RustFig

xfig for today's computers. The classic vector drawing program, rebuilt in Rust for macOS, Windows, Linux and the web, with fig2dev built in: a modern xfig that runs natively on Windows and macOS, with no X server, XQuartz or WSL.

Website: https://fabianhassler.github.io/rustfig/ (overview, downloads, the manual, a comparison with xfig and other programs, and the web app).

• It is xfig. The same modes, mouse buttons, panels and keys, and the same .fig files: RustFig opens every Fig version and saves Fig 3.2 that xfig and fig2dev read unchanged.
• It runs everywhere. Native on macOS, Windows and Linux, no X11, X server or XQuartz needed; a web build for the browser is in testing.
• Lightning fast. RustFig opens drawings 4 to 6 times faster than xfig and zooms, pans, moves and saves faster on most drawings, with smooth lines and text. Its fig2dev writes PDF up to 18 times faster than the C fig2dev (the measurements).
• LaTeX on the canvas. Text with the TeX flag is typeset by your TeX installation and shown as it will print, formulas included; plots of functions and data with LaTeX labels.
• Every fig2dev export, built in. PDF, SVG, EPS, PNG, pstex/pdftex, TikZ, PSTricks, pict2e and all of fig2dev's other languages, through fig2dev's drivers ported to Rust. The fig2dev command line comes along.
• Modern where it helps. Native printing, undo, command search (⌘⇧K / Ctrl+Shift+K), F1 help everywhere, the system's keys next to xfig's, and automation through a JSON control channel and MCP.

Download RustFig for macOS, Windows or Linux, or install it with Homebrew; see Installation. Or try it in your browser, nothing to install (a preview: drawings stay in your browser until you save them as a download, and a few exports need the desktop app). The drawing above is docs/images/rustfig-window.fig.

Installation

Download the app

Each release on the Releases page has ready-made apps (not yet signed by Apple or Microsoft):

System	File	How
macOS (Apple silicon)	RustFig-VERSION-macos.dmg	Drag RustFig to Applications. The app is not notarized by Apple yet, so the first start is refused: open System Settings > Privacy & Security and click Open Anyway (or run xattr -dr com.apple.quarantine /Applications/RustFig.app once). .fig files then open with a double-click.
Windows	rustfig-VERSION-windows.zip	Unpack anywhere and start rustfig.exe. fig-association.reg makes .fig files open in RustFig. Or with Scoop: scoop install https://raw.githubusercontent.com/FabianHassler/rustfig/main/packaging/scoop/rustfig.json
Linux (x86-64 and ARM64)	.deb or .tar.gz	sudo apt install ./rustfig_VERSION_amd64.deb (_arm64.deb on ARM, e.g. a Linux VM on an Apple-silicon Mac), or unpack the .tar.gz and run install.sh; both register the .fig file type. The .deb leaves the name fig2dev to Debian's fig2dev package: run RustFig's as rustfig fig2dev ….

Homebrew (macOS, Linux)

The tap FabianHassler/homebrew-tap builds rustfig and rustfig-cli from source (rustfig fig2dev … runs fig2dev's command line); fig2dev-rs adds a plain fig2dev command.

brew install fabianhassler/tap/rustfig
brew install fabianhassler/tap/fig2dev-rs    # optional: `fig2dev`

Update with brew upgrade rustfig, remove with brew uninstall rustfig. Homebrew's own fig2dev formula (the C program) installs the same command name as fig2dev-rs: keep one of them linked.

From source (Cargo)

1. Rust 1.92 or newer from rustup (rustup update brings an older one up to date).

2. Linux only: the libraries the window system needs, e.g. on Debian/Ubuntu:

   sudo apt install pkg-config libgtk-3-dev libxkbcommon-dev libwayland-dev \
     libxcb-render0-dev libxcb-shape0-dev libxcb-xfixes0-dev
   

   macOS and Windows need nothing extra.

3. Install both programs (rustfig, the drawing program, and rustfig-cli, the command line) straight from GitHub, the latest release:

   cargo install --locked --git https://github.com/FabianHassler/rustfig --tag v0.9.0-beta.11 rustfig rustfig-cli
   

   Leave out --tag … for the latest main. RustFig is not on crates.io (a plain cargo install rustfig does not work); the --git line builds the same program. Cargo fetches fig2dev, the converter RustFig exports through, by itself.

   Or from a clone:

   git clone https://github.com/FabianHassler/rustfig
   cd rustfig
   cargo install --locked --path apps/rustfig
   cargo install --locked --path apps/cli
   

The programs go into ~/.cargo/bin (Windows: %USERPROFILE%\.cargo\bin), which rustup puts on your PATH. Update later by rerunning the --git line with a newer --tag (or --force for main), or with git pull and the two --path lines; remove with cargo uninstall rustfig rustfig-cli.

This is the beginning of the README. Read the rest at the original. Read the full README ↗