Fabric.js vs PDF.js: What are the differences?

Introduction

Fabric.js and PDF.js are two different JavaScript libraries used for different purposes. Fabric.js is a powerful and flexible canvas library used for creating interactive graphics and animations, while PDF.js is a PDF rendering library used for displaying and manipulating PDF documents.

1. Compatibility and Browser Support: Fabric.js is compatible with all modern web browsers including Chrome, Firefox, Safari, and Internet Explorer. It uses HTML5 canvas element to render graphics and animations, which is supported by all major browsers. On the other hand, PDF.js is also compatible with most modern browsers, but it has better support for PDF rendering and manipulation in Firefox compared to other browsers.

2. Features and Functionality: Fabric.js provides a rich set of features and functionality for creating interactive graphics and animations. It supports various shapes, images, text, and paths, and provides built-in methods for manipulating and animating objects on the canvas. It also supports event handling and interaction with user input. PDF.js, on the other hand, is focused on rendering and displaying PDF documents. It provides features for rendering and displaying pages, zooming and panning, searching and highlighting text, and adding annotations to the document.

3. Performance and Speed: Fabric.js is designed to provide smooth and responsive animations and graphics on the canvas. It uses optimization techniques like caching and smart rendering to improve performance. However, as the complexity of the canvas increases, the performance may start to degrade. PDF.js is optimized for rendering and displaying PDF documents, and it provides fast and efficient rendering even for large and complex documents.

4. File Formats: Fabric.js primarily works with vector graphics and images, allowing you to import and export graphics in various formats such as SVG, JSON, and PNG. PDF.js, on the other hand, is specifically designed for working with PDF documents. It supports rendering and displaying PDF files directly, and provides APIs for extracting and manipulating text, images, and other elements within the document.

5. Community and Support: The Fabric.js community is active and vibrant, with regular updates, bug fixes, and new features being added. It has a well-documented API and provides extensive documentation and examples to help users get started and find solutions to their problems. PDF.js is also actively maintained and supported, with a dedicated team of contributors working on improving and expanding its functionality. It has a strong user community and provides documentation, examples, and support forums.

6. Purpose and Use Case: Fabric.js is primarily used for creating interactive graphics and animations on the web. It is often used in applications that require drawing, editing, and manipulating graphics, such as image editors, graphic design tools, and online painting applications. PDF.js, on the other hand, is used for displaying and manipulating PDF documents in web applications. It is commonly used in applications that require PDF viewing, annotation, and searching, such as document management systems and online viewers.

In summary, the key differences between Fabric.js and PDF.js lie in their compatibility and browser support, features and functionality, performance and speed, file formats, community and support, and their purpose and use case. Fabric.js is a canvas library for creating interactive graphics and animations, while PDF.js is a PDF rendering library for displaying and manipulating PDF documents.