Getting started

Install

Clone the repository into your OpenSCAD library folder. In OpenSCAD, File → Show Library Folder opens it.

git clone https://github.com/CameronBrooks11/tessella.git

You can also clone it next to your project and import it by relative path. Tessella has no dependencies.

To pin a release, check out its tag:

git clone --branch v0.1.0 https://github.com/CameronBrooks11/tessella.git

Tessella is developed against OpenSCAD 2026.10.15. It uses function literals, which need OpenSCAD 2021.01 or later.

Import the library

use <tessella/tess.scad>

tess.scad is an index file that pulls in every tiling and the utilities. use is enough for all the functions and modules. include also works, and additionally brings the library’s one top-level variable, EPSILON, into your file.

A first tessellation

This draws three rings of hexagons around a central one.

use <tessella/tess.scad>

radius = 10; // centre-to-corner distance of each hexagon
gap = 1;     // how much to shrink each tile

// 1. where the tiles go
centers = hexagons_centers_radial(radius = radius, levels = 3);

// 2. the outline of each tile
vertices = hexagons_vertices(radius = radius - gap, centers = centers);

// 3. draw them
generic_poly(
    vertices = vertices,
    paths = [[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 0]],
    centers = centers,
    color_scheme = "scheme1",
    extrude = 2
);

Three things to notice:

• centers is laid out with the full radius, and vertices is drawn with a smaller one. The difference is what leaves a gap between tiles. With the same radius for both, the tiles touch.
• paths is the order in which each tile’s corners are joined. It is the same for every tile, so it is given once.
• centers is passed to generic_poly() only so it can colour each tile by its position. Leave out centers and color_scheme and the tiles are drawn in the default colour.

Remove some tiles

filter_center_points() takes a list of centres and a list of points to remove from it. Apply it before computing the vertices:

use <tessella/tess.scad>

radius = 10;

all_centers = hexagons_centers_radial(radius = radius, levels = 3);
removed = [[0, 0], [17.3205, 0], [-17.3205, 0]];
centers = filter_center_points(all_centers, removed);

vertices = hexagons_vertices(radius = radius - 1, centers = centers);
generic_poly(vertices = vertices, paths = [[0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 0]], extrude = 2);

The coordinates do not have to be exact. echo(all_centers); prints them rounded to six significant figures, and a point copied from that output still matches. Removing tiles explains why.

Next

• Layouts describes the rectangular and radial layouts of each tiling.
• Rendering covers generic_poly(), the colour schemes and extrusion.
• Examples has a complete file for each tiling and layout.