generativepy.drawing module

The generativepy.drawing module contains image creation functions, for creating PNG and SVG images.

make_image

Used to create a single PNG image.

generativepy.drawing.make_image(outfile, draw, width, height, channels=3)

The channels parameter controls the transparency of the output file. To create PNGs with a transparent background, you should use RGBA.

Objects can be drawn with transparency even if RGB is used, but the image background will always be opaque unless RGBA is specified.

make_image creates a Pycairo surface and context, then calls the user supplied draw function to do the drawing.

The draw function must have the following signature:

draw(ctx, pixel_width, pixel_height, frame_no, frame_count)

frame_no and frame_count only apply to functions that create a sequence of images (such as makeeImages below). The make_image function only ever creates one image, so the frame_no will always be 0 and the frame_count will always be 1.

make_images

Used to create a sequence of PNG image. These can be combined into an animated GIF or video.

generativepy.drawing.make_images(outfile, draw, width, height, count, channels=3)

The outfile parameter should be a base filepath. For example:

C:/temp/image

In this case the files will be created in the folder C:/temp, and their names will be based on the base name "image":

image00000000.png
image00000001.png
image00000002.png
etc

Once the images have been created, you can use an external program to convert them into an animated GIF or movie.

The draw function has the same signature as for make_image. In this case though, it will be called count times. The frame_count will always be set to count, and the frame_no will increment each time draw is called. You can use the frame_no value to draw a different image each time, to create animation.

make_svg

Used to create a single SVG image. This is similar to make_image but it creates a vector SVG image that can be edited in Inkscape and other programs.

generativepy.drawing.make_svg(outfile, draw, width, height)

There is no channels parameter because all SVG files support background transparency.

make_svg creates a Pycairo surface and context, then calls the user supplied draw function to do the drawing.

The draw function works in the same way as for make_image.

setup

A simple helper function to initialise a page. It is optional, but if you use it it should normally be the first thing you call in your draw function.

setup(ctx, pixel_width, pixel_height, width=None, height=None, startx=0, starty=0, background=None, flip=False):

This function maps performs a scaling to set the drawing coordinates. This is optional, but in generative art you will often be using functions that work at a particular scale. It is very useful to be able to set your drawing coordinates to maths this, so you don't need to worry about scaling values when you draw.

As a convenience it can also set the page background colour.

Device and user space

Pycairo uses the concept of device space and user space to perform scaling:

• Device space represents the actual pixels in the final image.
• User space is the coordinate system you use to draw in.

By default, device space and user space are identical. So if you create a 500 by 400 pixel image, your user space will also be 500 by 400 units. The origin for both spaces is in the top left corner, so y coordinates increase as you move down from the top. This is very common in computer graphics, although it is the opposite of how graphs work in mathematics.

You can change user space using setup. For example:

setup(ctx, pixel_width=500, pixel_height=400, width=5, startx=-2.0, starty=-1.0, background=Color(1)):

This creates a user space that is 5 units wide, so each unit represents 100 pixels. We haven't specified a height so setup chooses a height that gives the same scaling factor as the width. Since the image is 400 pixels wide and the scale factor is 100 pixels per user space unit, this means the height will be 4.

The startx and starty values shift user space relative to device space. A startx value of -2 shifts user space two units to the right, so that the left hand edge of the image has a user x value of -2 (compared to a device space x value of 0). Similarly a starty value of -1 shifts user space one unit down, so that the top edge of the image has a user y value of -1 (compared to a device space y value of 0).

This means that the origin (0, 0) in user space corresponds to a pixel position (200, 100) in device space. This diagram illustrates it:

Of course, you don't have to do this. You can leave user space at its default, or you can use the normal Pycairo scale and translate functions.

User space flip

Sometimes it is easier to create a user space where the y coordinates start at the bottom of the image and increase as you move up the image. This is useful if you are plotting graphs or using maths coordinates, which usually start at the bottom.

To do this, simply set the flip parameter to true in the setup call:

setup(ctx, pixel_width=500, pixel_height=400, width=5, startx=-2.0, starty=-1.0, background=Color(1), flip=True):

Here is the result:

One thing to remember, since user space is mirrored in the y direction, any text you add will be upside down. Fortunately generativepy text functions have a flip parameter that can be used to flip the text to match user space.