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winchxyz/spiralist

Turns any photo into a one-continuous-line drawing rendered on paper in pen, pencil, ink or paint, and films the drawing being made, all in the browser.

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What is it?

Spiralist converts a photo into a single continuous line and draws it on a simulated sheet of paper, with twelve drawing media from fountain pen and watercolour to charcoal and gold. It offers three modes: Artistic, which varies line width to show tone; Realistic, which uses a fixed real pen width and packs the line densely, with four plotter-style patterns; and Line art, which draws only contours one feature at a time, using a neural line-drawing model and a face finder that run locally.

The app renders each drawing frame by frame in WebGL 2 and can export PNG, SVG for pen plotters, and cinematic MP4 films of the drawing process. A 3D print section turns the line into a relief plaque or wire sculpture, exporting 3MF or STL files for Bambu Lab, Prusa and other printers, with a layer-by-layer print timelapse.

It is a static site with no build step. Photos are processed in the browser and are not uploaded, and after first use the site works offline.

Key features

  • 01Converts photos into one continuous line in Artistic, Realistic and Line art modes.
  • 02Simulates twelve drawing media, including fountain ink, watercolour, charcoal and graphite.
  • 03Exports PNG, SVG for pen plotters, and MP4 films of the drawing process.
  • 04Generates 3MF and STL files for relief plaques or wire sculptures, with a layer-by-layer print timelapse.
  • 05Processes photos locally in the browser and works offline after the first visit.

Use cases

  • Making a one-line portrait or illustration from a personal photo.
  • Producing SVG files with real millimetre sizes for pen plotter drawing.
  • Creating a short video of a drawing being made for social media.
  • Preparing 3D-printable relief plaques or wire art from a photo.

Quick start

  1. 1

    Open the live site in your browser

  2. 2

    Upload a photo and choose a drawing mode

Things to know

  • Line art mode needs a one-time download of about 54 MB on first use.
  • The license metadata reads NOASSERTION, although the README shows an MIT badge, so check the LICENSE file.

Topics

#generative-art#image-processing#webgl#svg#pen-plotter#3d-printing#line-art#browser-app

FAQ

What is spiralist?
Turns any photo into a one-continuous-line drawing rendered on paper in pen, pencil, ink or paint, and films the drawing being made, all in the browser. Spiralist converts a photo into a single continuous line and draws it on a simulated sheet of paper, with twelve drawing media from fountain pen and watercolour to charcoal and gold. It offers three modes: Artistic, which varies line width to show tone; Realistic, which uses a fixed real pen width and packs the line densely, with four plotter-style patterns; and Line art, which draws only contours one feature at a time, using a neural line-drawing model and a face finder that run locally.
Is spiralist free to use? What license does it have?
spiralist is open source under the Other license. Check the license terms before using it in commercial products.
Is spiralist still maintained?
Actively maintained. The last commit to spiralist was on Sep 24, 2026.
What can I use spiralist for?
Making a one-line portrait or illustration from a personal photo. Producing SVG files with real millimetre sizes for pen plotter drawing. Creating a short video of a drawing being made for social media. Preparing 3D-printable relief plaques or wire art from a photo.
How do I install spiralist?
Open the live site in your browser Upload a photo and choose a drawing mode
Where can I get spiralist?
The source code and installation instructions are on GitHub: https://github.com/winchxyz/spiralist

Summary generated by AI from the project's README. GitHub stats refresh daily.

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