react-signature-canvas vs signature_pad vs vue-signature-pad
Signature Pad Libraries
react-signature-canvassignature_padvue-signature-padSimilar Packages:

Signature Pad Libraries

Signature pad libraries are JavaScript packages that allow users to create and capture handwritten signatures on web applications. These libraries provide functionalities to draw, save, and manipulate signatures, making them useful for applications requiring user authentication, agreements, or any form of digital signature capture. They are designed to be easy to integrate into various frameworks and provide a smooth user experience for signature input.

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react-signature-canvas064641.9 kB10a year agoApache-2.0
signature_pad011,875448 kB63 months agoMIT
vue-signature-pad056540.8 kB56-MIT

Feature Comparison: react-signature-canvas vs signature_pad vs vue-signature-pad

Framework Compatibility

  • react-signature-canvas:

    react-signature-canvas is built specifically for React, leveraging React's component-based architecture. It provides a React component that handles the signature canvas, making it easy to manage state and lifecycle events within a React application.

  • signature_pad:

    signature_pad is a standalone library that can be used with any JavaScript framework or even plain HTML. It does not depend on any specific framework, allowing for maximum flexibility in implementation across different projects.

  • vue-signature-pad:

    vue-signature-pad is designed for Vue.js applications, utilizing Vue's reactive data binding. It allows for easy integration into Vue components, making it straightforward to manage signatures within the Vue ecosystem.

Customization Options

  • react-signature-canvas:

    This package offers a range of customization options, including the ability to set the color, width, and background of the signature canvas. Developers can easily modify the appearance and behavior of the signature pad to fit their application's design requirements.

  • signature_pad:

    signature_pad provides a flexible API that allows for extensive customization of the signature canvas. You can adjust stroke styles, colors, and even implement custom drawing logic, giving developers complete control over the signature capture experience.

  • vue-signature-pad:

    vue-signature-pad allows customization through props, enabling developers to set properties such as pen color and thickness directly within the Vue component. This makes it easy to adapt the signature pad to the application's visual style.

Performance

  • react-signature-canvas:

    Performance is optimized for React applications, with efficient rendering that minimizes unnecessary updates. The library ensures that the signature pad responds quickly to user input, providing a smooth drawing experience.

  • signature_pad:

    signature_pad is lightweight and optimized for performance, ensuring that it can handle high-frequency drawing events without lag. This makes it suitable for applications where responsiveness is critical, such as mobile devices.

  • vue-signature-pad:

    vue-signature-pad is designed to work efficiently within Vue's reactivity system, ensuring that performance remains high even as the application scales. It minimizes re-renders and optimizes the signature capture process.

Ease of Use

  • react-signature-canvas:

    This library is user-friendly for React developers, providing a straightforward API that integrates seamlessly with React's component model. The documentation is clear, making it easy to get started and implement signature capture quickly.

  • signature_pad:

    signature_pad is simple to use with a minimal setup required. Its API is intuitive, allowing developers to quickly implement signature capture without a steep learning curve, making it accessible for all skill levels.

  • vue-signature-pad:

    vue-signature-pad is easy to integrate into Vue applications, with clear documentation and examples. Developers familiar with Vue will find it straightforward to use, allowing for rapid development of signature capture features.

Support and Community

  • react-signature-canvas:

    As a popular library in the React ecosystem, react-signature-canvas benefits from a strong community and active maintenance. Developers can find numerous resources, tutorials, and community support for troubleshooting and enhancements.

  • signature_pad:

    signature_pad has a broad user base and is widely adopted, leading to a wealth of community resources, examples, and support available online. Its popularity ensures that it is well-maintained and updated regularly.

  • vue-signature-pad:

    vue-signature-pad is supported by the Vue community, with good documentation and examples available. While it may not be as widely used as some other libraries, it is actively maintained and provides a solid foundation for Vue developers.

How to Choose: react-signature-canvas vs signature_pad vs vue-signature-pad

  • react-signature-canvas:

    Choose react-signature-canvas if you are developing a React application and need a straightforward way to integrate a signature pad with React's component lifecycle. This package is specifically tailored for React, ensuring optimal performance and compatibility with React's state management.

