Track Awesome Plotters Updates Daily
A curated list of code and resources for computer-controlled drawing machines and other visual art robots.
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Sep 26, 2023
Hardware / Accessories and Adapters
- PlotAdapter (⭐13) - "Serial-GPIB converter for HP Plotters", uses an Arduino microcontroller to convert serial HPGL to the GPIB/HP-IB expected by some older HP plotters.
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Tech Tangents: Gold Standard Plotter - HP 7475A - Video with some HPGL and plotter history, plus operating an HP 7475A from an IBM 5160 microcomputer.
- curiousmarc.com: HP 7475A Plotter - A great collection of info, ephemera, plot files, three YouTube videos, and a 3d-printable replacement part for the HP 7475A.
Aug 31, 2023
Software / Vector Creation
- LineDream - A generative art library for Python that can export SVGs.
Jul 25, 2023
Software / Vector Creation
- plotter.vision - Interactive website for hidden line removal of STL files to generate plottable SVG. Also supports Red/Blue 3D glasses.
Jul 18, 2023
Software / Plotter Control
- Inkcut (⭐267) - Application for controlling 2D plotters, cutters, engravers, and CNC machines.
Apr 22, 2023
Manuals and Ephemera / Ephemera
- Hewlett-Packard Journal Volume 32 Number 10 - Multiple articles about the development of the HP Model 7580A plotter.
Apr 19, 2023
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
Apr 08, 2023
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Mar 24, 2023
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
- [Unknown Brand] LP 2002 Photo Plotter Attachment Operating Manual (German) - Also see Martin Bircher's thread with pictures of this device.
Feb 22, 2023
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- CuriousMarc: HP 7475A Plotter and HPGL Demo - Video of an HP 7475A plotting some demos.
- CuriousMarc: Refilling or Replacing Vintage HP Plotter Pens - Video showing how to open, clean, and refill vintage HP plotter pens.
- Commodore 1520 Plotter Demonstration - Video of the Commodore 1520 plotter in action, including a cover-off shot of the mechanism.
Feb 21, 2023
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Feb 05, 2023
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Jan 04, 2023
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- An Introduction to Pen Plotting - Another getting started article with modern pen plotters.
Dec 23, 2022
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Tech Tangents: Plotting For The First Time - HP 7470A - Nice video showing an HP 7470A operated from an HP 85 computer.
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Nov 19, 2022
Community / Ephemera
- #PenPlotter - Mastodon/ActivityPub hashtag that plotter folks are mostly congregating under.
Oct 04, 2022
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Orbis Tertius - An immersive digital installation with plotter output of Martian topography.
Sep 29, 2022
Manuals and Ephemera / Ephemera
Aug 17, 2022
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Aug 11, 2022
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Tools, Tricks, and Hacks: Exploring Novel Digital Fabrication Workflows on #PlotterTwitter - Research paper on the novel workflows of the plotter community (Video Summary).
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Manuals and Ephemera / Ephemera
Jul 11, 2022
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- What is a pen plotter 2022? - Nice video introduction to modern plotters in 2022.
Manuals and Ephemera / Ephemera
- CalComp Plotters in 1968 - Promotional video showing a flatbed CalComp plotter and its output.
Jun 10, 2022
Hardware / Motor Controllers
- EBB Driver Board - USB-based dual stepper motor controller board, originally designed for the EggBot.
Hardware / Pens
- Parametric 3d-Printable Plotter Pen Adapter - Adjustable model to print adapters for various pens.
Jun 07, 2022
Hardware / Plotters
- AxiDraw - Pen plotter from Evil Mad Scientist, very popular on #plottertwitter.
- Drawing Robot - 3d-Printable AxiDraw clone w/ Arduino CNC Shield controller running grbl firmware.
- 4xiDraw - Yet another 3d-printable AxiDraw clone w/ Arduino CNC Shield controller running grbl firmware.
Hardware / Motor Controllers
- Arduino CNC Shield - Grbl-compatible stepper motor control shield for Arduino, similar to the grblShield.
Hardware / Pens
- Sharpie Fine Point Plotter Adapter - 3d-printed adapter to fit a standard Sharpie in an HP-GL plotter.
- Plotter Pen STL Models - Accurate STL models of both short and long standard plotter pens.
Software / Plotter Control
- axidraw (⭐394) - Official AxiDraw extensions for Inkscape.
- Line-us Inkscape Plugin (⭐7) - Sends drawings to the Line-us plotter directly from Inkscape.
- Line-us API Examples (⭐105) - Example code for the Line-us plotter's G-code-based API.
- @beardicus/line-us (⭐25) - JavaScript library for controlling the Line-us machine from Node or the browser.
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- An Intro to Pen Plotters - Good info on getting started with old HPGL plotters.
Jun 02, 2022
Software / Vector Creation
- linedraw (⭐703) - Python tool to convert images to sketchy vector line drawings.
