avatar maker component with UI controls (coming soon).

Hooks

useAvatarExport(canvasRef)

Hook for exporting avatars.

Returns:

• download(filename, config?) - Download avatar as file
• exportAsDataURL(config?) - Export as data URL
• upload(config) - Upload to server

Utilities

Preset Utilities

• getPresetFeatures(preset) - Get default features for a preset
• applyPreset(config, preset) - Apply preset to configuration
• filterPartsByPreset(config) - Filter parts based on preset

Config Export Utilities

• exportConfigAsJSON(config) - Export config as JSON string
• downloadConfig(config, filename) - Download config as file
• importConfigFromJSON(json) - Import config from JSON
• exportConfigAsTypeScript(config) - Export as TypeScript code
• copyConfigToClipboard(config) - Copy config to clipboard

🎮 Interactive Demo

Check out the interactive demo and configurator:

cd example
npm install
npm run dev

Visit:

• / - Demo page with examples
• /configurator - Interactive configurator

📖 Examples

Basic Character

import { AvatarRenderer } from "react-avatar-maker";
import { useState } from "react";

const config = {
  width: 200,
  height: 200,
  parts: [
    {
      category: "head",
      label: "Face",
      spriteSheet: {
        url: "/heads.png",
        spriteWidth: 64,
        spriteHeight: 64,
        columns: 4,
        rows: 4,
      },
    },
  ],
};

function Character() {
  const [selection, setSelection] = useState({ head: 0 });

  return (
    <div>
      <AvatarRenderer config={config} selection={selection} />
      <button onClick={() => setSelection({ head: (selection.head + 1) % 16 })}>
        Next Face
      </button>
    </div>
  );
}

RPG Pixel Art Character

import { AvatarRenderer } from "react-avatar-maker";
import { useState } from "react";

const rpgConfig = {
  width: 128,
  height: 128,
  pixelScale: 3, // Scale up 3x for better visibility
  parts: [
    {
      category: "body",
      label: "Skin",
      zIndex: 1,
      spriteSheets: [
        {
          url: "/rpg/skin-light.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
        {
          url: "/rpg/skin-medium.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
        {
          url: "/rpg/skin-dark.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
      ],
    },
    {
      category: "face",
      label: "Eyes",
      zIndex: 2,
      spriteSheets: [
        {
          url: "/rpg/eyes-blue.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
        {
          url: "/rpg/eyes-brown.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
      ],
    },
    {
      category: "head",
      label: "Hair",
      zIndex: 3,
      optional: true,
      spriteSheets: [
        {
          url: "/rpg/hair-short.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
        {
          url: "/rpg/hair-long.png",
          spriteWidth: 128,
          spriteHeight: 128,
          columns: 1,
          rows: 1,
        },
      ],
    },
  ],
};

function RPGCharacter() {
  const [selection, setSelection] = useState({
    body: { sheetIndex: 0, spriteIndex: 0 },
    face: { sheetIndex: 0, spriteIndex: 0 },
    head: { sheetIndex: 0, spriteIndex: 0 },
  });

  return (
    <AvatarRenderer
      config={rpgConfig}
      selection={selection}
      style={{ imageRendering: "pixelated" }}
    />
  );
}

Full Character with Auto-Positioning

const config = {
  width: 300,
  height: 400,
  parts: [
    {
      category: "body",
      label: "Body",
      zIndex: 1,
      spriteSheet: {
        url: "/bodies.png",
        spriteWidth: 95,
        spriteHeight: 95,
        columns: 5,
        rows: 5,
      },
      autoPosition: {
        relativeTo: "head",
        position: "below",
        gap: 0,
      },
    },
    {
      category: "head",
      label: "Head",
      zIndex: 2,
      spriteSheet: {
        url: "/heads.png",
        spriteWidth: 95,
        spriteHeight: 95,
        columns: 5,
        rows: 5,
      },
    },
  ],
};

With Sprite Trimming

const config = {
  parts: [
    {
      category: "head",
      label: "Head",
      spriteSheet: {
        url: "/heads.png",
        spriteWidth: 100,
        spriteHeight: 100,
        columns: 5,
        rows: 5,
        trim: {
          top: 15,
          bottom: 15,
          left: 10,
          right: 10,
        },
      },
    },
  ],
};

Character with Toggleable Parts

import { AvatarRenderer } from "react-avatar-maker";
import { useState } from "react";

function CharacterWithToggles() {
  const [enabledParts, setEnabledParts] = useState({
    body: true,
    head: true,
    hat: true,
  });

  const config = {
    width: 300,
    height: 400,
    parts: [
      {
        category: "body",
        enabled: enabledParts.body,
        spriteSheet: {
          /* ... */
        },
      },
      {
        category: "head",
        enabled: enabledParts.head,
        spriteSheet: {
          /* ... */
        },
      },
      {
        category: "cosmetic",
        label: "Hat",
        optional: true,
        enabled: enabledParts.hat,
        spriteSheet: {
          /* ... */
        },
      },
    ],
  };

  return (
    <div>
      <AvatarRenderer
        config={config}
        selection={{ body: 0, head: 0, cosmetic: 0 }}
      />
      <label>
        <input
          type="checkbox"
          checked={enabledParts.hat}
          onChange={(e) =>
            setEnabledParts({ ...enabledParts, hat: e.target.checked })
          }
        />
        Show Hat
      </label>
    </div>
  );
}

🤝 Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Please feel free to submit a Pull Request.

📄 License

MIT © [Maksymilian Walicki]

🙏 Acknowledgments

• Inspired by various avatar creation systems
• Built with React and TypeScript
• Canvas rendering for optimal performance