  • signature_pad:

    Select signature_pad if you are looking for a lightweight, framework-agnostic solution that can be easily integrated into any web project. It provides a simple API and is suitable for projects where you want to have more control over the rendering and behavior of the signature pad without being tied to a specific framework.

  • vue-signature-pad:

    Opt for vue-signature-pad if you are working within a Vue.js application. This library is designed to work seamlessly with Vue's reactivity system, making it easy to manage the signature data and integrate it into your Vue components.

README for react-signature-canvas

react-signature-canvas

package-json releases commits
dt dy dm dw
typings build status code coverage

A React wrapper component around signature_pad.

Originally, this was just an unopinionated fork of react-signature-pad that did not impose any styling or wrap any other unwanted elements around your canvas -- it's just a wrapper around a single canvas element! Hence the naming difference. Nowadays, this repo / library has significantly evolved, introducing new features, fixing various bugs, and now wrapping the upstream signature_pad to have its updates and bugfixes baked in.

This fork also allows you to directly pass props to the underlying canvas element, has new, documented API methods you can use, has new, documented props you can pass to it, has a live demo, has a CodeSandbox playground, has 100% test coverage, and is written in TypeScript.

Installation

npm i -S react-signature-canvas

Usage

import React from 'react'
import { createRoot } from 'react-dom/client'
import SignatureCanvas from 'react-signature-canvas'

createRoot(
  document.getElementById('my-react-container')
).render(
  <SignatureCanvas penColor='green'
    canvasProps={{width: 500, height: 200, className: 'sigCanvas'}} />,
)

Props

The props of SignatureCanvas mainly control the properties of the pen stroke used in drawing. All props are optional.

  • velocityFilterWeight : number, default: 0.7
  • minWidth : number, default: 0.5
  • maxWidth : number, default: 2.5
  • minDistance: number, default: 5
  • dotSize : number or function, default: () => (this.minWidth + this.maxWidth) / 2
  • penColor : string, default: 'black'
  • throttle: number, default: 16

There are also two callbacks that will be called when a stroke ends and one begins, respectively.

  • onEnd : function
  • onBegin : function

Additional props are used to control the canvas element.

  • canvasProps: object
    • directly passed to the underlying <canvas /> element
  • backgroundColor : string, default: 'rgba(0,0,0,0)'
    • used in the API's clear convenience method (which itself is called internally during resizes)
  • clearOnResize: bool, default: true
    • whether or not the canvas should be cleared when the window resizes

Of these props, all, except for canvasProps and clearOnResize, are passed through to signature_pad as its options. signature_pad's internal state is automatically kept in sync with prop updates for you (via a componentDidUpdate hook).

API

All API methods require a ref to the SignatureCanvas in order to use and are instance methods of the ref.

import React, { useRef } from 'react'
import SignatureCanvas from 'react-signature-canvas'

function MyApp() {
  const sigCanvas = useRef(null);

  return <SignatureCanvas ref={sigCanvas} />
}
  • isEmpty() : boolean, self-explanatory
  • clear() : void, clears the canvas using the backgroundColor prop
  • fromDataURL(base64String, options) : void, writes a base64 image to canvas
  • toDataURL(mimetype, encoderOptions): base64string, returns the signature image as a data URL
  • fromData(pointGroupArray): void, draws signature image from an array of point groups
  • toData(): pointGroupArray, returns signature image as an array of point groups
  • off(): void, unbinds all event handlers
  • on(): void, rebinds all event handlers
  • getCanvas(): canvas, returns the underlying canvas ref. Allows you to modify the canvas however you want or call methods such as toDataURL()
  • getTrimmedCanvas(): canvas, creates a copy of the canvas and returns a trimmed version of it, with all whitespace removed.
  • getSignaturePad(): SignaturePad, returns the underlying SignaturePad reference.

The API methods are mostly just wrappers around signature_pad's API. on() and off() will, in addition, bind/unbind the window resize event handler. getCanvas(), getTrimmedCanvas(), and getSignaturePad() are new.

Example

You can interact with the example in a few different ways:

  1. Run npm start and navigate to http://localhost:1234/.
    Hosted locally via the example/ directory

  2. View the live demo here.
    Hosted via the gh-pages branch, a standalone version of the code in example/

  3. Play with the CodeSandbox here.
    Hosted via the codesandbox-example branch, a slightly modified version of the above.