Compose
Place, scale, rotate, fit, and layer source images on a page measured in real-world units.
Software by Adrien Le Falher
PlotterForge
From image to plotted ink.
Turn photos and procedural drawings into layered, plotter-ready SVG. Pick from 50 path-finding styles, compose on a physical page, preview every pen, and plot from the same local app.
- Free & open source
- Runs locally
- macOS + Windows
Raster in◆50 styles◆Layered SVG◆Grbl direct◆Real pens
One continuous workflow
Three steps. No handoff in the middle.
PlotterForge keeps the source image, vector treatment, page layout, pens, and plotter job inside one versioned project. You can still export SVG whenever another tool belongs in the chain.
Generate
Choose a path-finding style, tune its controls, and assign the result to one or more pens.
Plot
Preview every pass, check the time estimate, export layered SVG, or drive a Grbl plotter.
50 path-finding modules
One image. Far more than one way to draw it.
Move from quiet Voronoi stippling to dense TSP routes, engraved hatching, flow fields, dithers, mosaics, differential growth, and raster-driven tessellations. Every module has controls generated from a typed schema, so the interface stays consistent as the geometry changes.
See the complete feature list
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Direction, not decoration
Tell the lines where to work.
Click an object to isolate it with the local SAM2 model, then give that region its own style. Bind spacing or direction to image tone, edges, noise, a radial field, or a mask you paint yourself. The source can drive the drawing without dictating every mark.
- Click-to-segment regions with SAM2
- Paint masks directly on the composition
- Bind controls to tone and direction fields
Built for the physical result
Know the job before the first line lands.
Preview pen widths and colours, inspect each pass, and see how much of the job is drawing versus travel. PlotterForge estimates time, distance, segments, and pen cycles before it sends anything to a Grbl machine.
Layered SVGMillimetre units, ready for Inkscape or vpype.
Direct GrblSerial plotting with safe stop and resume.
Guided pen changesOne planned pass at a time.
A studio, not a filter
The useful details stay attached.
Non-destructive layers
Original images stay intact. Reposition a layer or change its transform, then regenerate paths against the new composition.
Pens you can plan around
Set colour, width, and flat-nib angle for each pen, then preview the order and run guided pen changes.
GPU-first processing
Heavy sampling stages use CUDA on Windows or MPS on Apple silicon, with a visible CPU fallback.
Versions, not dead ends
Save immutable project snapshots with thumbnails and return to an earlier direction without flattening your work.
SVG that stays useful
Export a multi-layer SVG in millimetres for Inkscape, vpype, or the plotting setup you already use.
Cavalry bridges
Stream SVG frames from Cavalry or bake a composition into a reusable, tone-responsive tessellation style.
Questions, answered
Before you clear the desk.
PlotterForge is a capable local workshop, but it still has a few setup requirements.
What is PlotterForge?
PlotterForge is free, open-source pen plotter software for turning raster images and procedural drawings into layered vector paths. It combines image composition, path generation, pen planning, SVG export, and direct Grbl plotting in one local app.
Is PlotterForge an alternative to DrawingBotV3?
It covers a similar image-to-plot workflow, with its own layer-based composer, 50 built-in styles, SAM2 region segmentation, GPU acceleration, versioned projects, and direct Grbl plotting. PlotterForge is MIT-licensed and currently runs on supported Windows and Apple silicon machines.
Can it turn a photo into SVG line art?
Yes. Import a photo, choose a style such as stippling, hatching, TSP, spiral, dither, or flow fields, then export the paths as a multi-layer SVG in millimetres.
Does PlotterForge control a plotter directly?
Yes. It can send a job to a Grbl-compatible plotter over serial, estimate drawing time, preview pen passes, guide pen changes, and stop or resume safely. You can also export SVG and plot from another application.
Which computers are supported?
The current setup supports Windows 10 or 11 with an NVIDIA GPU and macOS on Apple silicon. Installation also requires the free uv Python project manager and Node.js.
Are images uploaded to a cloud service?
No. PlotterForge runs locally, opens at localhost in your browser, and stores projects under your user folder. AI-assisted segmentation uses the locally installed SAM2 model.
Free · local · MIT licensed
Make the screen
move a real pen.
PlotterForge currently supports Apple silicon Macs and Windows 10/11 computers with an NVIDIA GPU. Install uv and Node.js, run the one-time setup for your platform, then launch the local app with a double-click.
No account · No telemetry · Your source images stay local