🌸 SpringPaper — Chinese Papercut Art Simulator

SpringPaper is an interactive digital simulator inspired by traditional Chinese papercutting art commonly seen during the Spring Festival.

By simulating the real-world folding-and-cutting process used to create symmetrical paper decorations, SpringPaper allows users to design their own papercut artworks through simple clicks and drags — combining cultural heritage with computational creativity.

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🎯 Project Motivation

Traditional Chinese papercutting is a cultural art form that relies heavily on spatial symmetry, folding logic, and manual craftsmanship.
SpringPaper aims to:

• Preserve and reimagine traditional papercutting techniques in a digital format
• Help users intuitively understand symmetry and geometric patterns
• Provide a playful, creative tool that blends art, culture, and programming

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✂️ How It Works

SpringPaper simulates the sector-based folding model used in real papercutting:

1. The paper is conceptually folded into equal angular sectors
2. Users draw cut paths within a single sector
3. The system mirrors and rotates the cuts across all folds
4. A full symmetrical papercut pattern is generated in real time

This approach closely mirrors real-life papercutting logic while remaining intuitive for users.

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🧠 Key Features

• Symmetry-Based Papercut Simulation
  Automatically mirrors user-drawn cuts across multiple folds

• Interactive Drawing Interface
  Create designs using mouse clicks and drag gestures

• Configurable Folding Parameters
  Adjust number of folds and paper radius to explore different symmetry styles

• Instant Visual Feedback
  See the complete papercut pattern update dynamically as you draw

• Instruction & Sample Modes
  Includes usage instructions and example designs for exploration

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🏗️ System Design

• Each papercut is defined by a sequence of user-drawn paths
• Paths are stored in a base sector and transformed via rotation
• The simulator ensures all cuts remain within valid paper boundaries
• The final rendering overlays all symmetric copies to form the artwork

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⚙️ Tech Stack

• Language: Python
• Graphics Framework: cmu_graphics (CMU CS Academy)
• Math Utilities: Trigonometry and geometric transformations
• Environment: Designed to run in CMU CS Academy or compatible Python environments

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▶️ How to Run

This project is designed to run in CMU CS Academy.

1. Open CMU CS Academy
2. Create a new Python project
3. Paste the contents of main.py into the editor
4. Run the program and start creating papercut designs

💡 No additional libraries are required beyond cmu_graphics.

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📚 Educational Value

SpringPaper demonstrates:

• Computational geometry and symmetry
• Event-driven programming
• Object-oriented design for graphical systems
• Cultural computing through code

It serves as both a creative tool and an educational example of how programming can model real-world artistic processes.

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🌱 Future Improvements

• Export papercuts as images or SVG files
• Support free-form folding angles
• Add color and layering options
• Enable saving and loading designs

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📄 Notes

This project was coded to be run in CMU CS Academy
and was developed as a creative programming project exploring cultural art simulation.

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📜 License

This project is intended for educational and non-commercial use.