diff --git a/scripts/parallel-nextpnr-nexus b/scripts/parallel-nextpnr-nexus
index 5216de972..887544a97 100755
--- a/scripts/parallel-nextpnr-nexus
+++ b/scripts/parallel-nextpnr-nexus
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@ PDC="$2"
 RESULT_FASM="$3"
 SEED_COUNT="$4"
 SEED="$5"
+PREROUTE_SCRIPT=""
 
 
 ### check if bash 5.1 for "wait -p"; if not, do plain run
@@ -51,6 +52,9 @@ declare -A PID_TO_SEED
 set -o pipefail
 
 # Launch a number of nextpnrs
+if [[ -e "../../../pre-route.py" ]]; then
+    PREROUTE_SCRIPT=" --pre-route ../../../../../pre-route.py"
+fi
 echo "$(basename $0): running ${SEED_COUNT} nextpnr-nexus instances."
 rm -rf runs 
 mkdir runs
@@ -60,17 +64,19 @@ for s in $(seq ${SEED_COUNT}); do
   DIR="runs/seed-${seed}"
   mkdir "${DIR}"
   ( 
+    cd ${DIR} &&
     nextpnr-nexus \
-        --json "${JSON}" \
-        --pdc "${PDC}" \
-        --fasm "${DIR}/output.fasm" \
+        --json "../../${JSON}" \
+        --pdc "../../${PDC}" \
+        --fasm "./output.fasm" \
         --device LIFCL-17-8UWG72C \
-        --report="${DIR}/report.json" \
+        --report="./report.json" \
         --detailed-timing-report \
+        ${PREROUTE_SCRIPT} \
         --seed "${seed}" 2>&1 | \
       (while read line; do 
         echo "$(date +%H:%M:%S) ${line}"; done
-      ) > "${DIR}/nextpnr-nexus.log"
+      ) > "./nextpnr-nexus.log"
   ) &
   PID=$!
   CHILD_PIDS+=(${PID})
diff --git a/soc/pre-route.py b/soc/pre-route.py
new file mode 100644
index 000000000..ebfc223c0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/soc/pre-route.py
@@ -0,0 +1,90 @@
+#!/usr/bin/env python3
+# Copyright 2021 The CFU-Playground Authors
+#
+# Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+# you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+# You may obtain a copy of the License at
+#
+#      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+#
+# Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+# distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+# WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+# See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+# limitations under the License.
+"""This script is executed by nextpnr-nexus to generate a placement plot."""
+
+
+import matplotlib.pyplot as plt
+import matplotlib.patches as mpatches
+import random
+
+fig, ax = plt.subplots(dpi=200)
+
+print("\nGenerating placement image...\n")
+
+for cell, cellinfo in ctx.cells:
+    if cellinfo.bel:
+        #print("Cell %s   %s" % (cell, cellinfo.type))
+        bel = cellinfo.bel
+        loc = ctx.getBelLocation(bel)
+        x = int(loc.x)
+        y = int(loc.y)
+
+        color = 'black'
+        COLOR_TABLE = [
+          ('Vex', 'gray'),
+          ('Cfu', 'seagreen'),
+          ('Cfu.core', 'lime'),
+          ('Cfu.core.sysarray', 'red'),
+          ('Cfu.core.ppp', 'violet'),
+          ('Cfu.core.f0', 'yellow'),
+          ('Cfu.core.f1', 'tan'),
+        ]
+        for match, c in COLOR_TABLE:
+          if match in cell:
+            color = c
+
+        mul = "MULT" in bel
+        ebr = "EBR" in bel
+
+        # Set color for LRAMs
+        lram = "SP512K" in cell
+        arena = "DPSC512K" in cell
+        color='tan' if arena else ('bisque' if lram else color)
+
+        if mul:
+            ax.add_patch(mpatches.Circle(
+                [x, y+0.5], 0.7,
+                color=color,
+                ec='white',
+                fill=True
+                ))
+        elif ebr or lram or arena:
+            ax.add_patch(mpatches.Rectangle(
+                [x, y-0.2], 1.6, 1.6,
+                color=color,
+                ec='white',
+                fill=True
+                ))
+        else:
+            rx = random.uniform(0,0.7)
+            ry = random.uniform(0,0.7)
+            ax.add_patch(mpatches.Rectangle(
+                [x+rx, y+ry], 0.1, 0.1,
+                color=color,
+                fill=True
+                ))
+
+ax.set_aspect('equal')
+nl = ',\n'
+comma = ', '
+ax.set_title(''.join([f'{match}={c}{nl if i&1 else comma}' for i, (match, c) in enumerate(COLOR_TABLE)]) +
+    'Black=LiteX, Circle=DSP, Square=MEM')
+ax.autoscale_view()
+#plt.show()
+plt.savefig("placement.png", format="png")
+print("Done\n")
+
+# Uncommenting this will cause nextpnr to stop without running routing (but still produce the placement plot)
+# exit()