IMPORTANT NOTICE! The information provided in this article is outdated and is here for historical reference. Please refer to this tutorial for further information.
Exporting of charts and maps is done using the "Export" plugin which is included with all amCharts products.
It allows annotating and exporting chart or related data to various bitmap, vector, document or data formats, such as PNG, JPG, PDF, SVG, JSON, XLSX and many more.
Important notice
Please note that due to security measures implemented in modern browsers, some or all export options might not work if the web page is loaded locally (via file:///) or contain images loaded from different host than the web page itself.
Usage
1) Include the minified version of file of this plugin as well as the
bundled CSS file. I.e.:
<script src="amcharts/plugins/export/export.min.js"></script> <link type="text/css" href="../export.css" rel="stylesheet">
(this needs to go after all the other amCharts includes)
2) Enable export with default options:
AmCharts.makeChart( "chartdiv", {
...,
"export": {
"enabled": true,
"libs": {
"path": "../libs/"
}
}
} );
... OR set your own custom options:
AmCharts.makeChart( "chartdiv", {
...,
"export": {
"enabled": true,
"libs": {
"path": "../libs/"
},
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-main",
"menu": [ {
"label": "Download",
"menu": [ "PNG", "JPG", "CSV" ]
}, {
"label": "Annotate",
"action": "draw",
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-drawing",
"menu": [ "PNG", "JPG" ]
} ]
} ]
} ]
}
} );
Here's how export menu looks like with default options:
See the Pen Exporting the chart to various formats (default config) by amCharts (@amcharts) on CodePen.
Loading external libraries needed for operation of this plugin
The plugin relies on a number of different libraries, to export images, draw annotations or generate download files.
Those libraries need to be loaded for the plugin to work properly.
There are two ways to load them. Choose the one that is right:
1) Automatic (preferred)
All libraries required for plugin operation are included withing plugins */libs* subdirectory.
If you want the plugin to load them on-demand (when it's needed for a certain operation), make sure you set the path property under libs object to a relative or absolute url.
If you are using relative url, note that it is relative to the web page you are displaying your chart on, not the export.js library.
2) Manual
You can also load all those JavaScript libraries by <script> tags. Since loading of libraries is on by default you will need to turn it off by setting "libs": { "autoLoad": false }
Here is a full list of the files that need to be loaded for each operation:
| File | Located in | Required for |
|---|---|---|
| blob.js | libs/blob.js/ | Exporting to any image format |
| fabric.min.js | libs/fabric.js/ | Any export operation |
| FileSaver.js | libs/FileSaver.js/ | Used to offer download files |
| pdfmake.min.js | libs/pdfmake/ | Export to PDF format |
| vfs_fonts.js | libs/pdfmake/ | Export to PDF format |
| jszip.js | libs/jszip/ | Export to XLSX format |
| xlsx.js | libs/xlsx/ | Export to XLSX format |
Complete list of available export settings
| Property | Default | Description |
|---|---|---|
| backgroundColor | #FFFFFF | RGB code of the color for the background of the exported image |
| enabled | true | Enables or disables export functionality |
| fileName | amCharts | A file name to use for generated export files (an extension will be appended to it based on the export format) |
| legend | {} | Places the legend in case it is within an external container |
| libs | 3rd party required library settings (see the above section) | |
| menu | [] | A list of menu or submenu items (see the next chapter for details) |
| fabric | {} | Overwrites the default drawing settings (Fabric library) |
| pdfMake | {} | Overwrites the default settings for PDF export (pdfMake library) |
| removeImages | true | If true export checks for and removes "tainted" images that area lodead from different domains |
Configuring export menu
Plugin includes a way to completely control what is displayed on export menu. You can set up menus, sub-menus, down to any level. You can even add custom items there that execute your arbitrary code on click. It's so configurable it makes us sick with power ;)
The top-level menu is configured via menu property under export. It should always be an array, even if you have a single item in it.
The array items could be either objects or format codes. Objects will allow you to specify labels, action, icon, child items and even custom code to be executedon click.
Simple format codes will assume you need an export to that format.
Simple menu setup
Here's a sample of the simple menu setup that allows export to PNG, JPG and CSV:
"export": {
"enabled": true,
"libs": {
"path": "../libs/"
},
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-main",
"menu": [ "PNG", "JPG", "CSV" ]
} ]
}
The above will display a menu out of three options when you hover on export icon:
- PNG
- JPG
- CSV
Here's the live demo:
See the Pen Exporting the chart to various formats (basic options) by amCharts (@amcharts) on CodePen.
When clicked the plugin will trigger export to a respective format.
If that is all you need, you're all set.
Please note that we have wrapped out menu into another menu item, so that only the icon is displayed until we roll over the icon. This means that technicallywe have a two-level hierarchical menu.
If we opmitted that first step, the chart would simply display a format list right there on the chart.
Advanced menu setup
However, you can do so much more with the menu.
Let's add more formats and organize image and data formats into separate submenus.
To add a submenu to a menu item, simply add a menu array as its own property:
"export": {
"enabled": true,
"libs": {
"path": "../libs/"
},
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-main",
"menu": [ {
"label": "Download as image",
"menu": [ "PNG", "JPG", "SVG" ]
}, {
"label": "Download data",
"menu": [ "CSV", "XLSX" ]
} ]
} ]
}
Now we have a hierarchical menu with the following topology:
- Download as image
- PNG
- JPG
- SVG
- Download data
- CSV
- XLSX
Here's how it looks live:
See the Pen Exporting the chart to various formats (multi-level export menu) by amCharts (@amcharts) on CodePen.
