html2canvas vs canvas-confetti vs dom-to-image vs party-js vs particles.js
Web Animation and Image Manipulation Libraries Comparison
3 Years
html2canvascanvas-confettidom-to-imageparty-jsparticles.jsSimilar Packages:
What's Web Animation and Image Manipulation Libraries?

These libraries provide various functionalities for creating animations, capturing images from the DOM, and enhancing web experiences through visual effects. They cater to different needs, from simple confetti animations to complex particle systems, and image rendering from HTML elements. Each library has its unique strengths that can be leveraged depending on the specific requirements of a web project.

Package Weekly Downloads Trend
Github Stars Ranking
Stat Detail
Package
Downloads
Stars
Size
Issues
Publish
License
html2canvas3,818,794
31,4323.38 MB1,034-MIT
canvas-confetti906,645
11,80092.3 kB41a year agoISC
dom-to-image234,693
10,674-3328 years agoMIT
party-js17,730
1,014483 kB14-MIT
particles.js15,207
29,853-36410 years agoMIT
Feature Comparison: html2canvas vs canvas-confetti vs dom-to-image vs party-js vs particles.js

Animation Capabilities

  • html2canvas:

    html2canvas captures the visual representation of the DOM and can render complex layouts into images. It supports various CSS styles and can handle dynamic content, making it versatile for capturing web pages.

  • canvas-confetti:

    canvas-confetti provides a simple API for creating confetti animations with customizable colors, shapes, and sizes. It is optimized for performance and can handle multiple bursts of confetti with ease.

  • dom-to-image:

    dom-to-image does not focus on animations but rather on capturing static images from the DOM. It is not designed for dynamic visual effects but can be combined with animations from other libraries.

  • party-js:

    party-js specializes in celebratory animations, providing various effects like confetti and fireworks. It is designed to create engaging experiences that enhance user interaction.

  • particles.js:

    particles.js excels in creating complex particle animations that can be customized in terms of shape, color, and movement. It allows for interactive experiences where particles can respond to mouse movements or clicks.

Ease of Use

  • html2canvas:

    html2canvas is relatively easy to use, with a clear API for capturing screenshots. However, it may require some adjustments for specific styles and elements to ensure accurate rendering.

  • canvas-confetti:

    canvas-confetti is straightforward to use, requiring minimal setup. Developers can quickly implement confetti effects with just a few lines of code, making it accessible for beginners.

  • dom-to-image:

    dom-to-image has a simple API for converting DOM nodes to images, but it may require some understanding of how to structure the DOM for best results. It is user-friendly but may need additional configuration for complex elements.

  • party-js:

    party-js is designed for quick implementation of fun animations. It is easy to use and can be integrated into projects with minimal effort, making it suitable for developers looking for quick visual enhancements.

  • particles.js:

    particles.js has a moderate learning curve, as it involves configuring particle systems through JSON options. While it is not overly complex, it may take some time to fully understand its capabilities.

Performance

  • html2canvas:

    html2canvas can be resource-intensive, especially for large or complex DOM structures. Performance may be affected by the amount of CSS and images being rendered, so optimization may be necessary for larger captures.

  • canvas-confetti:

    canvas-confetti is lightweight and performs well even with multiple animations. It is optimized for speed and efficiency, ensuring smooth animations without significant performance overhead.

  • dom-to-image:

    dom-to-image performance can vary based on the complexity of the DOM being captured. Large or complex elements may result in slower rendering times, so it is best used for smaller sections of the page.

  • party-js:

    party-js is lightweight and designed for quick animations, ensuring that celebratory effects do not hinder overall application performance. It focuses on providing fun without sacrificing responsiveness.

  • particles.js:

    particles.js is designed for performance, allowing for numerous particles to be animated simultaneously without significant impact on rendering speed. It is suitable for interactive backgrounds without lag.

Use Cases

  • html2canvas:

    html2canvas is best used for taking screenshots of web applications, allowing users to capture their current view or specific elements for sharing or documentation purposes.

  • canvas-confetti:

    canvas-confetti is ideal for adding celebratory effects to user interactions, such as form submissions, achievements, or special events. It enhances user experience with minimal effort.

  • dom-to-image:

    dom-to-image is perfect for generating images from HTML content, such as creating downloadable reports, charts, or user-generated content that needs to be saved as an image.

