Skip to content

Repository files navigation

cad-tracer

Trace a real part from a photo and get its dimensions plus ready-to-use OpenSCAD code.

Built for replacement parts: you have the broken thing in your hand, a phone camera and a ruler, and you want a printable model. Open one HTML file in a browser, load the photo, calibrate the scale against a known length, click the outline and the holes. Out comes a dimensioned drawing and OpenSCAD source you can print.

Everything runs locally in the browser. No build step, no server, no upload — the files never leave your machine.

Files

File What it does
tracer.html The main tool. Photo in, traced outline with holes and pins out, plus OpenSCAD.
schnitt_zeichner.html Draw a cut line onto an existing contour that is already in millimetres, and read the cut points back in the SCAD coordinate frame.
platten_generator.html Parametric plate with a slide-rail mount, exported as OpenSCAD.
key_extender_generator.html Parametric key extension, exported as OpenSCAD.

The two generators are included as worked examples of the same pattern: a small parametric form in plain HTML that writes OpenSCAD. They were built for specific parts and are meant to be copied and adapted, not used as they are.

Use

Open tracer.html in any modern browser. Then:

  1. Load a photo of the part, shot as straight from above as you can manage.
  2. Calibrate: click two points whose real distance you know, and type that distance in millimetres.
  3. Trace the outline, then place holes and pins.
  4. Read the dimensions, copy the OpenSCAD code or download it.

Accuracy depends entirely on the photo. Shoot perpendicular to the part, avoid wide angle lenses close up, and put the calibration reference in the same plane as the part.

Why not just measure it

You still should, and the tracer shows you every dimension so you can check it against a caliper. The tracer is for the shape between the measurements: outlines that are awkward to describe in numbers, hole patterns, and anything with more than a handful of corners.

Interface language

The user interface is German. The generated OpenSCAD is language neutral.

Licence

MIT

About

Trace a real part from a photo in the browser and get dimensions plus OpenSCAD. No server, no upload.

Topics

Resources

Stars

0 stars

Watchers

0 watching

Forks

Releases

Packages

Contributors

Languages