NodeBox -- an application for generating 2D graphics using Python

By cgavini at Sat, Apr 21 2007 3:31pm |

This application is nice for prototyping 2D graphics using Python. It seems to consist of a wrapper over the PyObjC calls to the relevant FoundationKit and ApplicationKit libraries. It is easy to install(it comes with its own mini-IDE environment). Check it out here.

Comments

Sun, 2008-01-06 10:03 — grasshoppermouse

Nodebox = Photoshop + Illustrator for programmers

If you need to composite bitmap and vector graphics (including postscript fonts and bezier curves), in an environment that supports layers, alpha channels, much of core-image's manipulation capabilities, and some nifty libraries, such as one for graphing networks, and would like to export to pdf or other standard formats, all under script control (via python and anything you can import into python), then check out Nodebox.

I was really surprised how gentle the learning curve was. Just type in some commands like rect(x, y, w, h, draw=True), line(x1, y1, x2, y2, draw=True), arrow(x, y, width, draw=True), or image('path/to/file', x, y) on the right-hand side, run, and your composite image appears on the left hand side:

NodeBox-Balls

The big selling points for me are python, the ease of previewing script output, and that when exporting to pdf vector graphics are not rasterized.

I put together two figures for a paper of mine in short order, each of which would have been challenging to generate using standard plotting programs.

Wikipedia has a nice summary:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/NodeBox