# CellR — Cellular Automata Editor

> CellR is a free, browser-based visual editor for Wolfram's elementary cellular automata. Design, animate, and export deterministic patterns as SVG. No signup, no installs.

## What it is

CellR is a visual playground for exploring all 256 elementary cellular automata rules popularized by Stephen Wolfram. Users sketch a starting seed, pick a rule (Rule 30, Rule 90, Rule 110, etc.), and watch the pattern evolve generation by generation. Patterns can be exported as scalable SVG for use in art, design, and education.

## Features

- All 256 elementary cellular automata rules supported
- Automata mode: rule-driven generation from a seed row
- Sketch mode: free-drawing on a grid
- Live animation of generations
- SVG export at infinite resolution
- Custom color picker for cell and background
- Light and dark themes
- Runs entirely in the browser, no signup, no tracking

## Background on cellular automata

Cellular automata are discrete computational systems where each cell's state evolves at each time step based on the states of its neighbors and a fixed rule. Stephen Wolfram's elementary cellular automata use a one-dimensional grid with binary cells (alive or dead) and a three-cell neighborhood, producing exactly 256 possible rules.

Notable rules:
- **Rule 30** — chaotic behavior, used as a random number generator inside Mathematica.
- **Rule 110** — proven Turing-complete by Matthew Cook in 2004.
- **Rule 90** — produces the Sierpinski triangle from a single seed cell.
- **Rule 184** — models traffic flow.

## Use cases

- Generative art and pattern design
- Visual education on emergent systems and computation
- Pattern generation for textiles, posters, branding, and motion graphics
- Exploring computational universes and emergence

## Author

Created by Majo Puterka, a digital designer based in Slovakia. Personal site: https://puterka.com

## Links

- Live site: https://cellr.puterka.com
- Author: https://puterka.com
- Source: https://github.com/majoputerka/cellular-automata-editor

## License

Artwork produced with CellR is released under CC0 1.0 (public domain).