Learn HTML Canvas: Advanced Text Effects

Become a master of web animation.

From drawing a single letter to multiline animated particle text. In this HTML canvas crash course we will go from basics to advanced in a single class. We will cover everything you need to know about using fonts and drawing text on HTML canvas. Let's explore what's possible in modern front-end web development and turn text into complex animated particle systems.

Practice vanilla JavaScript with no frameworks and no libraries

Learn how to write creative coding prototypes and experiments in a simple procedural (line by line) codebase. Convert those experiments into a more modular object oriented JavaScript syntax.

Experiment with code

Learn  how to create the base version of the effect with me step by step. Apply constellations algorithm for a completely different visual effect. Learn how to use canvas gradients, custom web fonts and how to change particle shapes and physics to get different visuals and movement.

This technique will also work with company LOGOS, even if the logo is a combination of text, symbols and images.

Source code included

With the final lesson you can download the complete source code, as well as some of my experimental variations of the codebase.

From basics to advanced

Basic knowledge of HTML, CSS and JavaScript is required. The first part of the course will be very beginner friendly, we will learn how to set up an HTML canvas, how to draw text using fillText and strokeText built-in methods and we will cover all available tools and techniques to style it.

The second part will cover more advanced algorithms. We will learn how to draw multiline centered text on HTML canvas, how to turn it into particles, how to make those particle systems interactive and much more.

Have fun! :)