Installation

This page explains how to run axonometry scripts for end users. If you intend to develop on top of axonometry, see the Contributing section.

For users familiar with Python packages, the axonometry library is available from the Python Package Index and can be installed like any other package.

Warning

The recommended Python version is 3.12. Versions 3.10 and 3.11 are compatible as well.

axonometry is not yet compatible with Python 3.13. But no worries, uv will take care of this automatically.

In this section we explain how to run axonometry using uv. This method is very simple and normally ensures cross-platform compatibility as well.

TL;DR

Install uv, then uv run --with axonometry script.py 🎉

1. Install uv

Run the following command in a terminal [1] :

# On macOS and Linux, in Terminal.
curl -LsSf https://astral.sh/uv/install.sh | sh

# On Windows, in PowerShell.
powershell -ExecutionPolicy ByPass -c "irm https://astral.sh/uv/install.ps1 | iex"

2. Run a script

In a folder of your choice, create a new file named script.py and add the following code to the file:

from axonometry import Axonometry, Point, Line
my_axo = Axonometry.random_angles()
my_axo.draw_line(Line(Point(x=92, y=84, z=17), Point(x=92, y=111, z=17)))
my_axo.save_svg("drawing")

Save the script file and navigate to its location in your terminal/shell. From within the folder, execute the script with the following command:

uv run --with axonometry script.py

Congratulations, you just run your first axonometry script !

The folder where the script was executed now contains a new output folder with the exported SVG file:

.
├── script.py
└── output
    └── drawing.svg

Tip

The --with axonometry flag is necessary as it commands uv to download the axonometry package with the necessary dependencies before executing your code. If your code has extra dependencies, use --with <package_name> for each.

Another way is to add this script header to the top of your script.py file:

# /// script
# requires-python = ">=3.12"
# dependencies = [
#     "axonometry",
# ]
# ///

After that, you can execute the script simply with uv run script.py.

3. Test visualization

To double check that axonometry works fine, append the following line to your script.py file.

my_axo.show_paths()

When executing the script with uv run --with axonometry script.py a new window with a drawing should appear.

---

[1]

The terminal (macOS/Linux) or Command Prompt (Windows) is a tool that allows you to interact with your computer’s operating system by typing commands directly. You’ll need to use it to install Python libraries. Instead of using a mouse to click through menus, you will type instructions to perform various tasks. This method of interaction is known as the command-line interface (CLI).

Navigation in the terminal uses text commands. This guide does not cover navigation commands, but you can easily find resources online.

Alternatively, in order to open the terminal in a certain folder of your choice, one can first navigate to the folder with the file manager app and once in the right folder, right-click and select “Open in Terminal” on Windows; “Open Terminal Here” or “Alt+Shift+F4” on Linux; show path bar and right-click folder to select “Open in Terminal” on MacOS.