Convert SVG image to PNG with PHP

Question

I'm working on a web project that involves a dynamically generated map of the US coloring different states based on a set of data.

This SVG file gives me a good blank map of the US and is very easy to change the color of each state. The difficulty is that IE browsers don't support SVG so in order for me to use the handy syntax the svg offers, I'll need to convert it to a JPG.

Ideally, I'd like to do this with only the GD2 library but could also use ImageMagick. I have absolutely no clue how to do this.

Any solution that would allow me to dynamically change the colors of states on a map of the US will be considered. The key is that it is easy to change the colors on the fly and that it is cross browser. PHP/Apache solutions only, please.

Answer 1

you could use canvg js library to convert the SVG into PNG, more info here http://paksula.users.cs.helsinki.fi/svg_open_2010/demo.xhtml compatible with all major browsers!

I'm using it in my project and actually converts the SVG into PNG (with the help of PHP to save the file of course)

Answer 2

$command = 'convert -density 300 ';
                        if(Input::Post('height')!='' && Input::Post('width')!=''){
                            $command.='-resize '.Input::Post('width').'x'.Input::Post('height').' ';
                        }
                        $command.=$svg.' '.$source;
                        exec($command);
                        @unlink($svg);

or using : potrace demo :Tool4dev.com

Answer 3

This is a method for converting a svg picture to a gif using standard php GD tools

1) You put the image into a canvas element in the browser:

<canvas id=myCanvas></canvas>

<script>
var Key='picturename'
var canvas = document.getElementById('myCanvas');
var context = canvas.getContext('2d');
base_image = new Image();
base_image.src = myimage.svg;
base_image.onload = function(){

    //get the image info as base64 text string

    var dataURL = canvas.toDataURL();
    //Post the image (dataURL) to the server using jQuery post method
    $.post('ProcessPicture.php',{'TheKey':Key,'image': dataURL ,'h': canvas.height,'w':canvas.width,"stemme":stemme } ,function(data,status){ alert(data+' '+status) });
}
</script>    

And then convert it at the server (ProcessPicture.php) from (default) png to gif and save it. (you could have saved as png too then use imagepng instead of image gif):

//receive the posted data in php
$pic=$_POST['image'];
$Key=$_POST['TheKey'];
$height=$_POST['h'];
$width=$_POST['w'];
$dir='../gif/'
$gifName=$dir.$Key.'.gif';
 $pngName=$dir.$Key.'.png';

//split the generated base64 string before the comma. to remove the 'data:image/png;base64, header  created by and get the image data
$data = explode(',', $pic);
$base64img = base64_decode($data[1]);
$dimg=imagecreatefromstring($base64img); 

//in order to avoid copying a black figure into a (default) black background you must create a white background

$im_out = ImageCreateTrueColor($width,$height);
$bgfill = imagecolorallocate( $im_out, 255, 255, 255 );
imagefill( $im_out, 0,0, $bgfill );

//Copy the uploaded picture in on the white background
ImageCopyResampled($im_out, $dimg ,0, 0, 0, 0, $width, $height,$width, $height);

//Make the gif and png file 
imagegif($im_out, $gifName);
imagepng($im_out, $pngName);

Answer 4

Another very fast & accurate option is the headless browser PhantomJS (webkit)

http://phantomjs.org/

Answer 5

When converting SVG to transparent PNG, dont forget to put this BEFORE $imagick->readImageBlob():

$imagick->setBackgroundColor(new ImagickPixel('transparent'));

Answer 6

That's funny you asked this, I just did this recently for my work's site and I was thinking I should write a tutorial... Here is how to do it with PHP/Imagick, which uses ImageMagick:

$usmap = '/path/to/blank/us-map.svg';
$im = new Imagick();
$svg = file_get_contents($usmap);

/*loop to color each state as needed, something like*/ 
$idColorArray = array(
     "AL" => "339966"
    ,"AK" => "0099FF"
    ...
    ,"WI" => "FF4B00"
    ,"WY" => "A3609B"
);

foreach($idColorArray as $state => $color){
//Where $color is a RRGGBB hex value
    $svg = preg_replace(
         '/id="'.$state.'" style="fill:#([0-9a-f]{6})/'
        , 'id="'.$state.'" style="fill:#'.$color
        , $svg
    );
}

$im->readImageBlob($svg);

/*png settings*/
$im->setImageFormat("png24");
$im->resizeImage(720, 445, imagick::FILTER_LANCZOS, 1);  /*Optional, if you need to resize*/

/*jpeg*/
$im->setImageFormat("jpeg");
$im->adaptiveResizeImage(720, 445); /*Optional, if you need to resize*/

$im->writeImage('/path/to/colored/us-map.png');/*(or .jpg)*/
$im->clear();
$im->destroy();

the steps regex color replacement may vary depending on the svg path xml and how you id & color values are stored. If you don't want to store a file on the server, you can output the image as base 64 like

<?php echo '<img src="data:image/jpg;base64,' . base64_encode($im) . '"  />';?>

(before you use clear/destroy) but ie has issues with PNG as base64 so you'd probably have to output base64 as jpeg

you can see an example here I did for a former employer's sales territory map:

Start: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/1/1a/Blank_US_Map_(states_only).svg

Finish:

Edit

Since writing the above, I've come up with 2 improved techniques:

1) instead of a regex loop to change the fill on state , use CSS to make style rules like

<style type="text/css">
#CA,#FL,HI{
    fill:blue;
}
#Al, #NY, #NM{
    fill:#cc6699;
}
/*etc..*/
</style>

and then you can do a single text replace to inject your css rules into the svg before proceeding with the imagick jpeg/png creation. If the colors don't change, check to make sure you don't have any inline fill styles in your path tags overriding the css.

2) If you don't have to actually create a jpeg/png image file (and don't need to support outdated browsers), you can manipulate the svg directly with jQuery. You can't access the svg paths when embedding the svg using img or object tags, so you'll have to directly include the svg xml in your webpage html like:

<div>
<?php echo file_get_contents('/path/to/blank/us-map.svg');?>
</div>

then changing the colors is as easy as:

<script type="text/javascript" src="/path/to/jquery.js"></script>
<script type="text/javascript">
    $('#CA').css('fill', 'blue');
    $('#NY').css('fill', '#ff0000');
</script>