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Jun 01, 2022
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Manuals and Ephemera / Ephemera
May 29, 2022
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
May 26, 2022
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Manuals and Ephemera / Ephemera
- Auerbach On Digital Plotters And Image Digitizers (1972) - A book about plotters and digitizers.
Feb 24, 2022
Software / Vector Creation
- SVG.js - Dependency-free lightweight library for creating, manipulating, and animating SVG.
- Components AI - Experimental computational design platform for exploring generative space.
- DrawingBotV3 (⭐235) - Cross-platform software for converting images to line drawings.
Software / Vector Utilities
- SVG Cropper - A browser-based tool to crop SVGs using different primitives, custom shapes, or other SVGs.
Dec 13, 2021
Software / G-code
- node-gcode (⭐31) - Node.js G-code interpreter and simulator.
- svg2gcode (⭐53) - Node.js command line utility for converting SVG to G-code.
- svg2gcode (⭐87) - Python utility for fast SVG to G-code conversion.
- jscut - A web-based utility for converting SVG to G-code.
- gcodeplot (⭐144) - Python utility to convert SVG and HPGL to G-code for a 3-axis CNC machine.
Nov 23, 2021
Manuals and Ephemera / Ephemera
May 21, 2021
Manuals and Ephemera / Manuals
Manuals and Ephemera / Ephemera
- Hewlett-Packard Journal Volume 29 Number 1 - Multiple articles about the development of the HP Model 9872A and 7221A pen plotters.
- Hewlett-Packard Journal Volume 32 Number 11 - Multiple articles about the development of the HP Model 7580A plotter.
- Roland Users Group Volume 2 Number 4 (1984) - Computers and Plotters Take the Place of Drafting Tables and Pencils article on page 36 (PDF page 40).
Community / Ephemera
- DrawingBots Discord Forum - Discord forum with an active community.
Jan 27, 2021
Hardware / Plotters
- Arduino CNC Drawing Machine - A fairly simple 3d-printed AxiDraw-style plotter with good video documentation.
Dec 28, 2020
Software / Vector Creation
- PlotterFun - Browser-based Image to SVG converter similar to SquiggleDraw.
Software / Fonts
- CNC Text Tool - Browser-based Hershey Text tool with export to SVG.
Community / Ephemera
- PlotterFiles - Community for sharing SVG files for plotters.
Other Awesomes / Ephemera
Nov 30, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Nov 28, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Nov 07, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Oct 11, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Oct 02, 2020
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- The Best XY Plotters in 2020 - Good overview of the AxiDraw and its clones, plus some DIY options.
Jun 03, 2020
Software / Vector Creation
- makio135/plotter - An Observable notebook collection full of plotter-oriented work.
May 15, 2020
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- How to Draw Generative Art with an Axidraw Pen Plotter - Lots of nice tips, not all specific to the Axidraw, plus some pen reviews and handy 3d-printed tools.
May 12, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
May 11, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Mar 17, 2020
Software / Vector Utilities
- vpype (⭐603) - Plotter-focused Python-based CLI utility for generating and manipulating SVGs, including scaling and optimizing paths.
Software / Fonts
- svg-fonts - Single-line fonts in an SVG format, mainly for use with the Hershey Text Inkscape plugin.
Feb 24, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Feb 13, 2020
Software / Vector Creation
- cozyvec (⭐67) - Web/Standalone terminal environment for plotter art and tweet plots.
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Jan 21, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Nov 29, 2019
Software / G-code
- gcode-generative-for-processing (⭐25) - Processing library, aiming to create gcode from simple shapes. (Designed for usage with the Creality CR10)
Oct 19, 2019
Hardware / Plotters
- BrachioGraph - A cheap and simple plotter made from sticks, servos, and a Raspberry Pi running Python. Here's video of a BrachioGraph talk at PyCon UK from the creator.
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Surface Projection - Deep dive into surface projection and hidden line removal using Python and penplot.
Jun 28, 2019
Software / HPGL
- HPGLGraphics (⭐17) - A Processing library for writing HPGL files.
Community / Ephemera
- Plotter People - In-person meetups (SF and NYC so far) with talks and plotter art galleries.
Apr 08, 2019
Hardware / Pens
- JetPens – The Best White Ink Pens - A comprehensive review of many white ink pens, with pictures of their coverage characteristics.
Mar 17, 2019
Software / Plotter Control
- MP2300-Tools (⭐6) - Software for converting HPGL to Graphtec's GPGL format, as well as CAD files for a Graphtec plotter pen adapter.
Feb 26, 2019
Hardware / Plotters
- Line-us - A cute little kickstarted robotic drawing arm.
- 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 - Vintage flatbed HPGL pen plotters. Search eBay for "roland dxy".
Hardware / Motor Controllers
- grblShield (⭐129) - All the stepper motor control hardware needed to turn an Arduino into a G-code-based motion controller using the grbl firmware. (adafruit)
- TinyG (⭐844) - More featureful and robust 6-axis G-code-based motion control hardware. (adafruit)
- Raspberry Pi CNC Hat - Raspberry Pi add-on board w/ stepper controllers and a microcontroller running grbl. Interfaces with the Pi's serial pins.
