Spyro Help✖

Spyro has two input modes: Simple and Full. It also has the ability to animate drawing the picture, or display it immediately.

Simple Input Mode

This mode works like a mechanical Spyrograph:

• Choose the colour, transparency, and thickness of the pen you're drawing with.
• Enter the number of teeth the fixed wheel has (this will also decide how wide it is). Select whether the teeth are on the outside (normal cog) or inside.
• Enter the number of teeth the moving wheel has. Decide how far out from the centre the pen hole is.
• If you want, you can have the spyro's centre offset from the centre of the paper. Enter a distance and angle for the spyro to be drawn at. If you add symmetry, multiple spyros will be drawn around the centre.
• Click "Add"! Your first spyro will be drawn.
• You can add as many spyros as you like. If you want to remove the spyro you just added, click "Undo".
• Once you've finished drawing, you can click "Export" to download a PNG image of your spryo.
• You can also click "Save" to record your spyro in a cookie, or copy the contents of the text box to send your spyro to a friend.

Full Input Mode

This mode is more mathematical than mechanical. You can combine spyros with Full and Simple input modes in the same drawing.

• Discrete elements work like the Offset control on the Simple mode: they allow you to make several copies of the same spyro. You can add several discrete elements together, and can use the arrows to reorder them, or the cross to delete them.
  • Radial elements step from the "From" to the "To" radius you specify, making the number of points entered. If you put two Radial elements in sequence with a different angle, you'll get a grid of spyros.
  • Cyclic elements step around an ellipse with the radii you specify, making the symmetry entered. If you put a Cyclic element then a Radial element, you'll get a series of concentric circles.
• Continuous elements work like the Wheels on the Simple mode. Again, you can add several continuous elements together, and use the controls to reorder and delete them. In each case the "Cycles" control determines how many times the pen will go around the figure.
  • Cyclic elements give ellipses with the parameters you entered. If you add cyclic elements together, you get an effect similar to traditional Spyrograph, but with more control over the parameters.
  • Harmonic elements can be used to make ellipses, but they are better-suited to making oscillations along a straight line or Lissajous figures.
  • Multiplier elements affect the distance-from-centre that has been created by all previous Continuous elements in the stack. Careful choice of parameters will create spirals and other figures.
• Once you have decided on the spyro's makeup, click "Add" to draw it.
• All other controls work the same way as for the Simple input mode.

Saved Spyros

If you have saved a spyro in your cookies, you can draw it again by clicking on its name on the list to populate the text area, then clicking "Draw".

You can delete a saved spyro using the "x" control next to its name.

If you have copied a spyro from elsewhere, paste it into the text area and click "Draw" to see it.

Change log

v1.0 2016-06-01Initial launch.