Free Online Graph Paper | Hacker News Reader

Free Online Graph Paper

incompetech.com

165 pointsGedxx31 comments

I just saw that a very typical sheet used a lot in Germany is missing in your awesome offering: Millimeterpapier, i.e. a 1mm grid with slighty thicker lines every 10 mm, in a reddish hue, as can bee seen here: https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Millimeterpapier - but from there I noticed that on Wikipedia there is already a ton of these PDFs as samples!

It’s funny how paper patterns vary with geography. Across the Baltic Sea, in Sweden, you can certainly find "millimeterpapper", as we call it, but it’s a bit of a speciality item, and I have rarely, if ever, seen anyone actually use it. Especially now, that all graphs are done on a computer anyway.

On that subject, I’m fascinated by the many special-purpose more-or-less-grid papers there are out there. Yet, whenever I see photos of these papers in use, the user does not seem to have used it for its intended purpose, but simply as a random piece of paper. For example, what is the motivation for the "engineer" paper on this site?

PRetty sure this covers it : https://incompetech.com/graphpaper/multicolor/

Just change the values to 0.1 cm.

I like this a lot. Curiously, it's useless for what I use graph paper for.

I'll describe my idealized graph paper -- similar to what I made myself in a drawing program, but with several improvements taken from browsing these and seeing things done better than I did:

- Coarse centimeter line grid

- Fine millimeter dot grid

- Optionally, a thicker line occasionally (e.g. every 4-5cm), or better yet, a cross-grid.

- A rectangle in the bottom right where I can place a label

Grid should go edge-to-edge (with a bit of bleed in the design).

I'm not saying that's anybody else's ideal. That's ideal for what I do. There is no "best," but there is "suitability to purpose" combined with "what one is used to."

I think the way to do this would be the same webapp, but where it's possible to overlay several of these on top of each other. Multiweight and multicolor should be a combination of a pair of single weight / single color.

The way to do a lot of this, by the way, is in PostScript programming.

Footnote: Reading more of the web site, this guy is clearly awesome.

I wrote something like this to generate ruling sheets for calligraphy at http://calligraffiti.in/rulings.

I had to learn a little about PDF generation to write and this and that translated into a project which gave me enough money to keep me afloat during an especially dry period during covid.

Come for the graph paper, stay for the snark. Go to the Grid Dots page[0], and...

I'm going to guess you're really into pens. Not an unhealthy amount... but more than most.

It's like the web page sees into my mind!

[0] https://incompetech.com/graphpaper/squaredots/

Review of old K+E graph paper by Math researcher and Youtuber Chris Staecker

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=q7KU26mnX-I

I was expecting an interactive document instead of printable templates

PDF can guarantee precise control over printed output wrt dimensions. I have hoped to find this with modern HTML and CSS but it still seems a little variable across browsers, at least when fonts are involved.

I wonder why the dotted paper is not more common. If I go into a shop all I get is either lined, or squares.

I was training persian letters yesterday and actually found it more difficult on dotted paper than on lined paper. So maybe the answer is that schools start with lined paper, and then everyone sticks with it? Also I guess school children are the primary buyers of lined paper?

Dotted paper is the absolute best by far, followed by grid squares. Everything else feels like an enormous downgrade to me now that I have got used to having dots.

dots are cool

hex-dots being the coolest and most powerful

If one wants quality graph paper, whether bound or loose leaf, I would think one will probably seek out a specialty store, likely online.

Used to use this a lot. Always wondered how they keep up with the costs. Turn out it is donations

I can't imagine it's that expensive to run.

They draw all squares by hand

A $4/month VPS could handle it trivially

Depends on how heavily it gets hit. Anything else is just speculating how much it costs.

Back in the day, you had to beg the parent you had that had access to a photocopier at work to make copies for you from your special best 'reserved for replication' original, because if you used your last one you couldn't make more.

His music is even better. I wish he supported other payment than Paypal, I would buy it in a heartbeat.

https://www.patreon.com/kmacleod

(linked from here: https://incompetech.com/music/royalty-free/faq.html)

Thanks, I'll try that.

Very nice offering. Only suggestion for improvement would be a live preview when editing the parameters.

The „perspective“ lines are awesome for drawing.

need to be wary of the printer's printing resolution. My hp 400 is not printing all lines of some types of grid papers...

Makes one want a plotter, no? I remember being mesmerized by those as they drew architectural diagrams.

Drawing a dotted paper with a plotter sounds like a stress test for the gear

I was hoping to find isometric grid for some technical drafting nostalgia but they only have 45 degree

Awesome, perfect with tablet

Reply on news.ycombinator.com