Convert images & SVGs to sand table art — clean vector paths for Oasis, Sisyphus & ZenXY
Free Sand Table Pattern Converter
SandPath is a free, open-source web tool that converts images and SVG files into patterns for kinetic
sand tables. Whether you own an Oasis Mini, a Sisyphus Coffee Table, or a ZenXY build, SandPath produces
clean .thr (theta-rho) and .gcode output files ready to load onto your
table. No account, no installation, no uploads — everything runs in your browser and your files
never leave your device.
Converting takes three steps: drop in a file, pick your table and trace
mode, then convert and download. New to sand tables? Start with
Getting Started, which walks
through the whole process and explains what the file formats mean.
Your image will be traced into vector paths before conversion.
More detailLess detail
NoneHeavy
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FastDetailed
Trace Preview
Output Settings
FastSmooth
InsetEdge
None20%
Ready
What SandPath Does
A kinetic sand table draws with a steel ball dragged under the sand by a magnet. It reads a
path — an ordered list of positions the ball should travel through — and traces it continuously.
SandPath takes an SVG or an ordinary image and produces that path file: .thr
(theta-rho) for circular tables, or .gcode for rectangular ones.
Accepted inputs are SVG vector files and raster images in JPG, PNG, WebP, BMP, GIF and TIFF.
Everything is traced and previewed in your browser; nothing is uploaded, because there is no
server to upload to.
Supported Tables
Table choice sets the coordinate system, the output format and the physical bounds the path
is fitted to, so picking the right one matters more than it looks:
Oasis Mini — 6.5″ circular, by Grounded (.thr)
Oasis One — 18.5″ circular, by Grounded (.thr)
Sisyphus Mini — 15.5″ circular (.thr)
Sisyphus Coffee Table — 24.5″ circular (.thr)
Sisyphus End Table — 18″ circular (.thr)
ZenXY — V1 Engineering rectangular (.gcode)
Custom — any circular or rectangular table, with your own dimensions
How Images Become Paths
An SVG already contains paths, so it converts fairly directly. A photograph does not, and
the way you get from pixels to a single travelling line is the whole problem. SandPath offers
three tracing modes:
Outline — Sobel edge detection. Best for photographs and dense artwork,
where the recognisable information lives in the edges rather than the tones.
Threshold — a black/white cutoff. Best for logos, silhouettes and
anything already high-contrast.
Centerline — skeleton thinning, which reduces a stroke to the line
running down its middle. Best for sketches and line drawings.
The important difference from a naive raster importer is that SandPath traces vector paths
rather than sweeping the image in horizontal rows. Scanline output looks like corduroy in sand:
the ball rakes back and forth and the picture only resolves from directly overhead.
Why that happens is worth
understanding before you convert anything →
What to Expect
Sand is a low-detail medium. A ball roughly a centimetre across, dragging a groove through a
tray of sand, cannot reproduce fine texture — and every previous pattern stays visible until it
is drawn over. Images with a few strong shapes read well; busy photographs usually do not,
whatever tracing mode you choose. The live preview exists so you can find that out before
sending a file to the table.
Path ordering also matters: the ball leaves a visible line travelling between shapes, so a
pattern that jumps around the tray draws its own connective scribble.
Travel lines and path
ordering →