This is part of our Squiggle University tutorial series. A lucky graduate of Squiggle U will be selected to get a BANTAM TOOLS #NEXTDRAW WRITING AND DRAWING MACHINE!!! Don't forget to post the squiggles you generate on social media, tag @BantamTools & #NextDraw and email the .SVG files to Z@BantamTools.com . We will be picking some favorites and giving away... Bantam Tools Stickers & Merch, Plotted Postcards of your generations, and a #NextDraw!!!
Welcome to SquiggleCam 101. You want to plot a photo, but a photo is made out of pixels, and you need an SVG made out of lines to plot. Squiggle Draw, the underlying source and inspiration for SquiggleCam, offers nuanced conversions of images to SVG format. SquiggleCam itself is known for its high accessibility. It converts an image composed of an incredibly large amount of data to a series of horizontal lines that have distortion in areas of tonal density. Basically, where the area of the photo is darker, there are more squiggles.
Below is a quick general overview of an uploaded image being edited by SquiggleCam’s provided sliders. It is an incredibly easy to use interface that allows real-time image conversion of the original file → displayed in the work area on the right side. It is easiest to understand by just by uploading an image and playing with the different editing features.
Step 1. Choose an image you would like to convert to an SVG file.
As a general rule of thumb, use images or artwork that have contrasting or visually distinct features already present.
If converting an image to SVG for the purpose of plotting the resulting vector based artwork (we hope this is the case), you will want to consider the possible resulting translation of the image you are intending to convert. Some images work great for conversion to SVG with the intention of editing vectors and fills for printing via other means or using for web content, while others are better suited for the process of plotting. This can be based on individual preference, but sometimes is simply the physical limitations of the plotting process. SquiggleCam is especially suited to producing SVGs that are wonderfully suited for plotting.
Below is an example of an image that can likely work well for converting to SVG using SquiggleCam and later plotting- due to the above-mentioned factors.
Image 1: Photo of Eiffel Tower
Image 2: Edited to demonstrate visually distinct feature
Image 3: Resulting SquiggleCam produced SVG of the above image
iPhones & Android phones offer “hold to select and lift subject” in their native camera roll. Long press on a subject in your photo. You can copy or share this, and send it to the computer you are squiggling on to easily obtain isolated subjects from an image.
Image 4: Isolating subject using “Hold To Select and Lift Subject” on iOS or Android Camera Rolls.
Step 2. Go to the SquiggleCam site: https://msurguy.github.io/SquiggleCam/
The SquiggleCam UI is pretty straightforward- with 4 primary sections that walk you through the various steps needed to get to your final vector based SquiggleCam drawing that you can save in an SVG format. Each of these sections expands to allow you to make the specific choices and adjustments that will result in the unique translation of the original image.
A. Paper Setting:
This section represents the aspect ratio you would like to have for your image that will be translated into SquiggleCam’s version of an SVG. Meaning, it will create the “borders” of the image or resulting artwork. You can use this as a way to crop your image to the proportion you would like to plot. You also have a choice in paper color- Black or White
Set Paper Setting - Aspect Ratio of what you will want for the output.
This is a first step in the ability to edit or crop the image you’ve chosen via choosing a Pixel Width and Pixel Height. If you are intent on using the original image, it might help to know the original aspect ratio. You can also quickly experiment to get the crop/border you will want to use, as the image adjusts in real time.
B. Image Selection:
Choose an image using the available option in the Image Selection dropdown
When choosing an image, you also have the option of zooming in and effectively “cropping” the original image by using your mouse scroll wheel or pinch/zoom on your trackpad. You can also reposition the image within the frame.
Image 5
Image 6 : “Cropped”
C. Editing Ability:
Above are the SquiggleCam Image Editing Options in 2 sections:
Image Adjustments:
This is the first point you will have an ability to dramatically affect the output of the SVG vector interpretation of your original image. You can choose to do something more abstract or attempt to match the original images' tonal value and accuracy.
These are common adjustments one can make using most photo or artwork editing software that is out there. They have a significant effect on the resulting vector image in real time.
You will likely come back to these settings once you’ve made edits in the Following set of SquiggleCam editing tools- so don’t feel like you have to get it 100% in the first adjustments. I would look at it more as setting the general look/feel you will want.
Brightness: Increases the brightness of the photo- the amount of “white” you see.
Contrast: Resolves the image into Darks and Lights
Min Brightness: Adjust the minimum brightness of the image
Max Brightness: Adjust the maximum brightness of the image
Squiggle Settings:
This is where the fun begins- like we said in the beginning, it is much more fun to understand the SquiggleCam tool by simply uploading and image and playing with the editing features. Below are the SquiggleCam Editing Options. Feel free to leave this tutorial now and just start using the tool :)
Frequency the number of waves that pass a fixed point of the line
Line Count the number of resulting lines that are interpreted from the original image
Amplitude tonal density related by high and low of the vector line correlated to dark/light.
Sampling the amount of the original image the algorithm processes.
Step 2. Engaging with SquiggleCam’s Interface
An example w/ different Paper Color Settings (white and then black)
Image 7 Sequence
White Paper (above
Black Paper (above)
*Note: When using Black Paper settings for plotting, it is important to have the necessary materials on hand- black paper suitable for plotting and a white ink pen.
Another example w/ different squiggleCam settings for different output. *Density of vector lines can sometimes cause issues when plotting, so consideration should be given to vector paths, overlapping, or areas where there might be bleed through with paper/pen choice. The 2nd output below could possibly lead to bleed-through with the dense vector arrangement area under the vehicle.
Image 8 Sequence
Less Dense
More Dense
An example of when it might be good to use the Black Paper Setting- this can have a good result in images with primarily dark backgrounds. The image is also cropped to focus on the facial features- done when loading the image- in order to get more detail from the vector interpretation:
Image 9: B&W with contrasting subject offset from background
Image 9.1 _ resulting vector image from above image using “Black Paper” setting
It is perfectly possible to just use SquiggleCam output as-is, as standalone digital artwork- something that might not be suitable for plotting due to the density of the vector lines possibly causing over saturation of the paper in sections and leading to bleed-through and tearing.
Once you’ve arrived at an outcome you are ok with, you can just click the “SVG” button to download the resulting Vector based SVG file. You can then use this file to make further edits in software like Inkscape or Illustrator. Once you are happy with your work, you have the option of plotting the final result :)
Step 3. Plot your SquiggleCam SVG
Below is an example of the SquiggleCam SVG of Image 4 above being plotted on the Axidraw V3
Congrats, you have passed SquiggleCam 101 and have been successfully enrolled into SqiggleDraw 102 click here to head to that class now!