Draw.ipe - Draw.io to Ipe Converter

A best-effort converter for transforming Draw.io diagrams into Ipe XML format, enabling seamless integration of diagrams into LaTeX documents.

Why Convert to Ipe?

While Draw.io is excellent for creating diagrams, Ipe offers crucial advantages for academic and technical publishing:

Full LaTeX Integration

Ipe uses a complete LaTeX compiler for all text elements, which means:

• Perfect font matching: Your diagram fonts will exactly match your document's font family, size, and style
• Full preamble support: Load any LaTeX packages (amsmath, tikz, pgf, custom macros) via the Ipe page preamble
• Consistent math rendering: Mathematical formulas use the same LaTeX engine as your document, ensuring identical spacing, symbols, and styling
• Page-level consistency: Define colors, pen styles, and layers at the document level that persist across all figures

Professional Typesetting

• Vector output that integrates natively with PDFLaTeX workflows
• Precise control over label positioning and alignment
• Layers for organizing complex diagrams
• Native support for references and cross-referencing within figures

Installation

Prerequisites

1. Python 3.13+ with pip or uv (earler Python versions likely work as well)
2. Ipe (optional, for viewing/editing output): https://ipe.otfried.org/

Install Dependencies

Using uv (recommended):

uv sync

Or using standard pip:

pip install .

For development purposes, install as editable:

pip install -e .

Usage

Basic Conversion

# Using uv
uv run convert.py input.drawio output.ipe

# Using Python directly
python convert.py input.drawio output.ipe

Options

uv run convert.py --help

Options:
  --scale SCALE     Scale factor to convert Draw.io pixels to Ipe points
                    (default: 0.75). Adjust if diagram appears too large/small.

  --margin MARGIN   Extra margin in Ipe points added around the page
                    (default: 0.0)

  --creator NAME    Creator string stored in Ipe metadata
                    (default: drawdotipe)

  -v, --verbose     Enable verbose output showing conversion progress

Examples

# Standard conversion
uv run convert.py diagram.drawio diagram.ipe

# With verbose output
uv run convert.py -v diagram.drawio diagram.ipe

# Adjust scale for different sizing
uv run convert.py diagram.drawio diagram.ipe --scale 0.6

# Add margin around the page
uv run convert.py diagram.drawio diagram.ipe --margin 20

Supported Features

The converter handles the most common Draw.io primitives needed for LaTeX workflows:

• Rectangles and rounded rectangles
• Ellipses and double ellipses
• Text labels with basic HTML formatting
• LaTeX math mode ($$...$$ → $...$)
• Lines and polylines with waypoints
• Edges with arrowheads (start, end, or both)
• Dashed and dotted lines
• Group transformations
• Custom colors (hex and named)
• Stroke width and fill colors

Limitations

• Complex shapes (actors, clouds, etc.) are approximated as rectangles
• Image exports are not supported (vector shapes only)
• Some Draw.io-specific styling may be simplified
• Multi-page diagrams export the first page only

Workflow

1. Create your diagram in Draw.io as usual
2. Export as .drawio file (File → Export As → Draw.io)
3. Convert using this tool
4. Open in Ipe to fine-tune positioning, add LaTeX preamble, or adjust styles
5. Include in LaTeX with \includegraphics{figure.ipe} (using graphicx with Ipe support) or export to PDF

Setting Up LaTeX Preamble in Ipe

After conversion, open the .ipe file in Ipe and edit the document properties:

1. Go to Document Properties → LaTeX Preamble
2. Add your document's preamble:

   \usepackage{amsmath, amssymb}
   \usepackage{mathpazo}  % Match document font
   \pagestyle{empty}

3. Save and your diagram now uses the exact same typesetting as your paper

Technical Structure

drawioipe/
├── convert.py          # Main conversion script
├── pyproject.toml      # Project configuration
├── tests/              # Test suite

License

This project is licensed under the MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

Testing

Run the test suite with pytest:

uv run pytest

Contributing

Contributions are welcome! Feel free to submit issues or pull requests for:

• Support for additional Draw.io shapes
• Better styling preservation
• Multi-page diagram handling
• Performance improvements

Acknowledgments

• Draw.io (diagrams.net) for the excellent diagramming tool
• Otfried Cheong for creating Ipe
• The LaTeX community for making professional typesetting accessible