How to animate handwriting text on the web page using SVG?

Question

I am trying to animate a text that I created and saved as SVG. So far, I've only been able to animate the stroke, but that's not what I am trying to achieve. How can I implement animation like the two examples, below?

http://codepen.io/se7ensky/pen/waoMyx
https://codepen.io/munkholm/pen/EaZJQE

Here is what I have so far:

.test {
  width: 300px
  /*   margin:0 auto; */
}

.l1 {
  animation: dash 15s 1;
  stroke-linecap: round;
  stroke-miterlimit: 10;
  stroke-dasharray: 300;
  stroke-dashoffset: 300;
  animation-fill-mode: forwards;
  /*fill: none;*/
}

.l2 {
  stroke-dasharray: 300;
  stroke-dashoffset: 300;
  animation: dash 20s linear forwards;
  -webkit-animation-delay: 1s;
  /* Chrome, Safari, Opera */
  animation-delay: 1s;
}

.l3 {
  stroke-dasharray: 300;
  stroke-dashoffset: 300;
  animation: dash 25s linear forwards;
  -webkit-animation-delay: 2.5s;
  /* Chrome, Safari, Opera */
  animation-delay: 2.5s;
}

.l4 {
  stroke-dasharray: 300;
  stroke-dashoffset: 300;
  animation: dash 25s linear forwards;
  -webkit-animation-delay: 4.5s;
  /* Chrome, Safari, Opera */
  animation-delay: 4.5s;
}

@keyframes dash {
  to {
    stroke-dashoffset: 0;
  }
}

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
<!-- Generator: Adobe Illustrator 19.0.1, SVG Export Plug-In . SVG Version: 6.00 Build 0)  -->
<svg class="test" version="1.1" id="Layer_1" xmlns="http://www.w3.org/2000/svg" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink" x="0px" y="0px" viewBox="0 0 30.1 21.8" style="enable-background:new 0 0 30.1 21.8;" xml:space="preserve">
    <g>
    	<path class="text l1" d="M16.5,9.2c-0.2-0.2-0.2-1,0.1-1.5c0.1-0.1,0.2-0.3,0.3-0.4c-1.6,0-3.2-0.3-4.7-0.1C10.8,7.3,9.5,8,9.3,8.9
    		c-0.1,0.6,0.5,0.8,0.7,1c0.1,0.1,0,0.2-0.1,0.1C9.5,10,8.7,9.4,9,8.7c0,0,0-0.1,0-0.2c0.3-1.2,1.7-1.8,3.3-1.9
    		c1.8-0.1,3.9,0.4,4.8,0.4c0.2-0.2,0.4-0.4,0.5-0.4c0.3-0.1,0.6,0.1,0.3,0.4c-0.1,0.1-0.4,0.3-0.6,0.5c-0.4,0.4-0.8,1-0.5,1.5
    		C16.8,9.2,16.7,9.3,16.5,9.2z M12.1,12.8c0.1,0.1-0.1,0.3-0.1,0.3c-0.2,0.3-0.5,0.8-0.8,0.8c-0.1,0-0.5-0.1-0.5-0.1
