Awesome Plotters

A curated list of code and resources for pen plotters and other robots that draw.

Contributing

Contributions are very welcome. Please see CONTRIBUTING and CODE-OF-CONDUCT for details.

Contents

• Hardware
  • Plotters
  • Motor Controllers
  • Accessories
  • Pens
• Software
  • HPGL
  • G-code
  • Plotter-Specific
  • Vector Creation
  • Vector Utilities
  • Fonts
• Inspiration and Instruction
• Community
• Other Awesomes

Hardware

Plotters

• AxiDraw – pen plotter from Evil Mad Scientist, very popular on #plottertwitter
• Line-us – a cute little kickstarted robotic drawing arm
• Makeblock XY Plotter – hackable XY plotter kit (possibly discontinued)
• Drawing Robot – 3d-Printable AxiDraw clone w/ Arduino CNC Shield controller running grbl firmware
• WaterColorBot – XY art robot and software to plot with watercolor paints
• EggBot – pen plotter for egg-shaped and spherical objects
• HP Pen Plotters – vintage desktop and floor-standing pen plotters from the creator of the HPGL standard. Model 7475A is very common and can usually be found on eBay
• Roland Pen Plotters (YouTube) – vintage flatbed HPGL pen plotters. Search eBay for "roland dxy"

Motor Controllers

• grblShield – all the stepper motor control hardware needed to turn an Arduino into a G-code-based motion controller using the grbl firmware (adafruit)
• TinyG – more featureful and robust 6-axis G-code-based motion control hardware (adafruit)
• Arduino CNC Shield – grbl-compatible stepper motor control shield for Arduino, similar to the grblShield
• Raspberry Pi CNC Hat – Raspberry Pi add-on board w/ stepper controllers and a microcontroller running grbl. Interfaces with the Pi's serial pins

Accessories

• WiFi232 – wifi to RS-232 serial via a DB25 plug. Control your serial plotter wirelessly
• Plotter Cable Pinout (PDF) – schematic for a plotter cable that will work for most HP and Roland plotters. Search eBay or Amazon for DB9 to DB25 Serial Null Modem Cable or similar to find them for sale

Pens

• Sharpie Fine Point Plotter Adapter – 3d-printed adapter to fit a standard Sharpie in an HP-GL plotter
• Parametric 3d-Printable Plotter Pen Adapter – adjustable model to print adapters for various pens
• Plotter Pen STL Models – accurate STL models of both short and long standard plotter pens
• TODO: pen recommendations

Software

HPGL

HPGL is a serial/text-based protocol used by most old pen plotters, and even many new vinyl cutters.

• Chiplotle (web site) – Python library for generating HPGL and interfacing with serial plotters
• HPGL Reference Guide – HTML-based HPGL Reference
• HP 7475A Interfacing and Programming Manual – scanned PDF manual that contains a full HPGL reference
• djipco/hpgl – A Node.js library to communicate with HPGL-compatible plotters and printers
• hp2xx – GNU tool to convert HPGL into other vector and raster formats. Can also be used as a previewing in X11

G-code

G-code is a text-based standard for controlling CNC machines. Though it was designed for industrial machines, its use in many hobbyist 3d printer firmwares has made it ubiquitous in small-scale DIY projects as well.

• grbl – a high-performance G-code interpreting firmware for the Atmega 328 microcontroller and Arduino
• cncjs – a web-based interface controlling CNC machines running grbl, TinyG, or other G-code-based firmware
• node-gcode – Node.js-based G-code interpreter and similator
• svg2gcode – Node.js-based command line utility for converting SVG to G-code
• svg2gcode – Python-based utility for fast SVG to G-code conversion
• Universal-G-Code-Sender – Java-based grbl-compatible cross-platform G-code sender
• ChiliPeppr Hardware Fiddle – modular web-based workspaces to visualize G-code and control hardware

Plotter-Specific

Software that is specific to a particular plotter or controller.

