How to preview large stage on canvas with Konva?

Need to generate a small preview of the canvas?

There are many ways to generate small preview. Konva doesn't provide any methods to do this automatically. But we can use Konva methods to generate preview area manually.

We will show two options - cloning and using images. In large applications it is better to generate preview from the state of the app.

Clone nodes from the main stage

So we can just clone the stage or the layer and update its internal nodes from the state of the main canvas area. Also it will make sense to simplify shapes on the preview. Like hide texts, remove strokes and shadows, etc.

Instructions: try to drag a circle. See how the preview is updating. Double click to add a new shape.

Vanilla
React
Vue

import Konva from 'konva';

// Create preview container
const preview = document.createElement('div');
preview.id = 'preview';
preview.style.position = 'absolute';
preview.style.top = '2px';
preview.style.right = '2px';
preview.style.border = '1px solid grey';
preview.style.backgroundColor = 'lightgrey';
document.body.appendChild(preview);

const stage = new Konva.Stage({
  container: 'container',
  width: window.innerWidth,
  height: window.innerHeight,
});

const layer = new Konva.Layer();
stage.add(layer);

// generate random shapes
for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
  const shape = new Konva.Circle({
    x: Math.random() * stage.width(),
    y: Math.random() * stage.height(),
    radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
    fill: Konva.Util.getRandomColor(),
    draggable: true,
    // each shape MUST have unique name
    // so we can easily update the preview clone by name
    name: 'shape-' + i,
  });
  layer.add(shape);
}

// create smaller preview stage
const previewStage = new Konva.Stage({
  container: 'preview',
  width: window.innerWidth / 4,
  height: window.innerHeight / 4,
  scaleX: 1 / 4,
  scaleY: 1 / 4,
});

// clone original layer, and disable all events on it
let previewLayer = layer.clone({ listening: false });
previewStage.add(previewLayer);

function updatePreview() {
  // we just need to update ALL nodes in the preview
  layer.children.forEach((shape) => {
    // find cloned node
    const clone = previewLayer.findOne('.' + shape.name());
    // update its position from the original
    clone.position(shape.position());
  });
}

stage.on('dragmove', updatePreview);

// add new shapes on double click or double tap
stage.on('dblclick dbltap', () => {
  const shape = new Konva.Circle({
    x: stage.getPointerPosition().x,
    y: stage.getPointerPosition().y,
    radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
    fill: Konva.Util.getRandomColor(),
    draggable: true,
    name: 'shape-' + layer.children.length,
  });
  layer.add(shape);

  // remove all layer
  previewLayer.destroy();
  // generate new one
  previewLayer = layer.clone({ listening: false });
  previewStage.add(previewLayer);
});

Open Sandbox

import React from 'react';
import { Stage, Layer, Circle } from 'react-konva';

const getRandomColor = () => {
  const letters = '0123456789ABCDEF';
  let color = '#';
  for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
    color += letters[Math.floor(Math.random() * 16)];
  }
  return color;
};

const App = () => {
  const [shapes, setShapes] = React.useState(() =>
    Array.from({ length: 10 }, (_, i) => ({
      id: i,
      x: Math.random() * window.innerWidth,
      y: Math.random() * window.innerHeight,
      radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
      fill: getRandomColor(),
    }))
  );

  const handleDragMove = (e, id) => {
    const { x, y } = e.target.position();
    setShapes(shapes.map(shape => 
      shape.id === id ? { ...shape, x, y } : shape
    ));
  };

  const handleDblClick = (e) => {
    const stage = e.target.getStage();
    const pos = stage.getPointerPosition();
    const newShape = {
      id: shapes.length,
      x: pos.x,
      y: pos.y,
      radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
      fill: getRandomColor(),
    };
    setShapes([...shapes, newShape]);
  };

  return (
    <div style={{ position: 'relative' }}>
      <Stage
        width={window.innerWidth}
        height={window.innerHeight}
        onDblClick={handleDblClick}
        onTap={handleDblClick}
      >
        <Layer>
          {shapes.map(shape => (
            <Circle
              key={shape.id}
              {...shape}
              draggable
              onDragMove={(e) => handleDragMove(e, shape.id)}
            />
          ))}
        </Layer>
      </Stage>
      <div
        style={{
          position: 'absolute',
          top: '2px',
          right: '2px',
          border: '1px solid grey',
          backgroundColor: 'lightgrey',
        }}
      >
        <Stage
          width={window.innerWidth / 4}
          height={window.innerHeight / 4}
          scaleX={1/4}
          scaleY={1/4}
        >
          <Layer>
            {shapes.map(shape => (
              <Circle
                key={shape.id}
                {...shape}
                listening={false}
              />
            ))}
          </Layer>
        </Stage>
      </div>
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