Hardware / Accessories and Adapters
- WiFi232 - Wifi to RS-232 serial via a DB25 plug. Control your serial plotter wirelessly.
- Plotter Cable Pinout - 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.
Hardware / Pens
- Pens for AxiDraw - List of pens suitable for general plotter abuse.
- Pens for EggBot - Egg- and glass-focused pen recommendations but still generally applicable information.
Software / HPGL
- Chiplotle (⭐31) - 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 (⭐36) - 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.
- vec (⭐23) - Example C code for generating HPGL, with a turtle graphics interface.
- d3-hpgl (⭐19) - An adapter for the HTML Canvas API so you can output HPGL using the popular D3 library.
- HPGL Viewer (⭐15) - An HPGL Viewer using JavaScript and HTML5 canvas.
- HPGL Sender (⭐9) - A web interface for previewing HPGL and sending it to your plotter.
Software / G-code
- grbl (⭐5.1k) - A high-performance G-code interpreting firmware for the Atmega 328 microcontroller and Arduino.
- cncjs (⭐2.1k) - A web-based interface controlling CNC machines running grbl, TinyG, or other G-code-based firmware.
- Universal-G-Code-Sender (⭐1.7k) - Java-based grbl-compatible cross-platform G-code sender.
- ChiliPeppr Hardware Fiddle - Modular web-based workspaces to visualize G-code and control hardware.
Software / Plotter Control
- axi (⭐261) - Unofficial Python library for the AxiDraw v3.
- xy (⭐68) - Utilities for the Makeblock XY Plotter Robot Kit.
- LaserGRBL (⭐1k) - Laser-optimized Windows GUI for grbl controllers. Could be repurposed for DIY pen plotters that use a solenoid for pen up/down movements.
- PenPlotter (⭐111) - Polargraph controller that uses repetier firmware.
- Makelangelo-firmware (⭐151) - Firmware for the Makelangelo polargraph robot.
- RoboPaint (⭐122) - Software for the WaterColorBot.
- AxiTurtle (⭐13) - Turtle graphics for AxiDraw in Processing.
- GRBL-Plotter (⭐552) - Plotter-optimized Windows GUI for grbl controller with SVG and DXF import, and flexible pen up/down control.
- saxi (⭐420) - Driver and library for the AxiDraw. Uses constant-acceleration motion planning and automatically resizes to paper.
Software / Vector Creation
- 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 (⭐3.2k) - Vector-based 3D renderer written in Go.
- autotrace (⭐406) - Converts bitmap images to vector graphics.
- stipplegen (⭐392) - Creates interesting stippled drawings from bitmap images. (blog post)
- SquiggleDraw (⭐301) - "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 (⭐119) - Produce watertight polygonal vector maps by tracing raster images.
- Drawbot_image_to_gcode_v2 (⭐147) - Creates G-code for use on drawbots.
- blackstripes (⭐88) - Turns a PNG image into a SVG line drawing.
- Ribbon (⭐235) - Ribbon diagrams of proteins in written in Go.
- penplot (⭐262) - A development environment for plotter art in JavaScript.
- penkit (⭐130) - A Python library for creating line-based SVG graphics.
- generativeExamples (⭐60) - Example Processing code that generates plottable PDFs.
- Let's make map - Web-based tool to export an SVG map from Mapzen tiles.
- SuperformulaSVG for web - A generative line art web app.
- scribbleplot (⭐44) - Scribbly image transformations in Processing.
- Maker.js - Library for creating 2D vector drawings for CNC and laser cutter machines.
- Turtletoy - Browser-based JavaScript turtle graphics API with SVG export.
Software / Vector Utilities
- svgsort (⭐236) - Path planning for plotting SVG files, reduces time spent moving with the pen up.
- svgo (⭐20k) - Node.js-based tool for optimizing SVG files.
- Polargraph Optimizer (⭐57) - Optimize drawing plan for a polargraph.
- penkit-optimize (⭐130) - An SVG optimizer that uses a vehicle routing solver to minimize plot time.
- svg-crowbar (⭐837) - Chrome-only bookmarklet for extracting SVG from an HTML document.
Software / Fonts
- Summary of single line fonts - Good information and links to other resources and 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 (⭐49) - C library and original font data for the Hershey fonts.
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- 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.
- Hektor - The original cable-based drawbot from 2002.
- Pen Plotter Art & Algorithms - A two-part intro to creating generative graphics for plotting.
- Fractal Generation with L-Systems - Techniques for creating line-based fractal graphics.
- Introduction to TSP art - Resources for traveling salesman problem (single path) art.
- Hidden wireframe removal - Discussion and links to code for wireframe removal of STL files.
Feb 20, 2019
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Jan 19, 2019
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Aug 02, 2018
Community / Ephemera
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Jul 25, 2018
Plotter Art For Sale / Ephemera
Other Awesomes / Ephemera