    		c-0.1-0.8,1.5-3.5,1.9-4.2c0.2-0.3,0.1-0.4,0.1-0.5c0.1-0.4,0.9-1.4,1.5-1.4c0.2,0,0.8,0.2,0.7,0.5c0,0-0.1-0.1-0.2-0.1
    		c-1.1,0-2.9,3.6-3.4,4.7c-0.3,0.7,0.1,0.6,0.4,0.3C11.8,13,12,12.8,12.1,12.8z" fill="red" stroke="#000" stroke-miterlimit="10" stroke-width="0.5" />
    	<path class="text l2" d="M14.4,12.3c-0.2,0-0.3-0.2-0.1-0.2c0.4,0,1.1-0.4,1.5-0.8c0.2-0.2,0.6-0.5,0.5-0.8c0-0.3-0.4-0.2-0.6-0.1
    		c-0.7,0.3-1.7,1.3-2,2.2c-0.3,1,0.6,1,1.4,0.7c0.9-0.4,1.7-1,2.1-1.7c0-0.1,0.1-0.1,0.1,0c0.1,0,0.1,0.1,0,0.1
    		c-0.5,0.8-1.2,1.5-2.1,1.8c-1.2,0.5-2.8,0-2.1-1.5c0.4-0.8,2.2-2.4,3.1-2.1c0.5,0.2,0.4,0.8,0.2,1.1C16.1,11.8,15,12.2,14.4,12.3z" fill="none" stroke="#000" stroke-miterlimit="5" stroke-width="0.5"
    		/>
    	<path class="text l3" d="M17.3,13.6c-0.2,0.2-0.1,0.5,0.4,0.4c0.6-0.2,1.5-0.9,1.5-1.6c0-0.3-0.7-0.6-0.9-0.7c-0.2-0.1-0.3-0.3-0.4-0.4
    		c-0.1,0.2-0.3,0.5-0.5,0.8c-0.1,0.1-0.3,0-0.2-0.1c0.3-0.5,0.6-0.9,0.6-1.1c0.1-0.9,1.7-1.7,2.6-1.7c0.5,0,1,0.3,0.7,0.8
    		c-0.1,0.2-0.2,0.3-0.4,0.4c-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.1-0.2c0.2-0.2,0.3-0.6,0-0.6c-0.4,0-1,0.2-1.3,0.4c-0.4,0.2-0.7,0.4-1,0.9
    		c-0.3,0.3-0.2,0.6,0.1,0.8c0.8,0.5,1.8,0.8,0.9,1.8c-0.4,0.5-1.1,0.7-1.7,0.9c-0.2,0-0.7,0.1-0.9-0.1c-0.1-0.1,0-0.3,0.2-0.5
    		c0.1-0.1,0.3-0.3,0.6-0.3c0.1,0,0.1,0.1,0,0.1C17.5,13.4,17.3,13.5,17.3,13.6z" fill="none" stroke="#000" stroke-miterlimit="5" stroke-width="0.5"/>
    	<path class="text l4" d="M23.6,10.2c-0.2,0.1-0.8,0.1-1.4,0.2c-0.2,0.3-0.3,0.5-0.3,0.6c-0.4,0.7-0.7,1.4-0.7,1.7c-0.1,0.5,0.2,0.8,0.6,0.6
    		c0.4-0.2,1.3-1,1.8-1.7c0.1-0.1,0.2,0,0.1,0.1c-0.2,0.4-1,1.2-1.6,1.6c-0.4,0.3-1.3,0.6-1.5-0.1c-0.1-0.3,0.1-0.9,0.4-1.5
    		c-0.1,0.1-0.2,0.3-0.5,0.6c-0.1,0.1-0.2,0-0.1-0.2c0.4-0.5,0.7-1,0.9-1.2c0,0,0.1-0.2,0.3-0.5c-0.1,0-0.2,0-0.3,0
    		c-0.1,0-0.2-0.1-0.2-0.3c0.1-0.2,0.4-0.2,0.6-0.2c0,0,0,0,0,0l0.6-1.1c0.3-0.5,0.3-0.6,0.5-0.7c0.2,0,0.4,0,0.5,0.1
    		c0.1,0.1,0,0.4-0.1,0.5C23.2,9,23.1,9,23,9.1l-0.6,1l0.2,0c0.4,0,0.7-0.1,1.1-0.1C23.9,10,24.1,10.1,23.6,10.2z" fill="none" stroke="#000" stroke-miterlimit="5" stroke-width="0.5"/>
    </g>
    <g></g>
    <g></g>
    <g></g>
    <g></g>
    <g></g>
    <g></g>
</svg>

