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Top Draw Is the Digital Spirograph of Today
This free pattern generator from Google can jar you out of an artistic rut, create interesting background images, or simply be an enjoyable break from work.
Written by Terri Stone on December 2, 2008
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Google has made a name for itself not only as the most popular Internet search engine, but as a source of free tools that are actually worthwhile. While Gmail and Google Docs are probably the best known, there are many others. One of those is Top Draw, an image-generation program that uses simple text scripts to generate complex patterns.
You can stick with the scripts that come with Top Draw (more than 25 of them), or with just a little bit of courage, you can edit the scripts to produce unique images. The Read Me file tells you how to edit the scripts.
Some of the patterns others have made with Top Draw.
To see a Flickr set of Top Draw results, go to www.flickr.com/photos/stewtopia/sets/72157607576617920/.
For now, Top Draw is only for Macs running OS 10.5 (Leopard) because it relies on Apple's Quartz and CoreImage rendering engines. Maybe if enough Windows users request it, Google will figure out how to make Top Draw run on Windows, as well.
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Windows Version PLEASE!
I would love to use this, but I am a Windows graphic artist. Hey Google, where's the love for the PC users?!