chess_position_printer

A small Pillow-based helper that turns lists of FEN strings into PNG diagrams.

example: queen's gambit

ABOUT ♟️

This Python script uses the Pillow library to generate custom chess board diagrams as PNG images.
It allows you to visualize and print chess positions from FEN strings, design unique piece styles, and export diagrams for use in books, websites, or training materials.
The script is lightweight, open-source, and perfect for developers, chess teachers, and enthusiasts who want to automate or personalize chess illustrations with clean, printable output.

Tags: #chess #python #pillow #diagram-generator #chessboard #chess-diagram #image-generator #open-source #fen #board-visualizer

Requirements

• Python 3.9 or newer.
• Pillow (pip install pillow).

Preparing your inputs

1. Add one position per line inside chess_board_printer.txt using the format:

   <FEN string> -> <diagram name>;
   

   Lines starting with # are ignored so you can keep notes in the same file.
2. Keep your piece icons (1000×1000 PNGs work well) inside the pieces/ folder. The filenames must match the defaults listed in print_positions.py.

Generating diagrams

Run the script from the project root:

python print_positions.py

Each valid entry creates position_<diagram name>.png in the same directory.

Tweaking the output

All tunable values live at the top of print_positions.py and can be edited in place:

• SQUARE_SIZE controls the resolution of every board square (default 500px, resulting in 4000×4000 output).
• INCLUDE_BOARD toggles between a coloured board and a transparent background (set it to False for transparent output).
• LIGHT_SQUARE_COLOR and DARK_SQUARE_COLOR define the board palette.
• OUTPUT_NAME_TEMPLATE lets you change the naming scheme of the generated PNGs.

Swapping piece sets

To use different artwork, replace the PNGs inside the pieces/ folder with your own files—keep the filenames identical so the FEN lookup table continues to work. You can create sub-folders with alternative sets; just point PIECES_FOLDER to the desired directory before running the script.