Best JavaScript Canvas Libraries in 2021

In this article, we’ll look at some of the most excellent free canvas libraries in JavaScript. The canvas element was added in HTML5 as a location to draw graphics with JavaScript. You can utilize it to do many tasks. This includes editing photos, drawing basic or complicated designs, and animation. Let’s get started.

THREE.JS

Three.js is a fantastic choice if you want to develop your own scenarios with 3D effects, 3D visualizations, or whatever. Where the user walks around an area with 3D objects, this fantastic javascript canvas library and the active community is all you need to create games, music videos, scientific and data visualizations, or pretty much anything else you can think of, right in your browser, on your PC, tablet, or smartphone.

Three.js API enables you to build a scene, render objects, provide lighting, adjust the location of a camera, and much more. Your creativity is the only limit for producing something spectacular.

D3.js

The D3.js package is one of the most popular alternatives for visualizing any data. It uses components like SVG, Canvas, and ordinary HTML to generate stunning graphs and charts. This javascript canvas library itself sets practically no limitations on how you may present data to your users. You may use it to construct racing bar charts, area charts, or treemaps. If you can envision a unique and exciting way of displaying data, you can probably develop it with D3.js.

The strength of D3 comes with the trade-off of complexity. The learning curve can be significant, and the code can still feel verbose. Building something as basic as a bar chart involves you manually build the axes, scales, ticks and even draw the rectangles that display the bars. Developers frequently grumble about the low-level expertise necessary to be productive with D3. A sophisticated data visualization requires a low-level understanding of the graphic you intend to generate. D3 is not the most fantastic choice for pre-baked charts.

Fabric.js

Fabric.js is a sturdy and simple JavaScript canvas framework. Fabric offers an interactive object model on top of the canvas element. It provides an interactive environment to work with the HTML5 canvas. Using fabric, you may construct objects/forms on canvas, from simple geometrical shapes to complex ones. You can even work with photos with fabric.js.

Fabric.js supports animations. It gives capabilities to modify photos like dragging them, resizing them rotating them. Fabric.js enables the grouping of shapes/objects that may be utilized together. It supports events not just restricted to the canvas element but with objects as well. Fabric.js even gives the option to serialize the canvas to SVG or JSON and reuse it as and when needed. It even supports running fabric on Node.js with the aid of jsdom and node-canvas frameworks. It is a fully open-source project, licensed under MIT, with many contributions throughout the years.

Particles.js

The Particles.js JavaScriptcanvas library is useful for those who desire to create canvas-based particle systems. It is lightweight and does not have any dependencies. It takes approximately half an hour to become acquainted with all the features of the library. After then, you can merely experiment with the value of different parameters to see which ones produce particle systems you prefer.

The library offers you control over a range of aspects. You may define the color and the total number of particles. Particles of diverse shapes, such as circles and triangles, are easy to create. You may even use photos as particles. It is feasible to make the particles interactive to either respond to each other’s presence or your actions like click and hover.

CreateJS

In my opinion, CreateJS is a very useful JavaScript canvas library used for web advertising, education, gaming, and cartooning.

The CreateJS suite comprises four programs meant to work independently or together to produce rich interactive content using open web technologies on an HTML5 canvas.

As we stated earlier, CreateJS is comprised of four libraries, EaselJS, TweenJS, SoundJS, and PreloadJS. Each of these libraries is independent of the other, although they may be used together.

EaselJS is focused on canvas graphics manipulation. It lets users draw shapes, move images, add event listeners, and manipulate sprites.

TweenJS is a library for creating complex animations. That achieves it by changing characteristics using mathematical functions. You give the attribute values you want your object to transition to and a method to explain how it will achieve that state. You may even use it to adjust CSS style attributes.

Next, PreloadJS is used for preloading assets for your application. This could be anything from noises to pictures. Finally, SoundJS, as the name indicates, is for loading, playing, and manipulating sounds. However, you may outsource the sound loading to PreloadJS.

Read: Best Compilers for JavaScript

Matter-js

The matter-js package is a 2D rigid body physics engine built-in JavaScript. You may use it to mimic primitive physics systems on the canvas. It comes with numerous modules to assist you in performing different jobs.

You may construct basic rigid bodies or compound bodies and give them characteristics like mass, area, density, etc. You also have control over the gravity and friction in the environment you build. Both elastic and inelastic collisions are supported. You might notice when you play around with the library for a long time that the system keeps losing a little energy over time. This may or may not be a deal-breaker for you. The library provides you with the choice to either utilize its own built-in renderer or go your own way.

Chart.js

Chart.js is an open-source JavaScript canvas library for generating complex charts with JavaScript. There are eight various chart kinds accessible to make it practicable for you to visualize your data. This contains the frequently used line chart, bar chart, and pie chart formats, along with others like radar charts and bubble charts.

The syntax is entirely built around a chart type. You start a new chart on an existing canvas element, set the chart type, and then configure the chart parameters. Chart.js just renders to canvas. This is not a problem as all modern browsers support the HTML canvas element, but it might be a hangup for developers who have demands for SVG compatibility.

There are a lot of customization choices for drawing the charts as well as the scale. You may also modify colors, edit the data, or add new datasets while generating seamless animated transitions. You have total control over the graphic components in the chart.

Two.js

Two.js package is an ideal option for users who wish to draw and animate two-dimensional objects. You can use the same API to draw with SVG, canvas, and WebGL. Two.js is similar to D3, in that it is entirely focused on drawing and does not have pre-made charts or interactive structures to choose from.

The Two.js library maintains track of objects that you have drawn on the canvas and allows you to make adjustments to them at a later time. This involves rotating, scaling, or translating such things. In Two.js, there is an animation loop, but you can also incorporate a third-party animation library. Beginners can easily get started with the library and build something fascinating with its comprehensive documentation.

bHive.js

bHive canvas is a lightweight Framework, library, and API allowing JavaScript writers straightforward access to the powerful HTML5 canvas tag. Create animations, games, interactive components in minutes that run on all major browsers.

bHive helps you to develop rich

• User experiences Animations
• Games and Applications
• HTML 5 canvas framework API
• whatever you need for sketching animation and interaction