After a few months of slowly working on this project, I am finally releasing Rad Lines, a free tool for generating vector line artworks for plotting / laser engraving / CNC machining or marketing purposes.
The tool is available at https://msurguy.github.io/rad-lines/
The source code is athttps://github.com/msurguy/rad-lines
What can you do with it?
This tool is particularly good at generating SVG graphics consisting of vector lines that are each single unit in thickness (single stroke, zero fill lines). This makes the exported SVG files perfectly suited for CNC machines such as plotters, laser engravers, CNC mills and others where vector graphics is the preferred method of input.
Here are some examples of the tool in action:
The Why:
As a plotter enthusiast and creative technologist, I wanted to make a tool for generating vector graphics that embodies semi-constrained creativity and a tool that is accessible to as many people as possible without any installation process, fees, subscriptions, etc. Rad Lines is a browser-based tool that allows hours upon hours of exploration while generating unique designs that can be used in many ways.
The Story:
I started working on this tool almost two years ago on this Codepen as a ways to learn about D3 and simple geometry: https://codepen.io/msurguy/pen/WYNyaQ
Last year I picked up Vue.js and wanted to make something very simple (from the code perspective) yet something producing a wide variety of outputs. The initial version of the tool consisted of polygon generator and a few essential controls (size, quantity, roundness) but lacked more controls. The final version allows for switching between randomized edges or equal edges and allows greater flexibility for rotation, position and size variations.
The tool is built with Vue.js, D3 and custom version of Bootstrap.
Play with Rad Lines at https://msurguy.github.io/rad-lines/
You can find the source code at https://github.com/msurguy/rad-lines
Also, if you want to support my further development efforts for similar tools, please donate on:
- Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/msurguy
- Open Collective: https://opencollective.com/drawingbots-community
- Ko-Fi: https://ko-fi.com/msurguy
