Track Awesome Plotters Updates Weekly
A curated list of code and resources for computer-controlled drawing machines and other visual art robots.
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Jul 01 - Jul 07, 2024
Hardware / Pens
- JetPens - The Best White Ink Pens - A comprehensive review of many white ink pens, with pictures of their coverage characteristics.
Software / Vector Creation
- PINTR - Plottable random line drawings from your images.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
- (Unknown Brand) LP 2002 Photo Plotter Attachment Operating Manual (German) - Also see Martin Bircher's thread with pictures of this device.
Courses / Patents
- Painting with Plotters - A work-in-progress course by Licia He, to be released September 2024.
Jun 17 - Jun 23, 2024
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
May 20 - May 26, 2024
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Early Computer Art in the 50s and 60s - Good art history lesson with lots of plotter-relevant artists.
- Coding My Handwriting - Great exploration of creating handwriting with p5.js and some custom tools.
May 13 - May 19, 2024
Software / Vector Creation
- ThreadPlotter (⭐32) - "A toolkit for the design and fabrication of delicate punch needle embroidery using X-Y plotters".
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Flatulence, Crystals, and Happy Little Accidents by Nick Fitzgerald (RustConf 2019) - A RustConf talk with very little Rust, more about the creative process of generative art and pen plotters.
- Recreating Retro Plotter Art, by Sher Minn (Plotter People #1) - Conference talk with lots of great computer and plotter history.
- 20+ Questions About My Plotter Painting Practice - Q&A blog post with lots of details about more painterly plotting.
- 300 Days with Plotters - Blog post by Licia He about a successful 100 day plotting challenge.
- Vintage Aritma 0507 Plotter drawing Sierpinski triangles in one stroke - Aritma Minigraf 0507 video.
- https://jiristepanovsky.cz/project.php?p=13plotter - Blog post on the Aritma Minigraf 0507 plotter from Czechoslovakia.
- Drawing an Etch-Mask Directly onto a PCB using a Vintage Plotter - The video description has some interesting details about this plotter.
- OrCAD 386 and a plotter Colorgraf Aritma 512 - Article about using a Colorgraf 512 plotter with OrCAD 386 for making printed circuit boards.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
- Aritma Colorgraf 512 - Website with scanned schematics and manual.
May 06 - May 12, 2024
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
- Elektor Magazine Selbstbauplotter MONDRIAN II (1990) (German) - Also see a model of this plotter on GrabCAD.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Papers
Apr 29 - May 05, 2024
Hardware / Plotters
- NextDraw - The Bantam Tools successor to the popular AxiDraw pen plotter.
Software / Fonts
- FifteenTwenty: Commodore 1520 plotter font (⭐13) - Blog post about the creation of this font from the original ROM.
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Buildlog.net Atari 1020 Plotter Retrofit - Blog post and video about converting an Atari 1020 plotter to use a ESP32-based GRBL controller.
- Texas Instruments HX-1000 Plotter Photos - Photo gallery of the plotter's exterior, interior, and packaging.
- Making cheap HP plotter pens - Blog post mainly about using vinyl cutter parts as pen holders.
- Marcel Schwittlick and The Long Run - Interview with Marcel, and lots of photos and videos of his work and workspace.
- Lars Wander and Mixing Paint With Code - Interview with Lars Wander, plus art and videos.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
- SEGA SP-400 Operation Manual - This doesn't present as a flippable book on the archive, but the original page scans are still available for download.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
- IEEE Electronic Systems News Autumn (1985) - Review of the three-color Penman robotic plotter.
- Apple II Business Graphics Film (1982) - There's a Strobe Model 100 Graphics Plotter drawing bar charts at 4:57.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Papers
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Patents
Apr 22 - Apr 28, 2024
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Taxan KPL 710 Demo Plot - A handheld recording of the Taxan KPL 710 running its demo plot.
- Sweet-P Six Shooter SP-600 Plotter Demonstration - A recording of the Sweet-P SP-600 running its demo plot.
- Bottle Plotter - Blog post about building a cylindrical pen plotter for drawing on wine bottles.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
- Esterline Angus Spartan X-Y Recorder Instruction Manual (1980) - Revs 1080, 1178, 0480.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
- Sweet-P Plotter Brochure and Price List - Four-page color marketing brochure with attached suggested retail price list.
Apr 01 - Apr 07, 2024
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Mar 25 - Mar 31, 2024
Hardware / Plotters
- PlotterXY (⭐37) - A coreXY plotter made from extrusion, 3d-printed parts, and an inexpensive 3d-printer control board.
