beardicus/awesome-plotters

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A curated list of code and resources for computer-controlled drawing machines and other visual art robots.

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This week

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

Houston Instrument Omnigraphic Plotter Brochure

Aug 15th - Aug 21st, 2022

Manuals and Ephemera

Manuals

Houston Instrument HIPLOT DMP-51/52 Operation Manual (1985)

Houston Instrument Stand Assembly Procedure DMP-50 Series Plotter

Aug 8th - Aug 14th, 2022

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

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

Houston Instrument DM/PL Command Language (1984)

Houston Instrument DMP-40V Operation Manual (1988)

Houston Instrument Interface Notes for DM/PL Intelligent Plotters (1983)

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

Houston Instrument DMP-41 and DMP-42 Plotters Brochure

Houston Instrument DMP-51/52 Series Brochure

Jul 11th - Jul 17th, 2022

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

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 6th - Jun 12th, 2022

Hardware

Motor Controllers

EBB Driver Board - USB-based dual stepper motor controller board, originally designed for the EggBot.

Arduino CNC Shield - Grbl-compatible stepper motor control shield for Arduino, similar to the grblShield.

Hardware

Pens

Parametric 3d-Printable Plotter Pen Adapter - Adjustable model to print adapters for various 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.

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

An Intro to Pen Plotters - Good info on getting started with old HPGL plotters .

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.

Software

Plotter-Specific

axidraw stars360 - Official AxiDraw extensions for Inkscape.

Line-us Inkscape Plugin stars5 - Sends drawings to the Line-us plotter directly from Inkscape.

Line-us API Examples stars98 - Example code for the Line-us plotter's G-code-based API.

@beardicus/line-us stars22 - JavaScript library for controlling the Line-us machine from Node or the browser.

May 30th - Jun 5th, 2022

Manuals and Ephemera

Manuals

Atari 1020 Color Printer Owner's Guide (1982)

Atari 1020 Color Printer Field Service Manual (1983)

Roland DPX-3300 Operation Manual (GitHub)

Roland DPX-3300 Service Notes (1987)

Houston Instrument DMP-160 Plotter Operation Manual

Olivetti PL10 Microplotter User Guide (1983)

Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Graphic Printer Operation Manual

Radio Shack TRS-80 Color Graphic Printer Service Manual

Roland DXY-980 Operation Manual (1985)

Roland DXY-1300 -1200 -1100 Command Reference Manual

Roland DPX-3700A DPX-2700A User's Manual (Roland Direct Download)

Rotring Tubular Plotter Points Practical Tips and Information

Panasonic RK-P400C 4-Color Graphic Penwriter Manual

Software

Vector Creation

linedraw stars591 - Python tool to convert images to sketchy vector line drawings.

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

CalComp Graphics Products Brochure (1981)

May 23rd - May 29th, 2022

Manuals and Ephemera

Manuals

Roland DXY-990 Operation Manual (1986)

Roland DPX-2000 User's Manual

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

Auerbach On Digital Plotters And Image Digitizers (1972) - A book about plotters and digitizers.

Feb 21st - Feb 27th, 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 stars158 - 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 13th - Dec 19th, 2021

Software

G-code

node-gcode stars29 - Node.js G-code interpreter and simulator.

svg2gcode stars49 - Node.js command line utility for converting SVG to G-code.

svg2gcode stars81 - Python utility for fast SVG to G-code conversion.

jscut - A web-based utility for converting SVG to G-code.

gcodeplot stars122 - Python utility to convert SVG and HPGL to G-code for a 3-axis CNC machine.

Nov 22nd - Nov 28th, 2021

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

Roland DG Plotter Ad in Byte Magazine Vol 12 No 4 (1987) (via @OldTechAdverts)

May 17th - May 23rd, 2021

Manuals and Ephemera

Manuals

Apple Color Plotter User's Manual

Programming CalComp Pen Plotters (1968)

Commodore 1520 Printer Plotter Manual (1983)

Commodore 1520 Printer Plotter Manual

Control Data 165/165-2 Plotter Manual

HP 7475A Graphics Plotter Operation and Interconnection Manual

HP 7570A DraftPro Plotter Hardware Support Manual

HP 7585B Drafting Plotter Service Manual (1983)

HP DraftPro Plotter User's Guide (1986)

HP DraftPro Plotter Programmers Reference (1986)

Radio Shack TRS-80 Plotter Printer Manual

Roland DXY-880 Operation Manual (1984)

Roland DPX-3300 Schematics (1987)

Siemens C1613 Plotter Manual (German)

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

Time Share Peripherals TSP-212 Brochure

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.

