SVG stands for Scalable Vector Graphics. It is an XML-based vector image format for two-dimensional graphics with support for interactivity and animation. SVG images can be created and edited with any text editor, as well as with drawing software. SVG images can be displayed on any device and are resolution-independent, meaning they will look the same on any screen resolution. In this tutorial, we will learn how to create SVG with Rails from scratch in 2023.
Creating SVG images with Rails is fairly straightforward. The basic workflow is to create a new Rails application, install the necessary gems, create the SVG files and then integrate them into the Rails application. Here are the steps to get started with creating SVG images with Rails in 2023.
1. Create a New Rails Application
The first step is to create a new Rails application. We will use the Rails command-line interface (CLI) to generate the application. In your terminal, run the command rails new my_app, where my_app is the name of your application. This will create a folder with the same name, which contains the Rails project files.
2. Install Necessary Gems
The next step is to install the necessary gems. We will be using the rsvg gem, which provides an interface to the libRSVG library. It allows us to create, modify, and render SVG images. To install the gem, add the following line to your Gemfile and run bundle install:
gem 'rsvg'3. Create the SVG Files
Now we can create the SVG files. We can use a text editor or a drawing program to create the SVG images. The SVG files contain the coordinates of the shapes and the attributes of the elements. For example, to create a simple circle, we can write the following code in our SVG file:
This will create a circle with a radius of 40 and a stroke width of 3. We can also add more attributes such as the fill color, stroke color, and opacity.
4. Integrate the SVG Files into the Rails Application
Once we have created our SVG files, we can integrate them into our Rails application. We can use the image_tag helper to display the image in our views. For example, to display an SVG image with an ID of my_image, we can write the following code:
<%= image_tag('my_image.svg') %>We can also use the SVG files as part of a form. For example, we can use an SVG image as the submit button for a form. To do this, we can write the following code:
<%= form_tag do %><%= image_tag('my_image.svg', type: :submit) %><% end %>5. Add Animation and Interactivity
Finally, we can add animation and interactivity to our SVG images. We can use the animate element to create animations and the onclick attribute to create interactive elements. For example, to create an animation that changes the fill color of a circle when it is clicked, we can write the following code:
This code will animate the fill color from red to green when the circle is clicked.
Conclusion
In this tutorial, we learned how to create SVG images with Rails from scratch in 2023. We started by creating a new Rails application, installing the necessary gems, creating the SVG files, and integrating them into the Rails application. We also learned how to add animation and interactivity to our SVG images. I hope this tutorial has been helpful and that you have enjoyed learning about creating SVG images with Rails.