Inkplate 13SPECTRA MicroPython - Printing text

Inkplate 13SPECTRA allows you to print text on a 1600 x 1200px canvas.

Displaying basic information

Below is a simple example demonstrating the simple way of displaying the information on the Inkplate display.

"""Example showing how to display colorful text on the screen."""

from inkplate13_spectra import Inkplate  # Include the Inkplate module

inkplate = Inkplate()  # Create an instance of the display
inkplate.begin()  # Initialize the display

inkplate.set_text_size(2)  # Scale up the font size

inkplate.set_cursor(180, 180)  # Set the cursor from where the text will be written

hello_world = "Hello world!"  # Declare the string we want to print

i = 0  # Declare the counter we will use to iterate through the colors

# Iterate through each character in the string
for char in hello_world:
    # Change the color of every character
    inkplate.set_text_color(i)
    # Print a single character to the framebuffer
    inkplate.print(char)
    # Iterate the color counter
    i = i + 1
    if i == 1:  # If the color is white, skip it
        i = i + 1
    elif i // 6 > 0:  # If we displayed all 6 colors, return to the first one
        i = 0

inkplate.display()  # Display what is drawn to the buffer

inkplate.print()

Puts the text in display buffer at the current position on display

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
String	text	String to render.

Example output displayed on e-paper display

hello_world.py

Full example showing how to display colorful text on the screen.

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Displaying text in different colors and more text parameters

Inkplate 13SPECTRA also lets you render color graphics on its canvas. You can also modify different text parameters, such as text color, text size and text wrapping. Below is a simple example demonstrating different text colors and different text styles:

ℹ️

Color parameter in 'set_text_color()' changes text color as per table below:

VALUE	COLOR
0	Black
1	White
2	Yellow
3	Red
4	Blue
5	Green

from inkplate13_spectra import Inkplate

inkplate = Inkplate()
# Initialize the display, needs to be called only once
inkplate.begin()

# Clear the frame buffer
inkplate.clear_display()
inkplate.display()


inkplate.set_cursor(50, 50)
inkplate.set_text_size(1)
inkplate.set_text_color(3)      # red
inkplate.print("Size 1")

inkplate.set_cursor(50, 100)
inkplate.set_text_size(2)
inkplate.set_text_color(4)      # blue
inkplate.print("Size 2")

inkplate.set_cursor(50, 180)
inkplate.set_text_size(3)
inkplate.set_text_color(5)      # green
inkplate.print("Size 3")

inkplate.set_text_color(0)      # black
long_text = (
    "This is a very long line of text intended to demonstrate how wrapping works. "
    "When wrap mode is enabled, the text will continue onto the next line once it "
    "reaches the edge of the display. This makes it possible to write paragraphs "
    "or larger blocks of text without worrying about manually inserting line breaks. "
    "It is especially useful for rendering user interfaces, menus, or e-books."
)
inkplate.set_cursor(50, 340)
inkplate.set_text_size(1)
inkplate.set_text_wrapping(True)
inkplate.print(long_text)

inkplate.set_cursor(50, 460)
inkplate.set_text_size(1)
inkplate.set_text_wrapping(False)
inkplate.print(long_text)

inkplate.display()

Example output displayed on e-paper display

text_colors.py

Full example showing how to display text in different colors, sizes, and with wrapping enabled/disabled.

inkplate.set_cursor()

Set the cursor position for the next text to be rendered.

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
Number	x	X coordinate for the text start.
Number	y	Y coordinate for the text baseline.

inkplate.set_text_size()

Set the text size scaling factor.

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
Number	s	Scale factor (1 = normal, 2 = double, 3 = triple, …).

inkplate.set_text_color()

Set the text color used for text rendering.

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
Number	c	Color value for text, see the color table above (0 = Black, 1 = White, 2 = Yellow, 3 = Red, 4 = Blue, 5 = Green).

inkplate.set_text_wrapping()

Enable or disable automatic text wrapping when reaching the display edge.

Returns value: Nothing

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
Boolean	state	True to wrap text, False to let it continue off-screen.