CalComp Precision Graphics System 900/728 Brochure (1970)

Digital Plotting Newsletter (1967)

Versatec Printers and Plotters Brochure (1977)

Versatec Printer/Plotters, Plotters and Output Systems (1981)

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).

Omega-t Systems FasPlot Plotter Brochure

Commodore Computer Plotter CBM 8075 Brochure (German)

Strobe Model 100 Graphics Plotter Brochure (1980)

Community

DrawingBots Discord Forum - Discord forum with an active community.

Jan 25th - Jan 31st, 2021

Hardware

Plotters

Arduino CNC Drawing Machine - A fairly simple 3d-printed AxiDraw-style plotter with good video documentation.

Dec 28th - Jan 3rd, 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

PlotterFiles - Community for sharing SVG files for plotters.

Other Awesomes

awesome-3d-engines-for-plotters stars66

Nov 30th - Dec 6th, 2020

Plotter Art For Sale

Marcel Schwittlick

Nov 23rd - Nov 29th, 2020

Plotter Art For Sale

AndyMakes

Nov 2nd - Nov 8th, 2020

Plotter Art For Sale

Paul Rickards

Oct 5th - Oct 11th, 2020

Plotter Art For Sale

Pedro Alcocer

Sep 28th - Oct 4th, 2020

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

The Best XY Plotters in 2020 - Good overview of the AxiDraw and its clones, plus some DIY options.

Jun 1st - Jun 7th, 2020

Software

Vector Creation

makio135/plotter - An Observable notebook collection full of plotter-oriented work.

May 11th - May 17th, 2020

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

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

Jessica In

Michelle Chandra

Nadieh Bremer

Mar 16th - Mar 22nd, 2020

Software

Fonts

svg-fonts - Single-line fonts in an SVG format, mainly for use with the Hershey Text Inkscape plugin.

Software

Vector Utilities

vpype stars508 - Plotter-focused Python-based CLI utility for generating and manipulating SVGs, including scaling and optimizing paths.

Feb 24th - Mar 1st, 2020

Plotter Art For Sale

Arjan van der Meij

Feb 10th - Feb 16th, 2020

Software

Vector Creation

cozyvec stars66 - Web/Standalone terminal environment for plotter art and tweet plots.

Plotter Art For Sale

brubsby

Jan 20th - Jan 26th, 2020

Plotter Art For Sale

Geoffrey Bradway

Nov 25th - Dec 1st, 2019

Software

G-code

gcode-generative-for-processing stars23 - Processing library, aiming to create gcode from simple shapes. (Designed for usage with the Creality CR10)

Oct 14th - Oct 20th, 2019

Hardware

Plotters

BrachioGraph - A cheap and simple plotter made from sticks, servos, and a Raspberry Pi running Python.

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

Surface Projection - Deep dive into surface projection and hidden line removal using Python and penplot.

Jun 24th - Jun 30th, 2019

Community

Plotter People - In-person meetups (SF and NYC so far) with talks and plotter art galleries.

Software

HPGL

HPGLGraphics stars15 - A Processing library for writing HPGL files.

Apr 8th - Apr 14th, 2019

Hardware

Pens

JetPens – The Best White Ink Pens - A comprehensive review of many white ink pens, with pictures of their coverage characteristics.

Mar 11th - Mar 17th, 2019

Software

Plotter-Specific

MP2300-Tools stars4 - Software for converting HPGL to Graphtec's GPGL format, as well as CAD files for a Graphtec plotter pen adapter.

Feb 25th - Mar 3rd, 2019

Hardware

Plotters

Roland Pen Plotters - Vintage flatbed HPGL pen plotters. Search eBay for "roland dxy".

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.

Polargraph - The original polargraph hardware and software project.

Hardware

Motor Controllers

Raspberry Pi CNC Hat - Raspberry Pi add-on board w/ stepper controllers and a microcontroller running grbl. Interfaces with the Pi's serial pins.

grblShield stars128 - All the stepper motor control hardware needed to turn an Arduino into a G-code-based motion controller using the grbl firmware. (adafruit)

TinyG stars804 - More featureful and robust 6-axis G-code-based motion control hardware. (adafruit)

Hardware

Accessories

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.

