15

I have an image like this:

enter image description here

I want it so that when I click the transparent parts, the click should go through to the underlying element, but when I click a non-transparent part, this image element should get the click.

Is this even possible?

Roko C. Buljan
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Nick
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2 Answers2

18
  1. Use a temporary canvas element.
  2. Get the overlay image mousedown coordinates.
  3. Populate your canvas with that image data.
  4. Read from canvas the 1px image data (from the same coordinates).
    If the retrieved Alpha channel data is 0 means it's transparent.
  5. If pixel is transparent set pointerEvents to "none" and retrieve the underneath element using Document.elementFromPoint
    1 Trigger "click" event on the underneath element
  6. Reset pointerEvents back to "auto" for all overlays

var ctx = document.createElement("canvas").getContext("2d");

$('#logo').on("mousedown", function(event) {
  
  // Get click coordinates
  var x = event.pageX - this.offsetLeft,
      y = event.pageY - this.offsetTop,
      w = ctx.canvas.width = this.width,
      h = ctx.canvas.height = this.height,
      alpha;

  // Draw image to canvas
  // and read Alpha channel value
  ctx.drawImage(this, 0, 0, w, h);
  alpha = ctx.getImageData(x, y, 1, 1).data[3]; // [0]R [1]G [2]B [3]A

  // If pixel is transparent,
  // retrieve the element underneath and trigger it's click event
  if( alpha===0 ) {
    this.style.pointerEvents = "none";
    $(document.elementFromPoint(event.clientX, event.clientY)).trigger("click");
    this.style.pointerEvents = "auto";
  } else {
    console.log("LOGO clicked!");
  }
});


$("#green").on("click", function(){
  console.log("Green image clicked!");
});
img{border:1px solid #000;}
img + img{position:absolute;top:0; left:0;}
<script src="https://ajax.googleapis.com/ajax/libs/jquery/2.1.1/jquery.min.js"></script>
<img id="green" src="//placehold.it/200x140/cf5">
<img id="logo"  src="data:image/png;base64,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
">
Roko C. Buljan
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    Wow, this is great. I wish I could accept the other answer also, but this is more elegant and easy to use. Thanks. – Nick Jul 20 '16 at 18:58
  • In the case of a transparent pixel, where does the click event propagate to? I'm trying to catch it from an underlying image but it doesn't fire. – Nick Jul 20 '16 at 19:26
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    If your parent element has a click listener than clicking on the transparent part will propagate. Else... the click will be stopped from propagation. – Roko C. Buljan Jul 20 '16 at 19:30
  • I see, so in my case it goes to the parent div. How can I capture that click on an underlying image instead of the parent div? – Nick Jul 20 '16 at 19:33
  • Get the ElementFromPoint – Roko C. Buljan Jul 20 '16 at 19:36
  • im on mobile currently. Will expand my answer in 30min or so. – Roko C. Buljan Jul 20 '16 at 19:37
  • Then perhaps I'm missing something. Because the on() handler is assigned to all images of the same class in this div, but the transparent click directly goes to the div, not the underlying image. – Nick Jul 20 '16 at 19:44
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    @Nick As I've said, use `elementFromPoint`. The trick was to quickly hide the logo, get the element from point (the element underneath), trigger it's click event, and than finally show the logo. The hide/show is not visible to the eye, but allows to get the right element from coordinates: https://developer.mozilla.org/en-US/docs/Web/API/Document/elementFromPoint. Anyways, updated my answer if this comment seems a bit fuzzy :) – Roko C. Buljan Jul 20 '16 at 22:22
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    Excellent answer. Thank you. – Nick Jul 20 '16 at 23:05
6

For your scenario, would it be sufficient to capture click events on the non-transparent area of the image?

This can be done using a map and some JavaScript:

<img src="https://i.stack.imgur.com/Ab6aW.jpg" alt="" usemap="#Map" />
<map name="Map" id="Map">
<area
  href="javascript:alert('You clicked on the image!')"
  shape="poly" 
  coords="193,148,50,193,254,292,461,191,302,141,332,99,285,27,220,16,170,89"
/>
</map>

(The coordinates were derived using this site.)

Richard Ev
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  • Yes, this will do. Would this be the preferred way to do it, or would it be easier to get the alpha value of the clicked pixel and check for transparency? Because with this I need to generate maps for each image. – Nick Jul 20 '16 at 18:16
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    If you can figure out how to get the alpha value of the clicked pixel, go for it! Otherwise, it may take less time to just manually create `map`s for each image (depending on the number of images, and the complexity of their transparencies). It only took me a few seconds to create the map in my answer, but it is pretty rough around the edges. – Richard Ev Jul 20 '16 at 18:19
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    Tracing the image non transparent area is a hell of a job. – Roko C. Buljan Jul 20 '16 at 18:37