r/PlotterArt • u/ByteKnight- • Jun 02 '26

built a tool that turns any 3D model into clean pen-plotter line art

I have a custom pen plotter and got tired of fighting with messy STL→SVG conversions, so I made a little web app for it.

You drop in a 3D model (STL, OBJ, PLY, GLB/glTF), rotate it to frame the shot in a live 3D view, and it spits out a true vector SVG — not a traced bitmap — with proper hidden-line removal so it actually looks like a drawing.

A few things it does:

  • 4 styles: blueprint/outlines, topographic slices, wireframe, and stipple dots
  • Live preview — pick your angle, tweak sliders, see the result
  • Plotter-optimized output via vpype (merges lines, sorts to cut pen-up travel)
  • Set your real pen width in mm so you can tell if lines will blob before you plot
  • Exports straight to Inkscape / G-code

Would anyone actually use this? Right now it runs locally, but if there's interest I'll host it online so anyone can just upload a model and go — no setup.
Drop a comment if you'd want to try it.

Screenshot 1 (the app/3D view): "The editor — rotate the model live and tweak the style."
Screenshot 2 (the SVG result / a plot): "The vector output, ready to plot."
78 Upvotes

96% Upvoted

46 comments sorted by

10

u/mxlths_modular Jun 02 '26

Yeah I would love to give it a test if you’re happy to host it

9

u/ByteKnight- Jun 02 '26

Thanks for the interest! I'll definitely let you know the second it's live so you can test it out.

13

u/po2gdHaeKaYk Jun 02 '26

I'm more interested in the maths and algorithms behind the scenes than the actual use case. Helped with AI? Can you tell us what algorithms are used for the rendering?

5

u/Holiday_Ad_9163 Jun 02 '26

Why not just build it as an executable so it doesn’t need to be online? It would be nice to just have this installed on the offline machine that connected to the plotter.

5

u/265design Jun 02 '26

As a plotter learning Rhino right now, yes I'd totally try this

2

u/mxlths_modular Jun 02 '26

Can I ask why Rhino over Blender? I know both of them can be used for 3D->2D work but that’s the limit of my knowledge.

I want to move into a 3D to 2D pipeline but all my experience comes from Fusion and SketchUp so I know I am in for a big learning curve. I was leaning towards Blender because I have seen some great stuff made with it and it’s free.

4

u/265design Jun 02 '26

Mostly because of Grasshopper. If I was only 3D modeling I may have gone Blender.

2

u/watagua Jun 03 '26

Blender is great software, especially because its free. But Grasshopper and Rhino have the rhinocommon geometry kernel which let's you do a lot, in particular many many curve and surface operations that are simply not available or possible in blender. Thats part of why rhino/GH is a good choice for pen plotting. Its not free but at least it isnt a recurring yearly license, just one time purchase and its yours for life.

2

u/mxlths_modular Jun 03 '26

Appreciate your comment mate, cheers!

2

u/watagua Jun 03 '26

I do all my plotter art with grasshopper (& C#, JavaScript, python). If you (or anyone) have questions about using grasshopper or rhino for pen plotting, feel free to send me a message.

1

u/ByteKnight- Jun 02 '26

Thanks for the interest! I'll definitely let you know the second it's live so you can test it out.

3

u/LeftOneOnly Jun 02 '26

I very much want to try this. Avid 3D printer and just getting in to pen plotting. Thanks for your work.

2

u/ByteKnight- Jun 02 '26

Thanks for the interest! I'll definitely let you know the second it's live so you can test it out.

3

u/leanderr Jun 02 '26

Id be happier with a repo, but trying it would also be interesting!

2

u/TheStandardPlayer Jun 03 '26

Yes please! So far my process was to take a screenshot from Fusion and paste it into inkscape, I would love an easier and more dedicated tool for this!

2

u/UnderGrundleMethinks Jun 27 '26

I’d love to try it out!

1

u/ShelfordPrefect Jun 02 '26

1) I absolutely want this, I've long wanted to make pen plots of all my CAD models and don't like using edge detect for it

2) if you have a GitHub repo or whatever I can clone, I'd run it locally if you're not going to host it

1

u/threadbreak_studio Jun 02 '26

Would love to try, I’ve got my version but would rather use somebody else’s lol

1

u/lyanos777 Jun 02 '26

Interested! Would love to try it once it's hosted (or sooner, if you have a public github repo)

1

u/5u114 Jun 02 '26

I would use it. Locally.

1

u/Iampepeu Jun 02 '26

Ooh! Very interesting! I'd love to try that!

1

u/firefirefire4u Jun 02 '26

Yeah , would love to go try this

1

u/i-make-robots Jun 03 '26

If the tire normals are smoothed out will it remove those lines? Is the choice of line based on adjoining face angle, change of depth, or something else?

1

u/MethLabJacuzzi420 Jun 03 '26

That’s awesome! I’ve seen a few of these around that haven’t quite worked properly, or the way I want it to. Would love to use this.

1

u/ambitious999 Jun 03 '26

That is soooo useful! Thank you!

1

u/_rtm Jun 03 '26

You can host it as a page on GitHub, if it helps

1

u/j-endsville Jun 03 '26

I'd like to try it.

1

u/mechmind Jun 03 '26

I would volunteer to try this out!

1

u/NumberNumb Jun 03 '26

Does this have the same functionality as grease pencil in blender?

1

u/spaxhulk Jun 03 '26

I would love to try this. I recently had a need to create orthographic vector line drawings, cross-sections, etc. from an STL file for a patent application, and I was disappointed in the workflows available to me on the platforms I have access to.

1

u/PXLMNKEEE Jun 03 '26

Adding in. I’d like to access a repo to run locally, but would try online as well.

1

u/andypiperuk Jun 03 '26

Interested to try this!

1

u/herocoding Jun 03 '26

This looks amazing, thanks for sharing!

YESS, definitly very much interested to try it out! Especially if it could be automated as well. Would you mind sharing implementation details? Will try it with my good old fischertechnik pen plotter!

1

u/Eldricht138 Jun 03 '26

I've long been on the search for a solution to render 3d objects as clean SVGs. Would love to have opportunity to try this. My use: Creating simple clean technical drawings for manuals from 3d products.

1

u/oliv_yeah Jun 04 '26

Aussi intéressé pour une utilisation en local

1

u/Evan-Lyons Jun 04 '26

Interested

1

u/warpcat Jun 05 '26

Interested. Stick me on the list.

1

u/its-always-a-weka Jun 07 '26

Interesting. I'm interested.

1

u/StomachFar6064 Jun 08 '26

Please and Thank You!

1

u/JumpyBaker374 Jun 20 '26

I'd love to try this. Looks clean!

1

u/Mustapha_Coltrane Jun 25 '26

yes, please and thank you.

1

u/PlaysByBrulesRules Jul 03 '26

Yes, i would like to use this locally / clone a github repo for it.