How can I let user paste image data from the clipboard into a canvas element in Firefox in pure Javascript?

Question

I have done my best to find a simple, relevant, and up-to-date example that works for the latest version of Firefox and I\'m really struggling.

Titles says it all re

Answer 1

ViliusL's answer is great, but for those looking for a simple cross-browser way to capture a pasted image:

window.addEventListener("paste", async function(e) {
  e.preventDefault();
  e.stopPropagation();
  let file = e.clipboardData.items[0].getAsFile();
  let objectUrl = URL.createObjectURL(file);
  // do something with url here
});

You'll probably want to do some error checking (like in ViliusL's answer), in case they paste something that's not an image. According to MDN, clipboardData works in all modern browsers. I've tested on Chrome and Firefox, and they work fine.

Answer 2

Version 2.0: Smaller, cleaner code works on Chrome, Firefox, Edge, Opera. No more hacks. But if you need support IE and Safari, check v1 version.

http://jsfiddle.net/viliusl/xq2aLj4b/5/

---

Version 1.0 Chrome implementation is simple. Firefox (and IE) has restrictions that user must give command to do paste like keyboard event and editable input must be focused, so we do tricks here - on ctrl down we focusthat input field, on release unfocus.

Browser support (image data):

• Firefox
• Chrome
• Edge
• IE-11
• Opera

var CLIPBOARD = new CLIPBOARD_CLASS("my_canvas", true);

/**
 * image pasting into canvas
 * 
 * @param {string} canvas_id - canvas id
 * @param {boolean} autoresize - if canvas will be resized
 */
function CLIPBOARD_CLASS(canvas_id, autoresize) {
	var _self = this;
	var canvas = document.getElementById(canvas_id);
	var ctx = document.getElementById(canvas_id).getContext("2d");
	var ctrl_pressed = false;
	var command_pressed = false;
	var paste_event_support;
	var pasteCatcher;

	//handlers
	document.addEventListener('keydown', function (e) {
		_self.on_keyboard_action(e);
	}, false); //firefox fix
	document.addEventListener('keyup', function (e) {
		_self.on_keyboardup_action(e);
	}, false); //firefox fix
	document.addEventListener('paste', function (e) {
		_self.paste_auto(e);
	}, false); //official paste handler

	//constructor - we ignore security checks here
	this.init = function () {
		pasteCatcher = document.createElement("div");
		pasteCatcher.setAttribute("id", "paste_ff");
		pasteCatcher.setAttribute("contenteditable", "");
		pasteCatcher.style.cssText = 'opacity:0;position:fixed;top:0px;left:0px;width:10px;margin-left:-20px;';
		document.body.appendChild(pasteCatcher);

		// create an observer instance
		var observer = new MutationObserver(function(mutations) {
			mutations.forEach(function(mutation) {
				if (paste_event_support === true || ctrl_pressed == false || mutation.type != 'childList'){
					//we already got data in paste_auto()
					return true;
				}

				//if paste handle failed - capture pasted object manually
				if(mutation.addedNodes.length == 1) {
					if (mutation.addedNodes[0].src != undefined) {
						//image
						_self.paste_createImage(mutation.addedNodes[0].src);
					}
					//register cleanup after some time.
					setTimeout(function () {
						pasteCatcher.innerHTML = '';
					}, 20);
				}
			});
		});
		var target = document.getElementById('paste_ff');
		var config = { attributes: true, childList: true, characterData: true };
		observer.observe(target, config);
	}();
	//default paste action
	this.paste_auto = function (e) {
		paste_event_support = false;
		if(pasteCatcher != undefined){
			pasteCatcher.innerHTML = '';
		}
		if (e.clipboardData) {
			var items = e.clipboardData.items;
			if (items) {
				paste_event_support = true;
				//access data directly
				for (var i = 0; i < items.length; i++) {
					if (items[i].type.indexOf("image") !== -1) {
						//image
						var blob = items[i].getAsFile();
						var URLObj = window.URL || window.webkitURL;
						var source = URLObj.createObjectURL(blob);
						this.paste_createImage(source);
					}
				}
				e.preventDefault();
			}
			else {
				//wait for DOMSubtreeModified event
				//https://bugzilla.mozilla.org/show_bug.cgi?id=891247
			}
		}
	};
	//on keyboard press
	this.on_keyboard_action = function (event) {
		k = event.keyCode;
		//ctrl
		if (k == 17 || event.metaKey || event.ctrlKey) {
			if (ctrl_pressed == false)
				ctrl_pressed = true;
		}
		//v
		if (k == 86) {
			if (document.activeElement != undefined && document.activeElement.type == 'text') {
				//let user paste into some input
				return false;
			}

			if (ctrl_pressed == true && pasteCatcher != undefined){
				pasteCatcher.focus();
			}
		}
	};
	//on kaybord release
	this.on_keyboardup_action = function (event) {
		//ctrl
		if (event.ctrlKey == false && ctrl_pressed == true) {
			ctrl_pressed = false;
		}
		//command
		else if(event.metaKey == false && command_pressed == true){
			command_pressed = false;
			ctrl_pressed = false;
		}
	};
	//draw pasted image to canvas
	this.paste_createImage = function (source) {
		var pastedImage = new Image();
		pastedImage.onload = function () {
			if(autoresize == true){
				//resize
				canvas.width = pastedImage.width;
				canvas.height = pastedImage.height;
			}
			else{
				//clear canvas
				ctx.clearRect(0, 0, canvas.width, canvas.height);
			}
			ctx.drawImage(pastedImage, 0, 0);
		};
		pastedImage.src = source;
	};
}

1. Copy image data into clipboard or press Print Screen <br>
2. Press Ctrl+V (page/iframe must be focused):
<br /><br />
<canvas style="border:1px solid grey;" id="my_canvas" width="300" height="300"></canvas>