Serialize canvas content to ArrayBuffer and deserialize again

Question

I have two canvases, and I want to pass the content of canvas1, serialize it to an ArrayBuffer, and then load it in canvas2. In the future I will send the canvas1 content to the server, process it, and return it to canvas2, but right now I just want to serialize and deserialize it.

I found this way of getting the canvas info in bytes:

var img1 = context.getImageData(0, 0, 400, 320);
var binary = new Uint8Array(img1.data.length);
for (var i = 0; i < img1.data.length; i++) {
    binary[i] = img1.data[i];
}

And also found this way of set the information to a Image object:

var blob = new Blob( [binary], { type: "image/png" } );
var urlCreator = window.URL || window.webkitURL;
var imageUrl = urlCreator.createObjectURL( blob );
var img = new Image();
img.src = imageUrl;

But unfortunately it doesn't seem to work.

Which would be the right way of doing this?

Answer 1

The ImageData you get from getImageData() is already using an ArrayBuffer (used by the Uint8ClampedArray view). Just grab it and send it:

var imageData = context.getImageData(x, y, w, h);
var buffer = imageData.data.buffer;  // ArrayBuffer

To set it again:

var imageData = context.createImageData(w, h);
imageData.data.set(incomingBuffer);

You probably want to consider some form of byte encoding though (such as f.ex base-64) as any byte value above 127 (ASCII) is subject to character encoding used on a system. Or make sure all steps on the trip uses the same (f.ex. UTF8).

Answer 2

Create an ArrayBuffer and send it into to the Uint8Array constructor, then send the buffer using websockets:

var img1 = context.getImageData(0, 0, 400, 320);
var data=img1.data;
var buffer = new ArrayBuffer(data.length);
var binary = new Uint8Array(buffer);
for (var i=0; i<binary.length; i++) {
    binary[i] = data[i];
}
websocket.send(buffer);

[ Previous answer using canvas.toDataURL removed ]

Answer 3

Consider using canvas.toBlob() instead of context.getImageData() if you want compact data rather than a raw ImageData object.

Example:

const imageIn = document.querySelector('#image-in');
const imageOut = document.querySelector('#image-out');
const canvas = document.querySelector('#canvas');
const imageDataByteLen = document.querySelector('#imagedata-byte-length');
const bufferByteLen = document.querySelector('#arraybuffer-byte-length');

const mimeType = 'image/png';

imageIn.addEventListener('load', () => {

  // Draw image to canvas.
  canvas.width = imageIn.width;
  canvas.height = imageIn.height;
  const ctx = canvas.getContext('2d');
  ctx.drawImage(imageIn, 0, 0);

  // Convert canvas to ImageData.
  const imageData = ctx.getImageData(0, 0, imageIn.width, imageIn.height);
  imageDataByteLen.textContent = imageData.data.byteLength + ' bytes.';

  // Convert canvas to Blob, then Blob to ArrayBuffer.
  canvas.toBlob((blob) => {
    const reader = new FileReader();
    reader.addEventListener('loadend', () => {
      const arrayBuffer = reader.result;
      bufferByteLen.textContent = arrayBuffer.byteLength + ' bytes.';

      // Dispay Blob content in an Image.
      const blob = new Blob([arrayBuffer], {type: mimeType});
      imageOut.src = URL.createObjectURL(blob);
    });
    reader.readAsArrayBuffer(blob);
  }, mimeType);

});

<h1>Canvas ↔ ArrayBuffer</h1>

<h2>1. Source <code>&lt;img&gt;</code></h2>
<img id="image-in" src="https://ucarecdn.com/a0338bfa-9f88-4ce7-b53f-e6b61000df89/" crossorigin="">

<h2>2. Canvas</h2>
<canvas id="canvas"></canvas>

<h2>3. ImageData</h2>
<p id="imagedata-byte-length"></p>

<h2>4. ArrayBuffer</h2>
<p id="arraybuffer-byte-length"></p>

<h2>5. Final <code>&lt;img&gt;</code></h2>
<img id="image-out">

JSFiddle: https://jsfiddle.net/donmccurdy/jugzk15b/

Also note that images must be hosted on a service that provides CORS headers, or you'll see errors like "The canvas has been tainted by cross-origin data."