How to indicate whether text is in editing mode or not in IText using FabricJS?

In this tutorial, we are going to learn about how to indicate whether text is in editing mode or not in IText using FabricJS. The IText class was introduced in FabricJS version 1.4, extends fabric.Text and is used to create IText instances. An IText instance gives us the freedom to select, cut, paste or add new text without additional configurations. There are also various supported key combinations and mouse/touch combinations which make text interactive which are not provided in Text.

Textbox, however, which is based on IText allows us to resize the text rectangle and wraps lines automatically. This is not true for IText as height is not adjusted based on the wrapping of lines. We can manipulate our IText object by using various properties. Likewise, we can indicate whether a text is in editing mode or not by using the isEditing property.

Syntax

new fabric.IText( text: String , { isEditing: Boolean }: Object)

Parameters

  • text ? This parameter accepts a String which is the text string that we want to display as our text.

  • options (optional) ? This parameter is an Object which provides additional customizations to our IText object. Using this parameter colour, cursor, stroke width and a lot of other properties can be changed related to the IText object of which isEditing is a property.

Options Keys

  • isEditing ? This property accepts a Boolean value which indicates whether a text is in editing mode or not.

Example 1: Setting isEditing to false

Passing the isEditing property as key and assigning a false value

Let's see a code example to see the default appearance of IText object when the isEditing property is set to false. In this case the text will not be in editing mode.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
   <!-- Adding the Fabric JS Library-->
   <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/fabric.js/510/fabric.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
   <h2>Passing the isEditing property as key and assigning a false value</h2>
   <p>You can see that the text is not in editing mode</p>
   <canvas id="canvas"></canvas>
   
   <script>
      // Initiate a canvas instance
      var canvas = new fabric.Canvas("canvas");
      canvas.setWidth(document.body.scrollWidth);
      canvas.setHeight(250);

      // Initiate an itext object
      var itext = new fabric.IText("Add sample text here.", {
         width: 300,
         left: 60,
         top: 70,
         fill: "red",
         isEditing: false,
      });
      
      // Add it to the canvas
      canvas.add(itext);
   </script>
</body>
</html>

Example 2: Setting isEditing to true

Passing the isEditing property as key and assigning a true value

In this example, we have passed the isEditing property as key with the value as true. This will ensure that our text is in editing mode.

<!DOCTYPE html>
<html>
<head>
   <!-- Adding the Fabric JS Library-->
   <script src="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/fabric.js/510/fabric.min.js"></script>
</head>
<body>
   <h2>Passing the isEditing property as key and assigning a true value</h2>
   <p>You can see that the text is now in editing mode already as cursor is visible</p>
   <canvas id="canvas"></canvas>
   
   <script>
      // Initiate a canvas instance
      var canvas = new fabric.Canvas("canvas");
      canvas.setWidth(document.body.scrollWidth);
      canvas.setHeight(250);

      // Initiate an itext object
      var itext = new fabric.IText("Add sample text here.", {
         width: 300,
         left: 60,
         top: 70,
         fill: "red",
         isEditing: true,
      });
      
      // Add it to the canvas
      canvas.add(itext);
   </script>
</body>
</html>

Key Points

  • When isEditing is set to false, the text appears in normal display mode without a visible cursor
  • When isEditing is set to true, the text enters editing mode immediately with a visible cursor
  • This property is particularly useful when you want to programmatically control the editing state of text objects
  • Users can still double-click the text to enter editing mode even when isEditing is initially set to false

Conclusion

The isEditing property in FabricJS IText allows you to control whether text starts in editing mode. Setting it to true shows the cursor immediately, while false displays the text in normal mode.

Updated on: 2026-03-15T23:19:00+05:30

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