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Implementing a signature pad in web applications allows users to digitally sign documents or forms, providing a convenient and paperless solution. In CodeIgniter 4, integrating a signature pad using jQuery offers an interactive way to capture and save user signatures seamlessly.

In this tutorial, we’ll explore the comprehensive process of creating a signature pad and saving signatures using jQuery in CodeIgniter 4. This functionality empowers developers to implement a user-friendly signature capture mechanism and store the signatures securely in the backend.

Let’s get started.

CodeIgniter 4 Installation

To create a CodeIgniter 4 setup run this given command into your shell or terminal. Please make sure composer should be installed.

composer create-project codeigniter4/appstarter codeigniter-4

Assuming you have successfully installed application into your local system.

Environment (.env) Setup

When we install CodeIgniter 4, we will have env file at root. To use the environment variables means using variables at global scope we need to do env to .env

Either we can do via renaming file as simple as that. Also we can do by terminal command.

Open project in terminal

cp env .env

Above command will create a copy of env file to .env file. Now we are ready to use environment variables.

Enable Development Mode

CodeIgniter starts up in production mode by default. You need to make it in development mode to see any error if you are working with application.

Open .env file from root.

# CI_ENVIRONMENT = production

 // Do it to 
 
CI_ENVIRONMENT = development

Now application is in development mode.

Create Images Folder

Go to /public folder available at application root. Create a folder with name images. We will save generated signature images inside it.

Make sure images folder should have sufficient permission to write content into it.

Create Controller

Next, we need to create a controller file.

php spark make:controller Signature --suffix

It will create a file SignatureController.php inside /app/Controllers folder.

Open file and write this complete code into it.

<?php

namespace App\Controllers;

use App\Controllers\BaseController;

class SignatureController extends BaseController
{
	public function index()
	{
		return view('signature-pad');
	}

	public function store()
	{
		if ($this->request->getMethod() == "post") {

			$file_string = $this->request->getVar('signed');

			$image = explode(";base64,", $file_string);

			$image_type = explode("image/", $image[0]);

			$image_type_png = $image_type[1];

			$image_base64 = base64_decode($image[1]);

			$folderPath = ROOTPATH . 'public/images/';

			$file = $folderPath . uniqid() . '.' . $image_type_png;

			$session = session();

			file_put_contents($file, $image_base64);

			$session->setFlashdata("success", "Signature saved successfully");

			return redirect('signature-pad');
		}
	}
}

Create Layout File

Go to /app/Views folder and create a file with name signature-pad.php

Open file and write this complete code into it.

<html>

<head>
    <title>Create Signature Pad Using jQuery in CodeIgniter 4</title>

    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/twitter-bootstrap/4.3.1/css/bootstrap.css">

    <link rel="stylesheet" href="https://cdnjs.cloudflare.com/ajax/libs/jqueryui/1.12.1/jquery-ui.min.css" />

    <link rel="stylesheet" type="text/css" href="http://keith-wood.name/css/jquery.signature.css">

    <style>
        .kbw-signature {
            width: 100%;
            height: 200px;
        }

        #sig canvas {
            width: 100% !important;
            height: auto;
        }
    </style>
</head>

<body>
    <div class="container">
        <div class="row">
            <div class="col-md-8 offset-md-3 mt-5">
                <div class="card">
                    <div class="card-header">
                        <h5>Create Signature Pad Using jQuery in CodeIgniter 4</h5>
                    </div>
                    <div class="card-body">

                        <?php if (session()->get("success")) { ?>
                            <div class="alert alert-success">
                                <?= session()->get("success") ?>
                            </div>
                        <?php } ?>

                        <form method="POST" action="<?= base_url('submit-signature') ?>">
                            <div class="col-md-12">
                                <label class="" for="">Draw Signature:</label>
                                <br />
                                <div id="sig"></div>
                                <br><br>
                                <button id="clear" class="btn btn-danger">Clear Signature</button>
                                <button class="btn btn-success">Save</button>
                                <textarea id="signature" name="signed" style="display: none"></textarea>
                            </div>
                        </form>
                    </div>
                </div>
            </div>
        </div>
    </div>
    <script src="https://code.jquery.com/jquery-3.5.1.min.js"></script>

    <script src="https://code.jquery.com/ui/1.12.1/jquery-ui.min.js"></script>

    <script type="text/javascript" src="http://keith-wood.name/js/jquery.signature.js"></script>

    <script type="text/javascript">
        var sig = $('#sig').signature({
            syncField: '#signature',
            syncFormat: 'PNG'
        });
        $('#clear').click(function(e) {
            e.preventDefault();
            sig.signature('clear');
            $("#signature").val('');
        });
    </script>
</body>

</html>

Create Route

Open Routes.php from /app/Config folder and add these route into it.

//...

$routes->get('signature-pad', 'SignatureController::index');
$routes->post('submit-signature', 'SignatureController::store');

//...

Application Testing

Open project terminal and start development server via command:

php spark serve

URL: http://localhost:8080/signature-pad

When we hit Save button, it will save the signature image into images folder.

That’s it.

We hope this article helped you to learn about Create Signature Pad and Save Using jQuery in CodeIgniter 4 in a very detailed way.

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