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Pratik Singh built @penwell/draw-on to make SVG diagrams appear as if they draw themselves: strokes animate first, followed by fills and labels. Extracted from his Penwell project and released as a standalone, MIT-licensed npm package, it adds manual progress control, React helpers, and browser-based WebM recording. It is an early-stage library, not the Penwell application or a hosted service.
Why Singh extracted the library
“I wanted SVG diagrams to draw themselves,” Singh wrote in his announcement. He started with Vivus for animating strokes, then ran into a broader need: his diagrams also contained fills, text, and other elements that should appear after the lines. He wanted control over the sequence and the ability to export the result as video.
The resulting code became useful enough in Penwell to extract as @penwell/draw-on. It is a separate library that can be installed from npm, rather than a feature that requires Penwell.
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What @penwell/draw-on does
The package’s documented sequence is to animate SVG strokes, then reveal fills and labels. You can play the animation or set its progress directly, which makes it possible to scrub through it or coordinate it with another timeline. The package provides a framework-agnostic JavaScript/TypeScript core as well as a React hook and component.
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Its README documents APIs including createDrawing, parseSvg, computeDims, setProgress, and recordDrawToWebM. It also describes workflows involving SVGs from Mermaid, Excalidraw, tldraw, Figma exports, and handwriting. Those are documented target workflows, not independent confirmation that every SVG from those tools works without adjustment.
How it differs from the initial Vivus approach
Singh describes Vivus as his starting point for stroke animation, then explains that his project called for more than drawing lines. The distinctions below reflect the package documentation and the author’s stated motivation; they are not results of a comparative benchmark.
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| Need | Initial Vivus use described by Singh | @penwell/draw-on documentation |
|---|---|---|
| What appears | Stroke animation | Strokes, followed by fills and labels |
| Timing control | Not stated in the announcement as a reason for choosing Vivus | Playback and direct progress setting for scrubbing or timeline coordination |
| Video export | Not stated in the announcement as a reason for choosing Vivus | Browser recording to WebM |
| Framework options | Not stated in the announcement | Framework-agnostic JavaScript/TypeScript core plus React integration |
Installation and practical considerations
The README’s installation command is:
npm install @penwell/draw-onCheck the npm package page and README for current package details and examples. The README says the core mutates the SVG in place because Vivus rewrites shapes into paths. If your application needs to preserve the untouched SVG, pass a clone rather than the original element.
Recording depends on browser APIs
WebM recording relies on browser support for MediaRecorder and canvas.captureStream(). The documentation describes Chromium-based browsers as the most reliable option in practice and recommends checking canRecordVideo() before offering recording. It does not provide MP4 output because MediaRecorder’s MP4 support is inconsistent across browsers.
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- NOTE: You can easily connect your phone to the art tablet via the OTG connector; while iPhone and iPad are NOT at the moment. The cursor will not show up in the SAMSUNG Galaxy S series at present. If you are not sure whether the product is compatible with your Phone or any help, please contact us.
External styles and fonts can affect the recorded result
An SVG that depends on external stylesheets or fonts may not rasterize correctly for recording. The package documentation recommends inlining those styles and fonts where possible. This caveat concerns recording; it does not establish that every such SVG will fail during ordinary on-page animation.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What is established—and what remains open
The project is presented as an open-source library under the MIT license, with installation through npm. Singh also says edge cases remain and invites people to try SVGs he has not encountered. That makes it reasonable to evaluate the package against your own diagrams, but the announcement and README do not establish production reliability across a broad range of SVGs or browsers.
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The announcement describes version 0.1.4, while the npm listing showed version 0.1.5 when checked for this article. Package versions and usage metadata can change; consult npm for the current release. The npm page’s weekly-download count is a time-sensitive snapshot, not evidence of broad adoption.
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