This Lo-Fi Digital Frame Is Perfect for Retro Enthusiasts
This digital photo frame from an alternate universe displays your images in the style of MacPaint from a vintage Macintosh.
If you are looking for the perfect gift for a vintage computing enthusiast and are short on time, don’t go spending the day scouring eBay. Instead, you should build them a copy of the cool little digital frame dreamed up by Mark Wilson. The frame, called LackPaint, mimics the look of an image being displayed in MacPaint on a vintage Macintosh.
LackPaint is really simple to build: all you need is an Arduino Uno and a 480x320-pixel LCD shield. To make things look presentable, Wilson created a laser-cut case to house the components — but that step is optional. Or, if you don’t have access to a laser cutter, you could simply 3D print your own version of the case.
A slightly modified version of the MacPaint interface (to fit the aspect ratio of the display) was developed and stored in a PROGMEM data structure. Images are then loaded into the “window” of this faux MacPaint interface from an SD card to show them off like no boring-old modern frame ever could.
Of course, you can’t just go and stick a high-resolution, full-color image into MacPaint. So, Wilson first processes each image with ImageMagick. This transforms JPG files to monochrome (or grayscale) 3x3-tile dithered BMPs. Since MacPaint also displays a name for each file, Wilson made it optional to append a name to the end of each BMP to use for this purpose. Without this, the frame could only show ugly 8.3-style file names.
Check out the full project write-up to find out how you can quickly whip up a LackPaint of your own for that special someone.