• axidraw – official AxiDraw extensions for Inkscape
• axi – unofficial Python library for the AxiDraw v3
• xy – utilities for the Makeblock XY Plotter Robot Kit
• LaserGRBL – laser-optimized Windows GUI for grbl controllers. Could be repurposed for DIY pen plotters that use a solenoid for pen up/down movements
• Line-us Inkscape Plugin – sends drawings to the Line-us plotter directly from Inkscape
• Line-us API Examples – example code for the Line-us plotter's G-code-based API
• PenPlotter - Polar graph controller that uses repetier firmware. Inspired by work at http://www.polargraph.co.uk
• Makelangelo-firmware - Code in the brain of the Makelangelo robot

Vector Creation

Tools to create vector artwork from scratch or by conversion from other formats.

• Inkscape – popular cross-platform open source vector graphics editor
• p5.js – "javascript library that makes coding accessible for artists, designers, educators, and beginners"
• Paper.js – "The Swiss Army Knife of Vector Graphics Scripting"
• ln – vector-based 3D renderer written in Go
• autotrace – converts bitmap images to vector graphics
• stipplegen – creates intereting stippled drawings from bitmap images (blog post)
• SquiggleDraw – "SquiggleDraw will create a SVG file from an image, using the brightness to change the amplitude of sine waves"
• svgurt – web-based PNG to SVG creative noodler
• maptrace - produce watertight polygonal vector maps by tracing raster images
• venation - modeling and visualisation of leaf venation patterns
• Drawbot_image_to_gcode_v2 - creates G-code for use on drawbots
• blackstripes - turns a PNG image into a SVG line drawing
• Ribbon - ribbon diagrams of proteins in #golang
• penplot – a development environment for plotter art in JavaScript
• penkit – a Python library for creating line-based SVG graphics

Vector Utilities

Tools to manipulate and optimize vector-based file formats.

• svgsort – path planning for plotting SVG files, reduces time spent moving with the pen up
• svgo – Node.js-based tool for optimizing SVG files
• Polargraph Optimizer - optimize drawing plan for a polargraph
• penkit-optimize – an SVG optimizer that uses a vehicle routing solver to minimize plot time.

Fonts

Single-line vector fonts or "engraving fonts".

• Hershey Vector Font – .fnt format of vector fonts from the 60s. Includes a good overview of the original data format of the fonts
• hershey-fonts – C library and original font data for the Hershey fonts
• OneLineFonts.com – commercial site with some single-line fonts available for purchase

Inspiration and Instruction

Blog posts, articles, tutorials, galleries, videos, et cetera.

• An Intro to Pen Plotters – good info on getting started with old HPGL plotters
• 1980s pen plotters of the future – another intro to vintage pen plotters
• Pen Plotter Programming: The Basics – some basics of programming vector paths, including sorting, joining, and simplifying
• On Generative Algorithms – nice 13-part walkthrough of interesting algorithms
• Roland DG DXY-990 – quickstart guide for a Roland flatbed plotter
• The Cohen-Sutherland Line Clipping Algorithm – detailed explanation and examples of an interesting algorithm
• Vera Molnár – OG plotter artist
• The Recode Project – "The ReCode Project is a community-driven effort to preserve computer art by translating it into a modern programming language"
• Hektor – the original cable-based drawbot from 2002
• Pen Plotter Art & Algorithms Part I and II – a two-part intro to creating generative graphics for plotting
• Surface Projection and Fractal Generation with L-Systems – each introduce techniques for creating line graphics suitable for plotting

Community

Where to find other plotter and drawbot friends.

• #plottertwitter – Twitter hashtag with lots o' plots
• PlotterArt Subreddit
• AxiDraw Subreddit
• Generative Art Subreddit
• Chiplotle-discuss – fairly inactive mailing list for the Chiplotle HPGL Python library with some general plotter talk

Other Awesomes

• awesome-generative-art
• awesome-creative-coding