Open Sandbox

<template>
  <div style="position: relative">
    <v-stage
      :config="stageConfig"
      @dblclick="handleDblClick"
      @tap="handleDblClick"
    >
      <v-layer>
        <v-circle
          v-for="shape in shapes"
          :key="shape.id"
          :config="{
            ...shape,
            draggable: true
          }"
          @dragmove="(e) => handleDragMove(e, shape.id)"
        />
      </v-layer>
    </v-stage>
    <div
      style="position: absolute; top: 2px; right: 2px; border: 1px solid grey; background-color: lightgrey"
    >
      <v-stage :config="previewConfig">
        <v-layer>
          <v-circle
            v-for="shape in shapes"
            :key="shape.id"
            :config="{
              ...shape,
              listening: false
            }"
          />
        </v-layer>
      </v-stage>
    </div>
  </div>
</template>

<script setup>
import { ref } from 'vue';

const getRandomColor = () => {
  const letters = '0123456789ABCDEF';
  let color = '#';
  for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
    color += letters[Math.floor(Math.random() * 16)];
  }
  return color;
};

const stageConfig = {
  width: window.innerWidth,
  height: window.innerHeight,
};

const previewConfig = {
  width: window.innerWidth / 4,
  height: window.innerHeight / 4,
  scaleX: 1/4,
  scaleY: 1/4,
};

const shapes = ref(
  Array.from({ length: 10 }, (_, i) => ({
    id: i,
    x: Math.random() * stageConfig.width,
    y: Math.random() * stageConfig.height,
    radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
    fill: getRandomColor(),
  }))
);

const handleDragMove = (e, id) => {
  const { x, y } = e.target.position();
  shapes.value = shapes.value.map(shape =>
    shape.id === id ? { ...shape, x, y } : shape
  );
};

const handleDblClick = (e) => {
  const stage = e.target.getStage();
  const pos = stage.getPointerPosition();
  const newShape = {
    id: shapes.value.length,
    x: pos.x,
    y: pos.y,
    radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
    fill: getRandomColor(),
  };
  shapes.value.push(newShape);
};
</script>

Open Sandbox

Use image preview

Or we can export the stage to an image and use it as a preview. For performance reasons we are not updating the preview on every dragmove events.

Vanilla
React
Vue

import Konva from 'konva';

// Create preview container
const preview = document.createElement('img');
preview.id = 'preview';
preview.style.position = 'absolute';
preview.style.top = '2px';
preview.style.right = '2px';
preview.style.border = '1px solid grey';
preview.style.backgroundColor = 'lightgrey';
document.body.appendChild(preview);

const stage = new Konva.Stage({
  container: 'container',
  width: window.innerWidth,
  height: window.innerHeight,
});

const layer = new Konva.Layer();
stage.add(layer);

// generate random shapes
for (let i = 0; i < 10; i++) {
  const shape = new Konva.Circle({
    x: Math.random() * stage.width(),
    y: Math.random() * stage.height(),
    radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
    fill: Konva.Util.getRandomColor(),
    draggable: true,
    name: 'shape-' + i,
  });
  layer.add(shape);
}

function updatePreview() {
  const scale = 1 / 4;
  // use pixelRatio to generate smaller preview
  const url = stage.toDataURL({ pixelRatio: scale });
  preview.src = url;
}

// update preview only on dragend for performance
stage.on('dragend', updatePreview);

// add new shapes on double click or double tap
stage.on('dblclick dbltap', () => {
  const shape = new Konva.Circle({
    x: stage.getPointerPosition().x,
    y: stage.getPointerPosition().y,
    radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
    fill: Konva.Util.getRandomColor(),
    draggable: true,
    name: 'shape-' + layer.children.length,
  });
  layer.add(shape);
  updatePreview();
});

// show initial preview
updatePreview();

