ECS-1

Cassini

Create with limits.
a delphi tool
Now on TestFlight
Cassini ECS-1 interface showing the control block and canvas
01Philosophy

The operator is expected to adapt to the limitations of the instrument rather than configure the instrument to the preferences of the operator.

1000
× 500 Pixels. Fixed.

One canvas. One size. No resizing, no rotation, no negotiation. Every mark is a commitment to the frame.

12
Colours per palette

No colour picker. No hex input. Choose from curated palettes or generate new ones from what you have.

1
Undo state

Take back your last stroke. That's it. No history panel, no fifty-step undo. Think before you draw.

02Specification

A fixed-format electrographic instrument

The Cassini ECS-1 is designed for the production of digital artwork under constrained operating conditions. The constraints are not limitations to be overcome — they are the instrument itself.

Canvas 1000 × 500 px
Aspect Ratio 2 : 1
Colours 12 per palette
Built-in Palettes 16
Layers None
Undo Depth 1
Memory Slots 3 per file
Export PNG at 1×, 2×, or 4×
Input Apple Pencil only
Platform iPad
03Palette Directory

16 built-in palettes

Curated colour sets you can swap between at any time. Generate ephemeral palettes from any swatch. Record the ones you want to keep.

01Arafura
General-purpose full-spectrum. One of each principal hue at moderate saturation.
02Spindrift
Pastel full-spectrum. Soft and low-contrast at elevated lightness.
03Sherbrooke
Muted earth tones on warm parchment. Burnt sienna, ochre, olive, slate.
04Chukhung
High-saturation full-spectrum. All entries near maximum intensity. Vivid and confrontational.
05Poa Alpina
Botanical greens. Dark conifer to pale lichen on warm linen.
06La Caldera
Reds exclusively. Deep arterial to pale rose on warm white.
07Shenzhou
Blues exclusively. Deep navy to pale cornflower on cool white.
08Altostratus
Neutral grayscale. Twelve achromatic values. No chromatic content.
09Insolate
Ambers and golds. Evokes aged paper and solar exposure.
10Daphnis 26
Saturated mixed-hue with irregular distribution. Higher contrast than Arafura.
11Hyperborea
Cool blues and teals. Dark fjord to pale ice. Arctic in character.
12Kobresia
Purples and violets. Deep plum to pale lavender.
13Antennaria
Black, white, gray, and red. High contrast with a single chromatic accent. Stark and graphic.
14Uva-Ursi
Greens and mints. Deep forest to pale seafoam. Cooler than Poa Alpina.
15Endurium
Oranges and terracotta. Deep rust to pale peach on warm white.
16Laika
Dark navies, muted purple, coral, amber, icy cyan. Illuminated instrumentation against a night sky.
04Effects

Six real-time pixel processors

Apply with precision via parameter controls, or hit Slap for random values and see what happens.

Kaleido
Symmetry tool. Mirrors canvas data along configurable axes.
Split
Channel split displacement. Chromatic aberration from offset colour channels.
Chippy
Combined edge detection, compression, and posterisation.
Gaussian
Blur tool. Gaussian convolution to soften pixel data.
Telematic
Pixel sorting and scanline effect with visible scan artefacts.
McMaster
Colour quantisation and dithering. Redistributes colour across the palette.
05Patterns

15 procedural fills

Deterministic pattern generators applied in the active foreground colour. Identical results on every application.

CHKCheckerboard
CDYCandy Stripes
SQRSquare Grid
SPISpiral
HILHilbert Curve
ZRYSierpinski Triangle
DOTDot Grid
HEXHexagonal Tiling
WVESine Waves
DSCDiamonds
CRSCross-Hatch
BRKBrick Wall
STRStarfield
DGDDiagonal Grid
MZEMaze