Lines

Spiral: spiral art from a photo

One long spiral that wobbles taller, then tighter, where the picture is dark, broken only where it crosses the edge. Suits record-sleeve looks with very few pen lifts.

Good for record-sleeve looks with very few pen lifts.

Try Spiral on your image → Compare all styles

Controls

Ring spacing · Distance between turns of the spiral. Closer gives finer detail and a longer plot.
Wave height · The tallest the wobble gets, relative to the ring spacing.

More controls

Wave frequency · How many waves fit in one ring spacing along the spiral while they grow taller. Higher is busier.
Flat in the highlights · Anything less dark than this draws as a flat line with no waves. Raise it to keep the lights calm.
Tighter waves in shadows · At 0 the wobble grows taller first and only tightens once it is full height. Raise it to pack more waves into darker areas from the start.
Centre across · Where the spiral starts, from the left edge of the picture to the right. Put it on the subject so the bullseye doesn't pull the eye away.
Centre down · Where the spiral starts, from the top of the picture to the bottom.
Tone curve · Bends the tones before drawing. Above 1 lightens the mid-tones, which helps when a pen pools ink; below 1 darkens them.

Lion photo drawn as one wobbling spiral line for a pen plotter — Slide to compare. A test render on A5 with 8 mm margins and a 0.3 mm pen: 55 paths, about 18 minutes to plot. Your photo, paper and settings will give different numbers. Photo: Lion, Andreas Vonlanthen, 2025, Unsplash License.

Slide to compare. A test render on A5 with 8 mm margins and a 0.3 mm pen: 55 paths, about 18 minutes to plot. Your photo, paper and settings will give different numbers. Photo: Lion, Andreas Vonlanthen, 2025, Unsplash License.

One long line from the centre

Spiral winds a line out from the centre of the picture and makes it wobble where the photo is dark: the wobble grows taller as the tone darkens, then tighter once it is full height. The line breaks only where it crosses the edge of the picture, so a portrait plots with very few pen lifts. Ring spacing sets the gap between turns, Wave height the tallest the wobble gets, and Wave frequency how busy it is. Flat in the highlights keeps the lightest parts as a plain, smooth line.

The spiral starts in the middle of the picture; Centre across and Centre down move it onto the subject, so the bullseye doesn’t pull the eye away. A wide Ring spacing gives a bold record-sleeve look and a quick plot; a narrow one gives more detail and a longer plot. If you have seen spiral portraits made with Spiral Betty, this is the same idea, drawn as a pen line in an SVG you can plot.