svg2gcode

Convert any SVG 1.1 path to gcode for a pen plotter, laser engraver, etc.

TODO

• Support all path variants
• Support group and path transforms
• Biarc interpolation (G2/G3 instead of many G1)
• Px, pc, in to mm
• Configurable DPI for px/pc to mm
• Sort paths by distance to reduce G0 distances
• Configurable start/end sequence
• Comments in GCode input
• Rustdocs
• End-to-end tests

Known bugs & whether fixed

• Smooth curves should not use the control point when the previous curve is not of the same type (quadratic -> smooth cubic, cubic -> smooth quadratic)
  • This is just a nit, it shouldn't matter if the SVG is correct
• Image coordinates mirrored in the y-axis because SVGs uses upper left corner as (0,0) while GCode uses lower left as (0,0)
• Close path command connects back to (0.0, 0.0) instead of the last move
• Ellipse paths are dubious -- large_arc, sweep may need to be inverted

Demonstration

Input

cargo run --release -- examples/Vanderbilt_Commodores_logo.svg --off 'M4' --on 'M5' -o out.gcode

Output, rendered at https://ncviewer.com

cat out.gcode

FAQ / Interesting details

• Use a 3D printer for plotting: (thanks @jeevank for sharing this) https://medium.com/@urish/how-to-turn-your-3d-printer-into-a-plotter-in-one-hour-d6fe14559f1a

• Convert a PDF to GCode: follow this guide using Inkscape to convert a PDF to an SVG, then use it with svg2gcode

• Are shapes, fill patterns supported? All objects can be converted to paths in Inkscape with Object to Path for use with this program. Not sure how practical fill patterns would be -- if you have ideas, feel free to open as issue or a PR.

• What about a generic PPD driver for using a plotter as a printer? I thought about doing something like this where you package ghostscript + inkscape + svg2gcode but that would take a lot of time

Reference Documents

• W3 SVG2 Specification
• CSS absolute lengths
• CSS font-relative lengths
• CSS compatible units
• RepRap G-code
• G-Code and M-Code Reference List for Milling