Hello Dev.to community!
I am new here and hoping for a rewarding experience. I need help with questions I have about a Python project I am embarking on.
The project has me creating an application in Flask to generate lettering stencils - to be used to form the lettering on concrete tombstones - and also to manage records of the departed. The characters used in the stencils are in SVG format and the stencils are currently made manually using a vector-based editing software. The output is an A3-size PDF file which is then printed and laser-cut.
I seek to automate the stencil-generating process but have no experience working with SVG in Python. The ideal situation would be to find a way to get the application to "recognize" and store each SVG stencil character (perhaps by mapping it to regular alphabets, digits and symbols) and generate the appropriate PDF stencil file whenever the details of a departed person are fed in.
I have tried to do a little research on the SVG libraries available in Python and haven't been very encouraged by my findings (I confess I haven't researched them thoroughly).
My questions are:
- Does anyone know any Python library or libraries that would be helpful for a project of this nature?
- Is there a better way to do what I am trying to do? (This is really important to me).
Help, comments, questions are all welcome.
Thank you.
Top comments (9)
Interesting!
Thank you.
It now feels much easier to do.
Steps 1 and 2 should not be a problem.
Step 3 will require working on an "A3 canvas" and considering spacing, centering and some conditional logic.
Step 4 will be fine if I get through Step 3 😀
I will send a message once I can access the svg characters. Thanks again.
Now I have a road map.
So there are 40 svg characters I need to get into the DB.
Do you think storing them as BLOBs in the DB is a good idea?
Please see the attached image to get an idea of the pdf output. (The duplication ensures there is a spare stencil)
Step 3
As you will see in the attached image, the characters are centered and the character spacing is supposed to be consistent. Also, the varying name lengths will create the need for conditional logic to decide when to use initials. I assume much of this will have to be achieved on an "svg canvas"?
Please let me know how you think I should proceed here.
Thanks.
Exactly sir, exactly!
This is what I am trying to achieve.
Thanks again.
I will resend the image.
Here
Here
I will go with your suggestions for now. If I need any more help I will let you know.
Thanks!
As expected, some of the characters on the stencils are standard and never change. Only the names, birth dates and dates of departure vary.
Any help will be appreciated.
Thanks.
I am having trouble sending the image here for some reason. Is it okay if I email it to you?