WiFi232 - Wifi to RS-232 serial via a DB25 plug. Control your serial plotter wirelessly.

Software

HPGL

Chiplotle stars23 - 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 stars29 - 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 stars18 - Example C code for generating HPGL, with a turtle graphics interface.

d3-hpgl stars19 - An adapter for the HTML Canvas API so you can output HPGL using the popular D3 library.

HPGL Viewer stars11 - An HPGL Viewer using JavaScript and HTML5 canvas.

HPGL Sender stars9 - A web interface for previewing HPGL and sending it to your plotter.

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

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.

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.

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.

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

G-code

grbl stars4.8k - A high-performance G-code interpreting firmware for the Atmega 328 microcontroller and Arduino.

cncjs stars1.9k - A web-based interface controlling CNC machines running grbl, TinyG, or other G-code-based firmware.

Universal-G-Code-Sender stars1.5k - 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-Specific

axi stars241 - Unofficial Python library for the AxiDraw v3.

xy stars67 - Utilities for the Makeblock XY Plotter Robot Kit.

LaserGRBL stars898 - Laser-optimized Windows GUI for grbl controllers. Could be repurposed for DIY pen plotters that use a solenoid for pen up/down movements.

PenPlotter stars104 - Polargraph controller that uses repetier firmware.

Makelangelo-firmware stars139 - Firmware for the Makelangelo polargraph robot.

RoboPaint stars114 - Software for the WaterColorBot.

AxiTurtle stars12 - Turtle graphics for AxiDraw in Processing.

GRBL-Plotter stars448 - Plotter-optimized Windows GUI for grbl controller with SVG and DXF import, and flexible pen up/down control.

saxi stars365 - 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 stars3.1k - Vector-based 3D renderer written in Go.

autotrace stars334 - Converts bitmap images to vector graphics.

stipplegen stars367 - Creates interesting 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 stars114 - Produce watertight polygonal vector maps by tracing raster images.

Drawbot_image_to_gcode_v2 stars136 - Creates G-code for use on drawbots.

blackstripes stars81 - Turns a PNG image into a SVG line drawing.

Ribbon stars227 - Ribbon diagrams of proteins in written in Go.

penplot stars253 - A development environment for plotter art in JavaScript.

penkit stars123 - A Python library for creating line-based SVG graphics.

generativeExamples stars58 - 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 stars38 - 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 stars219 - Path planning for plotting SVG files, reduces time spent moving with the pen up.

svgo stars18.3k - Node.js-based tool for optimizing SVG files.

Polargraph Optimizer stars56 - Optimize drawing plan for a polargraph.

penkit-optimize - An SVG optimizer that uses a vehicle routing solver to minimize plot time.

svg-crowbar stars827 - 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 stars45 - C library and original font data for the Hershey fonts.

OneLineFonts.com - Commercial site with some single-line fonts available for purchase.

Community

#plottertwitter - Twitter hashtag with lots o' plots.

Plotter Art For Sale

Customized Streetart - Customizable maps with optional pen plotter output.

Feb 18th - Feb 24th, 2019

Plotter Art For Sale

Martin O'Leary

Jan 14th - Jan 20th, 2019

Plotter Art For Sale

BustBright

Jul 30th - Aug 5th, 2018

Plotter Art For Sale

Michael Fogleman

inconvergent

Community

PlotterArt Subreddit

AxiDraw Subreddit

Generative Art Subreddit

Jul 23rd - Jul 29th, 2018

Plotter Art For Sale

Monica Rizzolli

EmergentDesign

Other Awesomes

awesome-generative-art stars1.4k

awesome-creative-coding stars10.1k

Last Checked At: 2022-09-30T16:13:54.826Z

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Platforms

Programming Languages

Front-End Development

Back-End Development

Computer Science

Big Data

Theory

Books

Editors

Gaming

Development Environment

Entertainment

Databases

Media

Learn

Security

Content Management Systems

Hardware

Business

Work

Networking

Decentralized Systems

Health and Social Science

Events

Testing

Miscellaneous

Unmaintained

beardicus/awesome-plotters

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

Aug 15th - Aug 21st, 2022

Manuals and Ephemera

Manuals

Aug 8th - Aug 14th, 2022

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

Manuals and Ephemera

Manuals

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

Jul 11th - Jul 17th, 2022

Inspiration, Instruction, and Research

Manuals and Ephemera

Ephemera

Jun 6th - Jun 12th, 2022

Hardware

Motor Controllers

Hardware