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Building an interactive plotter art installation - Nice writeup (with videos) of an interactive plotter art exhibit at SIGGRAPH 2023.
Mar 11 - Mar 17, 2024
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Mar 04 - Mar 10, 2024
Software / HPGL
- processing2hpgl (⭐2) - A Processing library that allows for direct communication with HPGL pen plotters from within a Processing sketch.
Software / Fonts
- hf2gcode (⭐47) - Generates G-code from text with a Hershey font.
Feb 12 - Feb 18, 2024
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
- Hewlett-Packard Journal Volume 33 Number 12 (1982) - Multiple articles about the HP Model 7470A plotter.
Jan 15 - Jan 21, 2024
Software / HPGL
- Chiplotle3 (⭐7) - Chiplotle fork updated for Python 3.x compatibility.
Dec 25 - Dec 31, 2023
Software / Vector Creation
- plotting-maps (⭐38) - A simple web tool to create OpenStreetMap SVG maps for plotting.
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- From Lettering Guides to CNC Plotters - "A Brief History of Technical Lettering Tools".
Sep 25 - Oct 01, 2023
Hardware / Accessories and Adapters
- PlotAdapter (⭐21) - "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 28 - Sep 03, 2023
Software / Vector Creation
- LineDream - A generative art library for Python that can export SVGs.
Jul 24 - Jul 30, 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 17 - Jul 23, 2023
Software / Plotter Control
- Inkcut (⭐309) - Application for controlling 2D plotters, cutters, engravers, and CNC machines.
Apr 17 - Apr 23, 2023
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
- Hewlett-Packard Journal Volume 32 Number 10 - Multiple articles about the development of the HP Model 7580A plotter.
Apr 03 - Apr 09, 2023
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
Feb 20 - Feb 26, 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.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
Jan 30 - Feb 05, 2023
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
Jan 02 - Jan 08, 2023
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- An Introduction to Pen Plotting - Another getting started article with modern pen plotters.
Dec 19 - Dec 25, 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, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
Nov 14 - Nov 20, 2022
Community / Patents
- #PenPlotter - Mastodon/ActivityPub hashtag that plotter folks are mostly congregating under.
Oct 03 - Oct 09, 2022
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- Orbis Tertius - An immersive digital installation with plotter output of Martian topography.
Sep 26 - Oct 02, 2022
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
Aug 15 - Aug 21, 2022
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
Aug 08 - Aug 14, 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, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
Jul 11 - Jul 17, 2022
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research / Fonts
- What is a pen plotter 2022? - Nice video introduction to modern plotters in 2022.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
- CalComp Plotters in 1968 - Promotional video showing a flatbed CalComp plotter and its output.
Jun 06 - Jun 12, 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.
- EBB Driver Board - USB-based dual stepper motor controller board, originally designed for the EggBot.
Hardware / 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.
Software / Plotter Control
- axidraw (⭐424) - Official AxiDraw extensions for Inkscape.
- Line-us Inkscape Plugin (⭐9) - Sends drawings to the Line-us plotter directly from Inkscape.
- Line-us API Examples (⭐113) - Example code for the Line-us plotter's G-code-based API.
- @beardicus/line-us (⭐31) - 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.
May 30 - Jun 05, 2022
Software / Vector Creation
- linedraw (⭐751) - Python tool to convert images to sketchy vector line drawings.
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
- Atari 1020 Color Printer Owner's Guide (1982) - A higher-quality scan is also available as a PDF on buildlog.net
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
May 23 - May 29, 2022
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
- Auerbach On Digital Plotters And Image Digitizers (1972) - A book about plotters and digitizers.
Feb 21 - Feb 27, 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 (⭐325) - 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 - Dec 19, 2021
Software / G-code
- node-gcode (⭐32) - Node.js G-code interpreter and simulator.
- svg2gcode (⭐54) - Node.js command line utility for converting SVG to G-code.
- svg2gcode (⭐90) - Python utility for fast SVG to G-code conversion.
- jscut - A web-based utility for converting SVG to G-code.
- gcodeplot (⭐164) - Python utility to convert SVG and HPGL to G-code for a 3-axis CNC machine.
Nov 22 - Nov 28, 2021
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Ephemera
May 17 - May 23, 2021
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / Manuals
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents / 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 / Patents
- DrawingBots Discord Forum - Discord forum with an active community.
Jan 25 - Jan 31, 2021
Hardware / Plotters
- Arduino CNC Drawing Machine - A fairly simple 3d-printed AxiDraw-style plotter with good video documentation.
Jan 04 - Jan 10, 2021
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 / Patents
- PlotterFiles - Community for sharing SVG files for plotters.
