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jonobr1/two.js · source

Snapshot 0 · 2026-11-04T12:47:22Z · JavaScript · MIT

GitHub description at capture

A renderer agnostic two-dimensional drawing api for the web

README at capture

# Two.js

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A two-dimensional drawing api meant for modern browsers. It is renderer agnostic enabling the same api to render in multiple contexts: webgl, canvas2d, and svg.

[Home](http://two.js.org/) • [Releases](https://github.com/jonobr1/two.js/releases) • [Examples](http://two.js.org/examples/) • [Documentation](https://two.js.org/docs/two/) • [Changelog](https://github.com/jonobr1/two.js/tree/dev/wiki/changelog) • [Help](https://github.com/jonobr1/two.js/issues/new/choose)

## Usage
Download the latest [minified library](https://raw.github.com/jonobr1/two.js/dev/build/two.min.js) and include it in your html.

```html
<script src="js/two.min.js"></script>
```

It can also be installed via [npm](https://www.npmjs.com/package/two.js), Node Package Manager:

```js
npm install --save two.js
```
Alternatively see [how to build the library yourself](https://github.com/jonobr1/two.js#custom-build).


Here is boilerplate html in order to draw a spinning rectangle in two.js:

```html
<!doctype html>
<html>
  <head>
    <meta charset="utf-8">
    <script src="js/two.min.js"></script>
  </head>
  <body>
    <script>
      var two = new Two({
        fullscreen: true,
        autostart: true
      }).appendTo(document.body);
      var rect = two.makeRectangle(two.width / 2, two.height / 2, 50 ,50);
      two.bind('update', function() {
        rect.rotation += 0.001;
      });
    </script>
  </body>
</html>
```

## Custom Build
Two.js uses [nodejs](http://nodejs.org/) in order to build source files. You'll first want to install that. Once installed open up a terminal and head to the repository folder:

```
cd ~/path-to-repo/two.js
npm install
```

This will give you a number of libraries that the development of Two.js relies on. If for instance you only use the `SVGRenderer` then you can really cut down on the file size by excluding the other renderers. To do this, modify `/utils/build.js` to only add the files you'd like. Then run:

```
node ./utils/build
```

And the resulting `/build/two.js` and `/build/two.min.js` will be updated to your specification.

---

### Using ES6 Imports

As of version `v0.7.5+` Two.js is compatible with EcmaScript 6 imports. This is typically employed in contemporary frameworks like [React](https://reactjs.org/) and [Angular](https://angularjs.org/) as well as bundling libraries like [webpack](https://webpack.js.org/), [esbuild](https://esbuild.github.io/), and [gulp](https://gulpjs.com/). This adaptation of the boilerplate can be found on [CodeSandbox](https://codesandbox.io/s/beautiful-wilbur-ygxbc?file=/src/App.js:0-664):

```jsx
import React, { useEffect, useRef } from "react";
import Two from "two.js";

export default function App() {
  var domElement = useRef();

  useEffect(setup, []);

  function setup() {
    var two = new Two({
      fullscreen: true,
      autostart: true
    }).appendTo(domElement.current);

    var rect = two.makeRectangle(two.width / 2, two.height / 2, 50, 50);
    two.bind("update", update);

    return unmount;

    function unmount() {
      two.unbind("update");
      two.pause();
      domElement.current.removeChild(two.renderer.domElement);
    }

    function update() {
      rect.rotation += 0.001;
    }
  }

  return <div ref={domElement} />;
}
```

In addition to importing, the published packages of Two.js include the specific modules. So, if necessary you can import specific modules from the source code and bundle / minify for yourself like so:

```javascript
import { Vector } from 'two.js/src/vector.js';

// In TypeScript environments leave out the ".js"
// when importing modules directly. e.g:
import { Vector } from 'two.js/src/vector';
```

_While useful, the main import of the `Two` namespace imports all modules. So, there isn't yet proper tree shaking implemented for the library, though it's on the roadmap._

### Running in Headless Environments

As of version `v0.7.x` Two.js can also run in a headless environment, namely running on the server with the help of a library called [Node Canvas](https://github.com/Automattic/node-canvas). We don't add Node Canvas to dependencies of Two.js because it's _not necessary_ to run it in the browser. However, it has all the hooks set up to run in a cloud environment. To get started follow the installation instructions on Automattic's [readme](https://github.com/Automattic/node-canvas#installation). After you've done that run:

```
npm install canvas
npm install two.js
```

Now in a JavaScript file set up your Two.js scenegraph and save out frames whenever you need to:

```javascript
var { createCanvas, Image } = require('canvas');
var Two = require('two.js')

var fs = require('fs');
var path = require('path');

var width = 800;
var height = 600;

var canvas = createCanvas(width, height);
Two.Utils.polyfill(canvas, Image);

var time = Date.now();

var two = new Two({
  width: width,
  height: height,
  domElement: canvas
});

var rect = two.makeRectangle(width / 2, height / 2, 50, 50);
rect.fill = 'rgb(255, 100, 100)';
rect.noStroke();

two.render();

var settings = { compressionLevel: 3, filters: canvas.PNG_FILTER_NONE };
fs.writeFileSync(path.resolve(__dirname, './images/rectangle.png'), canvas.toBuffer('image/png', settings));
console.log('Finished rendering. Time took: ', Date.now() - time);

process.exit();

```

## Build Documentation
The [Two.js](http://two.js.org/) website is bundled with this repository. Relying on [Vuepress](https://vuepress.vuejs.org/) the repository generates a website based on numerous `README.md` files housed in the `wiki` directory. Use the following the node commands as follows:

```bash
npm run docs:generate   // Generate README.md files for documentation from source code comments
npm run docs:dev        // Creates a local server to generate all documentation
npm run docs:build      // Builds out static site and associated files to wiki/.vuepress/dist
```

The documentation toolchain uses Node 24 LTS. Run `nvm use` before working on the docs site, or install the version listed in [.nvmrc](./.nvmrc) if you do not use [Node Version Manager](https://github.com/nvm-sh/nvm).

## Change Log
Two.js has been in operation since 2012. For a full list of changes from its first alpha version built with [Three.js](http://threejs.org/) to the most up-to-date tweaks. Check out the wiki [here](./wiki/changelog).

---

#### And a big thank you to our sponsors who include:
[Epilogue Press](https://github.com/epiloguepress)

[npm]: https://img.shields.io/npm/v/two.js
[npm-url]: https://www.npmjs.com/package/two.js
[build-size]: https://badgen.net/bundlephobia/minzip/two.js
[build-size-url]: https://bundlephobia.com/result?p=two.js
[npm-downloads]: https://img.shields.io/npm/dt/two.js
[npmtrends-url]: https://www.npmtrends.com/two.js