What Things That Are Circles Actually Does
It is a utility for generating precise circular layouts, Voronoi-style radial grids, and concentric distribution maps. I use it mostly when I need to place items around a center point without them overlapping, whether that is for UI design, data visualization, or just laying out physical components on a round board. The interface is not complicated. You set a radius, a number of items, and a spacing tolerance. It spits out coordinates. That is essentially it. People who overcomplicate it end up frustrated because the tool does exactly what you tell it, and nothing more.
Things That Are Circles: Getting Started
Download it from the usual spots. It is free for personal use, with a one-time license if you want to use it commercially. The installer is straightforward on macOS and Windows. Linux users can grab the flatpak or build from source, though the build process takes about ten minutes if you have the dependencies already. Once it is running, start with a blank canvas. Click the circle tool, set your parameters, and watch it generate. I usually begin with 12 items at a 400-pixel radius with 8 percent spacing. That gives me a clean layout I can tweak from there.
Where It Gets Tricky
The spacing algorithm uses a repulsion model, which works well until you hit certain item counts. I ran into a real problem last year when I tried to place 97 items inside a circle with tight spacing. The repulsion model started oscillating and the layout never converged. I lost about three hours fighting it before I figured out the workaround. The fix was simple enough. I broke the 97 items into two groups: 80 in the outer ring and 17 in the center cluster, then merged the results. The tool has a "merge zones" feature for exactly this kind of scenario. It also helps to bump the iteration count up from the default 500 to around 1200 when you are dealing with dense packing. Another thing nobody mentions in the docs: the tool exports SVG, PNG, and a JSON coordinate file. The JSON is where the real power is. You can pipe those coordinates directly into a script for further processing, which saves you from manual data entry.
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The Parts Nobody Talks About
It does not handle perfect circles when your items are highly asymmetric in size. If you have a mix of large and small elements, the spacing gets wonky. I learned this the hard way on a project where I was placing icons of varying sizes around a central logo. The output looked fine at first glance but the visual weight was completely off. The workaround I use now is to normalize everything to a bounding box before running the generator. It adds about two minutes to the workflow but prevents rework later. Alternatively, you can use the manual override mode, which lets you nudge individual items while keeping the overall radial structure intact.
Things That Are Circles in Practice
I rely on it for radial menu designs, circular infographics, and occasionally for architectural floor plans that involve round rooms. The export options are solid. SVG keeps everything editable, which matters when a client wants to tweak a radius after you have handed off the files. It also supports custom spacing profiles, which is useful if you want items to cluster more densely near the center and spread out toward the edge. You define the profile as a simple curve, and the generator applies it across the entire layout.
Limitations You Should Know
The tool struggles with very large canvases. Anything above 8000 by 8000 pixels tends to slow down significantly, and sometimes the repulsion calculations time out. I had to switch to a different approach for a massive circular data visualization project because of this. Another issue is that it only supports 2D layouts. If you need a 3D sphere distribution, you are on your own. For those cases, I use a combination of this tool for the 2D base and then project the coordinates onto a sphere using a separate script. It works, but it is not seamless. There is no mobile app. If you need to make adjustments on the go, you are stuck. I have heard from a few users who requested one, but the developer has not prioritized it. The web version exists but it is less reliable than the desktop app for complex layouts.
Who This Is For
Designers who work with radial compositions. Data folks building circular charts. Anyone who needs precise circular arrangements without doing the math by hand. It is not for people who want a fully featured design suite. It does one thing, and it does it reasonably well. If you find yourself constantly adjusting circle layouts manually, this tool will save you somewhere between 30 and 45 minutes per project. That adds up over time.
Things That Are Circles: Final Thoughts
It is not perfect. The convergence issue with high item counts is real, and the lack of 3D support limits its use in certain projects. But for what it does, it is reliable. I have been using it for over two years across dozens of projects, and it has not let me down except in the edge cases I described. The developer updates it periodically, mostly bug fixes and performance improvements. The last major update added better SVG export and the ability to save custom spacing profiles, which I use regularly. I would recommend trying the free version first to see if it fits your workflow before committing to the license.
