Plot Server
January 24th, 2022
Plot Server
A browser-based workflow for previewing, managing, and executing AxiDraw plots.
The AxiDraw is a versatile drawing machine that can draw artwork files in several ways—through software like Inkscape, via the command line, or programmatically with Python.
But drawing a plot isn't as simple as pressing "go". It's important to be able to preview how the lines will be drawn, estimate how long the plot will take and record information about the plot.
To help manage this workflow, I built Plot Server, a web app designed to streamline the entire plotting process from preparation to execution.
Key features include:
- Drag-and-drop SVG uploads
- Searchable library of saved files
- Animated previews of drawing paths
- Estimated plotting metrics (duration, distance, etc.)
- SVG source inspection
- Plotter status monitoring (connected, powered on)
- Automatic checks for plot area fit
- Metadata tracking (title, paper, pen selection)
- One-click CLI command generation
- Direct plotting from the browser
- Layer-by-layer plotting control
- PDF export of SVG files
- Light and dark UI modes
This project is open source and available on GitHub. Similar projects for controlling plotters have been created by Daniel Catt and @greweb.
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