Other Awesomes / Patents
Dec 07 - Dec 13, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Nov 30 - Dec 06, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Nov 09 - Nov 15, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Oct 12 - Oct 18, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Oct 05 - Oct 11, 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 08 - Jun 14, 2020
Software / Vector Creation
- makio135/plotter - An Observable notebook collection full of plotter-oriented work.
May 18 - May 24, 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.
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Mar 23 - Mar 29, 2020
Software / Vector Utilities
- vpype (⭐676) - 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.
Mar 02 - Mar 08, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Feb 17 - Feb 23, 2020
Software / Vector Creation
- cozyvec (⭐71) - Web/Standalone terminal environment for plotter art and tweet plots.
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Jan 27 - Feb 02, 2020
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Dec 02 - Dec 08, 2019
Software / G-code
- gcode-generative-for-processing (⭐28) - Processing library, aiming to create gcode from simple shapes. (Designed for usage with the Creality CR10)
Oct 21 - Oct 27, 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.
Jul 01 - Jul 07, 2019
Software / HPGL
- HPGLGraphics (⭐19) - A Processing library for writing HPGL files.
Community / Patents
- Plotter People - In-person meetups (SF and NYC so far) with talks and plotter art galleries.
Mar 18 - Mar 24, 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.
Mar 04 - Mar 10, 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 (⭐131) - All the stepper motor control hardware needed to turn an Arduino into a G-code-based motion controller using the grbl firmware. (adafruit)
- TinyG (⭐887) - 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 Cableor 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 (⭐33) - 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 (⭐37) - 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 (⭐19) - An HPGL Viewer using JavaScript and HTML5 canvas.
- HPGL Sender (⭐10) - A web interface for previewing HPGL and sending it to your plotter.
Software / G-code
- grbl (⭐5.5k) - A high-performance G-code interpreting firmware for the Atmega 328 microcontroller and Arduino.
- cncjs (⭐2.2k) - A web-based interface controlling CNC machines running grbl, TinyG, or other G-code-based firmware.
- Universal-G-Code-Sender (⭐1.8k) - 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 (⭐273) - Unofficial Python library for the AxiDraw v3.
- xy (⭐70) - Utilities for the Makeblock XY Plotter Robot Kit.
- LaserGRBL (⭐1.2k) - Laser-optimized Windows GUI for grbl controllers. Could be repurposed for DIY pen plotters that use a solenoid for pen up/down movements.
- PenPlotter (⭐119) - Polargraph controller that uses repetier firmware.
- Makelangelo-firmware (⭐157) - Firmware for the Makelangelo polargraph robot.
- RoboPaint (⭐125) - Software for the WaterColorBot.
- AxiTurtle (⭐15) - Turtle graphics for AxiDraw in Processing.
- GRBL-Plotter (⭐647) - Plotter-optimized Windows GUI for grbl controller with SVG and DXF import, and flexible pen up/down control.
- saxi (⭐461) - 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 (⭐3.3k) - Vector-based 3D renderer written in Go.
- autotrace (⭐502) - Converts bitmap images to vector graphics.
- stipplegen (⭐421) - Creates interesting stippled drawings from bitmap images. (blog post)
- SquiggleDraw (⭐316) - "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 (⭐123) - Produce watertight polygonal vector maps by tracing raster images.
- Drawbot_image_to_gcode_v2 (⭐162) - Creates G-code for use on drawbots.
- blackstripes (⭐94) - Turns a PNG image into a SVG line drawing.
- Ribbon (⭐243) - Ribbon diagrams of proteins in written in Go.
- penplot (⭐267) - A development environment for plotter art in JavaScript.
- penkit (⭐137) - A Python library for creating line-based SVG graphics.
- generativeExamples (⭐63) - 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 (⭐47) - 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 (⭐249) - Path planning for plotting SVG files, reduces time spent moving with the pen up.
- svgo (⭐21k) - Node.js-based tool for optimizing SVG files.
- Polargraph Optimizer (⭐57) - Optimize drawing plan for a polargraph.
- penkit-optimize (⭐137) - An SVG optimizer that uses a vehicle routing solver to minimize plot time.
- svg-crowbar (⭐839) - 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 -
.fntformat of vector fonts from the 60s. Includes a good overview of the original data format of the fonts.
- hershey-fonts (⭐54) - 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 25 - Mar 03, 2019
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Jan 21 - Jan 27, 2019
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Jul 30 - Aug 05, 2018
Community / Patents
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Jul 23 - Jul 29, 2018
Plotter Art For Sale / Patents
Other Awesomes / Patents