标签：#plantuml

I needed faster edits for technical diagrams, and a lower recurring overhead for recurring visuals. I stopped asking for new images for everything. That change started the moment I replaced "generate now, tweak later" with a fixed 8-tool matrix. TL;DR: I moved recurring illustration work into seven scriptable stacks + one 3D stack and kept image-generation AI only as a fallback. Why I rewrote this workflow When I edited an article recently, I was spending too much time redoing the same visual shape in slightly different versions. The same chart logic should not need prompt guessing each time. I asked myself: Can this be represented as text or code? Can I regenerate it exactly when requirements change? Do I need raw design freedom, or do I need deterministic structure? If the answer was mostly "text/code + deterministic output," I did not open an image-generation model first. I also kept one practical boundary: this was not an academic tool roundup. This is a log of what I actually used and in what context. The number that changed my mind: an 8-tool decision matrix The number I now defend is exactly 8 . Instead of inventing synthetic savings, I evaluate every new illustration request against this matrix. Tool Best fit Why I pick it Mermaid flow, sequence, architecture notes fastest in markdown-native writing PlantUML UML-heavy docs strict structure when Mermaid gets too loose Markmap map-style summaries converts headings directly Graphviz dependency and direction graphs compact graph semantics matplotlib numeric visualizations source-of-truth from data tables Pillow labels, badges, annotations deterministic pixel edits in Python D3.js node/link or hierarchy interactions data-driven relationship rendering Blender 3D explanatory graphics stronger structural clarity for complex scenes This is the exact set I now reach for before any image-generation request. What happened first: practical snippets I am including small runnable snippets I can reuse. 1. Mermaid for determ