14 DAY TRIAL // With all major browsers now featuring support for the HTML5 Canvas element (including Internet Explorer 9), web developers can integrate new vector content in their projects, in addition to what’s possible with SVG (also supported by IE9). Ai->Canvas is a new tool designed to easily allow vector and bitmap artwork and animations to be served to end users through HTML5 Canvas in modern web browsers.
Fathered by Mike Swanson from the Developer and Platform Evangelism organization, Ai->Canvas allows content from Adobe Illustrator to be exported as HTML5 Canvas elements.
“Ai->Canvas [is] a free plug-in for Adobe Illustrator CS3, CS4, and CS5 that works with OS X, Windows Vista, and Windows 7,” Swanson explained.
“The plug-in makes it easy to export artwork and animation (yes, you heard that right) directly from within Illustrator to HTML/JavaScript that you can use in your own applications.”
It’s easy to see that with Ai->Canvas, Swanson aimed to deliver a way for developers to accelerate their HTML5 canvas development work, while simplifying their efforts as much as possible.
Devs will be able to notice that the Above Illustrator extension comes with comprehensive drawing, animation and coding options.
A new website is now live for Ai->Canvas, offering not only download links for the plug-in, but also an impressive collection of materials, including documentation, and guidance to get developers building new high quality, interactive HTML5 Canvas Cloud apps as soon as possible.
Swanson revealed that Ai->Canvas is based on the work he had done previously for the Adobe Illustrator to XAML export plug-in offered in 2005.
The AI XAML export “plug-in has been completely re-architected and re-written from the ground up,” he stated.
“What started out as a classic C project that had reached its extensibility limits is now an object-oriented C++ project with room to grow (around 23K lines of cross-platform code for the geeks out there).
“Along the way, I basically memorized the entire HTML5 canvas spec, encountered some small implementation issues in each browser, read a bunch of HTML5 books, read and then re-read the ECMA-262 (JavaScript) spec, and consumed a few JavaScript books for good measure.”
Following the release of the Adobe Illustrator to HTML5 Canvas Plug-in, Swanson also posted a FAQ set up to clarify some of the questions he managed to come across related to the AI extension.
Of course, devs can help Swanson improve on the plug-in by sending him their feedback. The best way to get in contact with him is through his blog.
Ai->Canvas for Windows is available for download here.
Ai->Canvas for Mac OS X is available for download here. Internet Explorer 9 (IE9) Build 9.0.7930.16406 is available for download here,