How to disable the selectability of IText using FabricJS?


In this tutorial, we are going to learn how to disable the selectability of IText using FabricJS. The IText class was introduced in FabricJS version 1.4, extends fabric.Text and is used to create IText instances. An IText instance gives us the freedom to select, cut, paste or add new text without additional configurations. There are also various supported key combinations and mouse/touch combinations which make text interactive which are not provided in Text.

Textbox, however, which is based on IText allows us to resize the text rectangle and wraps lines automatically. This is not true for IText as height is not adjusted based on the wrapping of lines. We can manipulate our IText object by using various properties. In order to modify an object, we have to select it in FabricJS. However, we can change this behaviour by using the selectable property.

Syntax

new fabric.IText(text: String, { selectable: Boolean }: Object)

Parameters

  • text − This parameter accepts a String which is the text string that we want to display inside our IText object.

  • options (optional) − This parameter is an Object which provides additional customizations to our object. Using this parameter colour, cursor, stroke width and a lot of other properties can be changed related to the object of which selectable is a property.

Options Keys

  • selectable − This property accepts a Boolean value. When a ‘false’ value is assigned to it, the object cannot be selected for modifications. Its default value is true.

Example 1

Default behaviour or when selectable property is set to ‘true’

Let’s see a code example to understand how the object behaves when by default the selectable property is set to true. We are allowed to select an object, move it around the canvas and make modifications to it when the selectable property is set to true.

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <!-- Adding the Fabric JS Library--> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/fabric.js/510/fabric.min.js"></script> </head> <body> <h2>Default behaviour or when selectable property is set to ‘true</h2> <p>You can try moving the itext object around the canvas or scaling it to prove that it's selectable</p> <canvas id="canvas"></canvas> <script> // Initiate a canvas instance var canvas = new fabric.Canvas("canvas"); canvas.setWidth(document.body.scrollWidth); canvas.setHeight(250); // Initiate an itext object var itext = new fabric.IText( "Add sample text here.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet"
,{ width: 300, left: 50, top: 70, fill: "#6ae18b", } ); // Add it to the canvas canvas.add(itext); </script> </body> </html>

Example 2

Passing selectable property as key with “false” value

In this example, we are assigning a false value to the selectable property. This means that we can no longer select the IText object for modifications.

<!DOCTYPE html> <html> <head> <!-- Adding the Fabric JS Library--> <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/fabric.js/510/fabric.min.js"></script> </head> <body> <h2>Passing selectable property as key withfalse” value</h2> <p>You can see that the itext object is no longer selectable</p> <canvas id="canvas"></canvas> <script> // Initiate a canvas instance var canvas = new fabric.Canvas("canvas"); canvas.setWidth(document.body.scrollWidth); canvas.setHeight(250); // Initiate an itext object var itext = new fabric.IText( "Add sample text here.
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet"
,{ width: 300, left: 50, top: 70, fill: "#6ae18b", selectable: false, } ); // Add it to the canvas canvas.add(itext); </script> </body> </html>

Updated on: 12-Sep-2022

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