We can mix "string" and "object" formats the way we see fit, i.e.:
"menu": [
"PNG",
{ "label": "JPEG",
"format": "JPG" },
"SVG"
]
The magic does not end here, though.
Adding custom click events to menu items
Just like we set label and format properties for menu item, we can set click as well.
This needs to be a function reference. I.e.:
"menu": [
"PNG",
{ "label": "JPEG",
"click": function () {
alert( "Clicked JPEG. Wow cool!" );
} },
"SVG"
]
Printing the chart
Adding menu item to print the chart or map is as easy as adding export ones. You just use "PRINT" as format. I.e.:
"menu": [ "PNG", "SVG", "PRINT" ]
Or if you want to change the label:
"menu": [
"PNG",
"SVG",
{ "format": "PRINT",
"label": "Print Chart"
}
]
Annotating the chart before export
OK, this one is so cool, you'll need a class 700 insulation jacket.
By default each menu item triggers some kind of export. You can trigger an "annotation" mode instead by including "action": "draw" instead.
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-main",
"menu": [ {
"label": "Download",
"menu": [ "PNG", "JPG", "CSV", "XLSX" ]
}, {
"label": "Annotate",
"action": "draw"
} ]
} ]
Now, when you click on the "Annotate" item in the menu, the chart will turn into an image editor which you can actual draw on.
As cool as it may sound, there's little we can do if the annotated chart if we can't save the result image.
That's where sub-menus come for the rescue again:
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-main",
"menu": [ {
"label": "Download",
"menu": [ "PNG", "JPG", "CSV", "XLSX" ]
}, {
"label": "Annotate",
"action": "draw",
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-drawing",
"menu": [ "JPG", "PNG", "SVG", PDF" ]
} ]
} ]
} ]
Now, when you turn on the annotation mode, a submenu will display, allowing to export the image into either PNG,JPG,SVG or PDF.
And that's not even the end of it. You can add menu items to cancel, undo, redo.
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-main",
"menu": [ {
"label": "Download",
"menu": [ "PNG", "JPG", "CSV", "XLSX" ]
}, {
"label": "Annotate",
"action": "draw",
"menu": [ {
"class": "export-drawing",
"menu": [ {
"label": "Edit",
"menu": [ "UNDO", "REDO", "CANCEL" ]
}, {
"label": "Save",
"format": "PNG"
} ]
} ]
} ]
} ]
A list of menu item properties
| Property | Description |
|---|---|
| action | Set to "draw" if you want the item to trigger annotation mode |
| class | Class name applied to the tag |
| click | Function handler invoked upon click on menu item |
| format | A format to export chart/map to upon click (see below for a list of available formats) |
| icon | Icon file (will use chart's pathToImages if the URL is not full) |
| label | Text label to be displayed |
| menu | An array of submenu items |
| title | A title attribute of the link |
Available format values:
- JPG
- PNG
- SVG
- CSV
- JSON
- XLSX
Exporting to PDF
When exporting to PDF, you can set and modify the content of the resulting document. I.e. add additional text and/or modify image size, etc.
To do that, you can use menu item's content property.
Each item in content represents either a text line (string) or an exported image.
To add a text line, simply use a string. It can even be a JavaScript variable or a function that returns a string.
To include exported image, use image: "reference".
Additionally, you can add fit property which is an array of pixel dimensions, you want the image to be scaled to fit into.
Here's an example of such export menu item:
{
"format": "PDF",
"content": [ "Saved from:", window.location.href, {
"image": "reference",
"fit": [ 523.28, 769.89 ] // fit image to A4
} ]
}
Styling the export menu
The plugin comes with a default CSS file export.css. You just need to include it on your page.
Feel free to override any styles defined in it, create your own version and modify as you see fit.
If you choose to modify it, we suggest creating a copy so it does not get overwritten when you update amCharts or plugin.
Plugin API
We explained how you can define custom functions to be executed on click on export menu items.
Those functions can tap into plugin's methods to augment it with some custom functionality.
Here's an example:
menu: [ {
label: "JPG",
click: function() {
this.capture({},function() {
this.toJPG( {}, function( data ) {
this.download( data, "image/jpg", "amCharts.jpg" );
});
});
}
} ]
The above will use plugin's internal capture method to capture it's current state and toJPG()method to export the chart to JPEG format.
Yes, you're right, it's the exact equivalent of just including "JPG" string. The code is here for the explanatory purposes.
Here's a full list of API functions available for your consumption:
| Function | Parameters | Description |
|---|---|---|
| toJPG | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a JPEG representation of the chart and passes the binary data to the callback function |
| toPNG | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a PNG representation of the chart and passes the binary data to the callback function |
| toSVG | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a SVG representation of the chart and passes the binary data to the callback function |
| toPDF | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a PDF representation of the chart and passes the binary data to the callback function |
| toJSON | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a JSON and passes the plain data to the callback function |
| toCSV | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a CSV and passes the plain data to the callback function |
| toXLSX | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a XLSX representation of the chart and passes the binary data to the callback function |
| toBlob | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a BLOB and passes the instance to the callback function |
| toCanvas | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares a Canvas and passes the element to the callback function |
| toArray | (object) options, (function) callback | Prepares an Array and passes the data to the callback function |
Requirements
This plugin requires at least 3.13 version of JavaScript Charts, JavaScriptStock Chart or JavaScript Maps.
The export will also need relatively recent browsers.
IE10 and up are supported.
Partial support for IE9 will be implemented in the future versions.
IE8 and older are not supported I'm afraid. Hey, it's time to upgrade!