Y
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Cfor plotter people
Got a plotter and nothing to plot? Drop in a photo. You get a layered SVG with one group per pen, an estimate of the plot time, and a prep tool that adds paper outlines and calibration marks so multi-pen plots line up.
turn your best memories into plotter art
RSTR redraws any photo or video as hatched line art, right in your browser. Plot it, print it, or take the SVG into your own tools.
- free & open source
- your photos never leave your device
- everything you make is yours to keep
what's a plotter?
A pen plotter is a machine that draws by moving a real pen across paper along vector paths.
Give it a sheet of paper, a pen and an SVG, and it draws the whole picture, one line after another. What you get is real ink on real paper, not printed dots.
Curious about plotter art? Have a look at the plotter art project on d17e.dev.
how it works
Here's one painting going all the way through RSTR, from photo to pen on paper.
And here's the real thing, drawn by my AxiDraw with one black pen.
open in RSTR
the Milkmaid, with the exact settings of this drawing
The Milkmaid by Johannes Vermeer, about 1660, Rijksmuseum Amsterdam. Public domain.
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drop in a photo or video
Click to choose a photo or video from your device, or drag and drop one in. Any image works, and so does video. Crop, zoom and rotate it right on the render. Nothing gets uploaded. It all runs in your browser, on your own machine.
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shape the lines
Then mess with all the buttons. The lines redraw as you go, so you see right away what each setting does. Stuck? Roll the dice for a random look in real ink colors, or start from a preset.
- 1 image tune the photo before tracing
- 2 segmentation how it's carved into regions
- 3 lines pen width, spacing and ink
- 4 the render drag, zoom and rotate to frame it
- 5 presets roll the dice or save a look
- 6 layers one pen each, own color and angles
- 7 export SVG or PNG, any page size
- 8 stats lines, regions and plot time
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take it home
Export a PNG to share or print, or a layered SVG for a pen plotter or your own tools.
Y M Cfor artists & photographers
Use RSTR as one step in your process. Take the layered SVG into Illustrator, Inkscape or Affinity, export a PNG for print, or feed it a video and get every frame back as SVG or image. Save a look as a preset to keep a whole series consistent.
a real plot, by post
don't own a plotter? I'll plot it for you.
Make something in the studio, hit ⚡ order this plot, and I'll draw it with real pens on real paper and ship it to your door. From €19 for an A6, shipping included.
Not sure where to start, or want something the presets can't do? Send me a picture and a few words, and we'll plan it together. That first chat is free.
- A6 to A3
- inks from the built-in presets
- flat-packed, with tracking
everything you make is yours
Whatever you create with RSTR belongs to you. Personal projects, gifts, client work, prints or plots you sell. Commercial use included, no strings attached.
The tool itself is open too. The source code is on GitHub, licensed under the GPL-3.0.
- commercial use included
- GPL-3.0, source on GitHub
- nothing leaves your device
your turn
#madewithrstr
Made something with RSTR? Plotted, printed, or straight off the screen, post it with #madewithrstr and tag me. I'm collecting them for a community gallery right here.
post it, tag me
Rather not post it? Send it to me directly.
A few of mine to start the wall. More plots and works in progress over at d17e.dev/projects/rstr.
the story
Amsterdam
RSTR started as a sketch for the Genuary '24 prompt "In the style of Vera Molnár (1924-2023)", and never really stopped. One experiment turned into the studio you see now. The original version still runs if you're feeling nostalgic.
It's made by me, David Vandenbogaerde, or d17e for short. I'm a software engineer and artist living in Amsterdam 🇳🇱. Ever since I got a plotter, I've been looking for new ways to turn images into something it can draw.
That's why RSTR exists. I hope you like it.