  • party-js:

    party-js is great for adding fun animations to events, celebrations, or milestones within an application. It can be used to enhance user engagement during special occasions.

  • particles.js:

    particles.js is suited for creating visually appealing backgrounds or interactive elements that engage users. It can be used in landing pages, portfolios, or any site needing dynamic visuals.

Customization Options

  • html2canvas:

    html2canvas provides various options for customizing the rendering process, including background color, image quality, and element exclusion, giving developers control over the output.

  • canvas-confetti:

    canvas-confetti offers extensive customization options for colors, shapes, and animation duration, allowing developers to tailor the confetti effects to fit their application's theme.

  • dom-to-image:

    dom-to-image allows for some customization in terms of image format and quality, but it is primarily focused on capturing the DOM as it is, with limited styling options for the output image.

  • party-js:

    party-js provides a range of options for customizing the types of animations and effects used, enabling developers to create a personalized celebratory experience.

  • particles.js:

    particles.js offers a high degree of customization for particle behavior, appearance, and interactivity, allowing developers to create unique visual experiences tailored to their application's needs.

How to Choose: html2canvas vs canvas-confetti vs dom-to-image vs party-js vs particles.js
  • html2canvas:

    Opt for html2canvas when you want to capture screenshots of web pages or specific elements. It renders the DOM to a canvas and allows for more complex image captures, including styles and elements that are not easily converted to images.

  • canvas-confetti:

    Choose canvas-confetti for lightweight, simple, and customizable confetti animations that can be easily integrated into any web application. It is perfect for celebratory effects and requires minimal setup.

  • dom-to-image:

    Select dom-to-image if you need to convert DOM elements into images. This library is ideal for generating images from HTML content, such as charts or user-generated content, and supports various image formats.

  • party-js:

    Choose party-js for fun and engaging animations that can be triggered by user actions. It is great for adding celebratory effects like confetti, balloons, or fireworks, making it perfect for events or special moments.

  • particles.js:

    Use particles.js for creating interactive particle animations that can enhance the visual appeal of your web application. It is suitable for backgrounds or dynamic visual elements that respond to user interactions.

README for html2canvas

html2canvas

Homepage | Downloads | Questions

Gitter CI NPM Downloads NPM Version

JavaScript HTML renderer

The script allows you to take "screenshots" of webpages or parts of it, directly on the users browser. The screenshot is based on the DOM and as such may not be 100% accurate to the real representation as it does not make an actual screenshot, but builds the screenshot based on the information available on the page.

How does it work?

The script renders the current page as a canvas image, by reading the DOM and the different styles applied to the elements.

It does not require any rendering from the server, as the whole image is created on the client's browser. However, as it is heavily dependent on the browser, this library is not suitable to be used in nodejs. It doesn't magically circumvent any browser content policy restrictions either, so rendering cross-origin content will require a proxy to get the content to the same origin.

The script is still in a very experimental state, so I don't recommend using it in a production environment nor start building applications with it yet, as there will be still major changes made.

Browser compatibility

The library should work fine on the following browsers (with Promise polyfill):

  • Firefox 3.5+
  • Google Chrome
  • Opera 12+
  • IE9+
  • Safari 6+

As each CSS property needs to be manually built to be supported, there are a number of properties that are not yet supported.

Usage

The html2canvas library utilizes Promises and expects them to be available in the global context. If you wish to support older browsers that do not natively support Promises, please include a polyfill such as es6-promise before including html2canvas.

To render an element with html2canvas, simply call: html2canvas(element[, options]);

The function returns a Promise containing the <canvas> element. Simply add a promise fulfillment handler to the promise using then:

html2canvas(document.body).then(function(canvas) {
    document.body.appendChild(canvas);
});

Building

You can download ready builds here.

Clone git repository:

$ git clone git://github.com/niklasvh/html2canvas.git

Install dependencies:

$ npm install

Build browser bundle

$ npm run build

Examples

For more information and examples, please visit the homepage or try the test console.

Contributing

If you wish to contribute to the project, please send the pull requests to the develop branch. Before submitting any changes, try and test that the changes work with all the support browsers. If some CSS property isn't supported or is incomplete, please create appropriate tests for it as well before submitting any code changes.