Open Sandbox

import React from 'react';
import { Stage, Layer, Circle } from 'react-konva';

const getRandomColor = () => {
  const letters = '0123456789ABCDEF';
  let color = '#';
  for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
    color += letters[Math.floor(Math.random() * 16)];
  }
  return color;
};

const App = () => {
  const [shapes, setShapes] = React.useState(() =>
    Array.from({ length: 10 }, (_, i) => ({
      id: i,
      x: Math.random() * window.innerWidth,
      y: Math.random() * window.innerHeight,
      radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
      fill: getRandomColor(),
    }))
  );
  const [previewUrl, setPreviewUrl] = React.useState('');
  const stageRef = React.useRef(null);

  const updatePreview = React.useCallback(() => {
    if (!stageRef.current) return;
    const scale = 1 / 4;
    const url = stageRef.current.toDataURL({ pixelRatio: scale });
    setPreviewUrl(url);
  }, []);

  React.useEffect(() => {
    updatePreview();
  }, [updatePreview]);

  const handleDragEnd = (e, id) => {
    const { x, y } = e.target.position();
    setShapes(shapes.map(shape => 
      shape.id === id ? { ...shape, x, y } : shape
    ));
    updatePreview();
  };

  const handleDblClick = (e) => {
    const stage = e.target.getStage();
    const pos = stage.getPointerPosition();
    const newShape = {
      id: shapes.length,
      x: pos.x,
      y: pos.y,
      radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
      fill: getRandomColor(),
    };
    setShapes([...shapes, newShape]);
    updatePreview();
  };

  return (
    <div style={{ position: 'relative' }}>
      <Stage
        ref={stageRef}
        width={window.innerWidth}
        height={window.innerHeight}
        onDblClick={handleDblClick}
        onTap={handleDblClick}
      >
        <Layer>
          {shapes.map(shape => (
            <Circle
              key={shape.id}
              {...shape}
              draggable
              onDragEnd={(e) => handleDragEnd(e, shape.id)}
            />
          ))}
        </Layer>
      </Stage>
      <img
        src={previewUrl}
        alt="preview"
        style={{
          position: 'absolute',
          top: '2px',
          right: '2px',
          border: '1px solid grey',
          backgroundColor: 'lightgrey',
        }}
      />
    </div>
  );
};

export default App;

Open Sandbox

<template>
  <div style="position: relative">
    <v-stage
      ref="stageRef"
      :config="stageConfig"
      @dblclick="handleDblClick"
      @tap="handleDblClick"
    >
      <v-layer>
        <v-circle
          v-for="shape in shapes"
          :key="shape.id"
          :config="{
            ...shape,
            draggable: true
          }"
          @dragend="(e) => handleDragEnd(e, shape.id)"
        />
      </v-layer>
    </v-stage>
    <img
      :src="previewUrl"
      alt="preview"
      style="position: absolute; top: 2px; right: 2px; border: 1px solid grey; background-color: lightgrey"
    />
  </div>
</template>

<script setup>
import { ref, onMounted } from 'vue';

const getRandomColor = () => {
  const letters = '0123456789ABCDEF';
  let color = '#';
  for (let i = 0; i < 6; i++) {
    color += letters[Math.floor(Math.random() * 16)];
  }
  return color;
};

const stageConfig = {
  width: window.innerWidth,
  height: window.innerHeight,
};

const shapes = ref(
  Array.from({ length: 10 }, (_, i) => ({
    id: i,
    x: Math.random() * stageConfig.width,
    y: Math.random() * stageConfig.height,
    radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
    fill: getRandomColor(),
  }))
);

const previewUrl = ref('');
const stageRef = ref(null);

const updatePreview = () => {
  if (!stageRef.value) return;
  const scale = 1 / 4;
  const url = stageRef.value.getNode().toDataURL({ pixelRatio: scale });
  previewUrl.value = url;
};

const handleDragEnd = (e, id) => {
  const { x, y } = e.target.position();
  shapes.value = shapes.value.map(shape =>
    shape.id === id ? { ...shape, x, y } : shape
  );
  updatePreview();
};

const handleDblClick = (e) => {
  const stage = e.target.getStage();
  const pos = stage.getPointerPosition();
  const newShape = {
    id: shapes.value.length,
    x: pos.x,
    y: pos.y,
    radius: Math.random() * 30 + 5,
    fill: getRandomColor(),
  };
  shapes.value.push(newShape);
  updatePreview();
};

onMounted(() => {
  updatePreview();
});
</script>

Open Sandbox

Instructions: Try to drag circles and double-click to add new ones. The preview will update after you finish dragging (dragend) or add a new shape.

Need to generate a small preview of the canvas?​

Clone nodes from the main stage​

Use image preview​

Need to generate a small preview of the canvas?

Clone nodes from the main stage

Use image preview