awesome-plotters
github.com/beardicus/awesome-plotters ↗A curated list of code and resources for computer-controlled drawing machines and other visual art robots.
Use this list with your AI agent
Add the Context Awesome MCP server to Claude, Cursor, or any MCP client, then ask:
"Show me plotters resources from awesome-plotters"
Installation instructions →What's inside
Inspiration, Instruction, and Research
- 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.
- Another drawing on Aritma Minigraf 0507
- Aritma Minigraf 0507 Plotting Space Shuttle
- Bottle Plotter
Blog post about building a cylindrical pen plotter for drawing on wine bottles.
- Building an interactive plotter art installation
Nice writeup (with videos) of an interactive plotter art exhibit at SIGGRAPH 2023.
Hardware
- 4xiDrawPlotters
Yet another 3d-printable AxiDraw clone w/ Arduino CNC Shield controller running grbl firmware.
- Apple-410Plotters
Apple 410 Color Plotter documentation, drivers, and ROM dumps.
- Arduino CNC Drawing MachinePlotters
A fairly simple 3d-printed AxiDraw-style plotter with good video documentation.
- ArtFramePlotters
Beefy flatbed pen plotters from Bantam Tools.
- AxiDrawPlotters
Pen plotter from Evil Mad Scientist.
- BlotPlotters
An open-source DIY pen plotter from Hack Club with a browser-based editor for generative art.
Plotter Art For Sale
Manuals, Ephemera, Papers, and Patents
- Adaptor for universal X-Y plotter penPatents
- Apple Color Plotter User's ManualManuals
- Apple II Business Graphics Film (1982)Ephemera
There's a Strobe Model 100 Graphics Plotter drawing bar charts at 4:57.
- Aritma Colorgraf 512Manuals
Website with scanned schematics and manual.
- Atari 1020 Color Printer Field Service Manual (1983)Manuals
- Atari 1020 Color Printer Owner's Guide (1982)Manuals
A higher-quality scan is also available as
Getting Started
- An Introduction to Pen Plotting
Another getting started article with modern pen plotters.
- An Intro to Pen Plotters
Good info on getting started with old HPGL plotters.
- 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.
- Pen Plotter Art & Algorithms
A two-part intro to creating generative graphics for plotting.
- Pen Plotter Programming: The Basics
Some basics of programming vector paths, including sorting, joining, and simplifying.
Software
- autotraceVector Creation
Converts bitmap images to vector graphics.
- axiPlotter Control
Unofficial Python library for the AxiDraw v3.
- axidrawPlotter Control
Official AxiDraw extensions for Inkscape.
- AxiTurtlePlotter Control
Turtle graphics for AxiDraw in Processing.
- bCNCPlotter Control
Cross-platform G-code sender and CNC control software for grbl.
- @beardicus/line-usPlotter Control
JavaScript library for controlling the Line-us machine from Node or the browser.
Community
- AxiDraw Subreddit
- Bluesky
- DrawingBots Discord Forum
Discord forum with an active community.
- Generative Art Subreddit
- PlotterArt Subreddit
- PlotterFiles
Community for sharing SVG files for plotters.
Showing a sample of 294 resources. View the full list on GitHub →