View on CodePen

Solution 1

How the Se7ensky animation works is that it uses the standard dash animation technique, but clips the animated stroke with an outline representing the hand-drawn look of the logo.

So the standard dash animation technique works as follows. You take a standard line:

<svg>
  <path d="M 10,75 L 290,75" stroke="red" stroke-width="50"/>
</svg>

Then you add a dash pattern to it and animate it's position (stroke-dashoffset).

.pen {
  stroke-dasharray: 280 280;
  stroke-dashoffset: 280;
  animation-duration: 2s;
  animation-name: draw;
  animation-iteration-count: infinite;
  animation-direction: alternate;
  animation-timing-function: linear;
}

@keyframes draw {
  from {
    stroke-dashoffset: 280;
  }

  to {
    stroke-dashoffset: 0;
  }
}

<svg>
  <path class="pen" d="M 10,75 L 290,75" stroke="red" stroke-width="50"/>
</svg>

Finally to get the fancy variable stroke width of the Se7ensky example, you clip that line with the outline of your logo.

So let's pretend this simple path below represents your logo:

<svg>
  <path stroke="black" stroke-width="1" fill="lightgrey"
        d="M 40,50
           C 110,55 195,60, 265,55
           C 290,55 290,85 265,85
           C 195,85 110,85 40,100
           C 0,100 0,50 40,50 Z"/>
</svg>

We turn that into a clipPath element and use it to trim our animated stroke to the shape of our logo:

.pen {
  stroke-dasharray: 280 280;
  stroke-dashoffset: 280;
  animation-duration: 2s;
  animation-name: draw;
  animation-iteration-count: infinite;
  animation-direction: alternate;
  animation-timing-function: linear;
}

@keyframes draw {
  from {
    stroke-dashoffset: 280;
  }

  to {
    stroke-dashoffset: 0;
  }
}

<svg>
  <clipPath id="logo">
    <path d="M 40,50
             C 110,55 195,60, 265,55
             C 290,55 290,85 265,85
             C 195,85 110,85 40,100
             C 0,100 0,50 40,50 Z"/>
  </clipPath>
  
  <path class="pen" d="M 10,75 L 290,75" stroke="red" stroke-width="50" clip-path="url(#logo)"/>
</svg>

So to replicate their example, you'll need to add a continuous path (or paths if you want) to your SVG that represents the path that a pen would take if it were writing the letters in your logo.

Then animate that path using the dashoffset technique while clipping it with your original logo.

---

Update

Here's a final demo with a more realistic letter shape:

// Simple code to enable and disable the clipping path
var chk = document.getElementById("chk");
var penpath = document.getElementById("penpath");

chk.addEventListener("input", function(evt) {
  if (evt.target.checked) {
    penpath.classList.add("clipped");
  } else {
    penpath.classList.remove("clipped");
  }
});

.pen {
  fill: none;
  stroke: red;
  stroke-width: 18;
  stroke-linecap: round;

  stroke-dasharray: 206 206;
  stroke-dashoffset: 206;
  animation-duration: 2s;
  animation-name: draw;
  animation-iteration-count: infinite;
  animation-direction: alternate;
  animation-timing-function: linear;
}

.clipped {
  clip-path: url(#logo);
}

@keyframes draw {
  from {
    stroke-dashoffset: 206;
  }

  to {
    stroke-dashoffset: 0;
  }
}

<svg>
  <defs>
    <clipPath id="logo">
      <path d="m85.77 49.77c-10.59 8.017-27.38 21.95-41.58 21.95-6.396 0-12.99-2.481-12.39-9.735l0.3998-4.199c38.38-12.03 48.17-26.15 48.17-35.5 0-7.635-7.995-9.162-14.39-9.162-25.98-0.1909-54.97 25.39-54.17 50.39 0.3998 12.6 7.196 25.01 21.79 25.01 19.79 0 41.78-17.94 53.97-31.5zm-52.37-1.336c5.397-12.6 16.99-21.76 26.98-24.24 1.399-0.3818 2.399 0.7635 2.399 2.1 0.1999 3.245-11.79 16.42-29.38 22.14z"/>
    </clipPath>
  </defs>
  
  <path id="penpath" d="m39.02 51.1c5.361-1.771 10.04-4.182 15.98-7.857 6.019-3.933 9.841-7.728 12.77-10.71 1.403-1.369 12.03-15.97-7.857-13.93-9.824 1.01-19.62 8.3-26.16 14.91-6.538 6.61-10.42 14.51-11.96 22.23-2.559 12.76 1.807 26.19 21.07 23.48 13.96-1.965 32.59-14.55 43.66-25.54" class="pen clipped"/>
</svg>


<p>
<input id="chk" type="checkbox" checked="true"/> <label for="chk">Enable clipping path</label>
</p>

Solution 2

The example looks like a combination of svg paths and delayed animations.

This blog post by CSS-Tricks explains it pretty well (Note that the svg must have strokes for this to work): https://css-tricks.com/svg-line-animation-works/

Here's a guide on stroke-dashoffset (used on the example) that might be useful: https://css-tricks.com/almanac/properties/s/stroke-dashoffset/

Comments

[nb_ck]

Thanks for your answer, I understand how stroke-dashoffset works. My problem is to create a svg from text , that has a stroke but doesn't have any fill. So I can animate only stroke.I updated my links with examples. Hopefully it will give more clear understanding of what I am trying to achive.

[Diego]

You'll need to edit the actual svg to only be strokes...I see you used illustrator to generate the image so try editing the svg to on illustrator. It might mean editing the actual shapes, if you need more help with that maybe try asking here graphicdesign.stackexchange.com

[He Yifei 何一非]

Great answer! Here's some LESS code that I think could make it even easier: codepen.io/hesyifei/pen/Wymgxr

[ashleedawg]

I don't have time to provide explanation but this pen is an example of how I made this technique work for me. ...It could've been simpler if I wasn't so picky about animating each letter one by one, after the previous one has had enough time to draw partially... (eg. animating a F takes 2.1x longer than an o, using Google script font Parisienne.) This demo illustrates the effects of StrokeDashArray and StrokeDashOffset. (Illustrator not needed)