Replace Node-Canvas with something else

[Wim Selles]

Hi there,

Thanks for creating this awesome module, I'm using ResembleJS for ages in my E2E image comparison modules and migrated my projects to the WebdriverIO project where it can be used to:

• compare desktop/mobile web screenshots
• compare mobile native app screenshots
• scan storybook and create/compare screenshots

So far, I/other users am/are happy and we have a lot of positive responses on the stability of ResembleJS. But,..... there are also a "lot" of users that are having issues with the system dependencies for node-canvas. They vary from being unable to use canvas to not having the rights/knowledge or the possibility to adjust their images in their pipeline to make this work.

I've worked with Jimp in the past (for an OCR service) and I'm very content with the results and possibilities. Now I understand that using the same API for Web and Node would be great, but are you open to look into other dependencies for Node?

Love to hear your, and everybody else, their thoughts

[James Cryer]

Hi. I'm not planning to do any significant rewrite, I don't have the time to commit to it, and the lib is stable.

I understand that the dependency on node-canvas is a problem for some end-users, and agree it would be nice to offer an alternative.

I would like to see the successor of Resemble separate browser and node comparison into two packages, with the node lib supporting multiple image processors, such as node-canvas or Jimp.

[Wim Selles]

Hi @jamescryer

Thanks for taking the time to respond and I understand what you say. I'll think about what I will do for the WebdriverIO module (might just create a fork and break the browser API). I'll post some more info about my research here when I have more data