Inkplate 6COLOR – Draw Image from Web

Example showing how to connect to WiFi and render an image fetched from URL using draw_image.

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Supported image formats: JPG, BMP, and PNG.

⚠️

JPG files without progressive encoding are supported.

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If you experience issues displaying an image, try re-saving it with an image editing program. The issue is usually related to the image format.

Drawing an image

Example image

# Include needed libraries
import network
import time
from inkplate6_color import Inkplate

# WiFi credentials (replace with your own)
SSID = "YOUR_SSID_HERE"
PASSWORD = "YOUR_PASSWORD_HERE"


# Connects to a WiFi network using given SSID and PASSWORD.
#
# Returns:
# - True if successfully connected
# - False if connection fails within the timeout period
#
# Notes:
# - Timeout is set to 30 seconds
# - Prints network IP config on success
def do_connect():
    sta_if = network.WLAN(network.STA_IF)
    if not sta_if.isconnected():
        print("Connecting to network...")
        sta_if.active(True)
        sta_if.connect(SSID, PASSWORD)

        timeout = 30  # seconds
        start = time.ticks_ms()
        while not sta_if.isconnected():
            if time.ticks_diff(time.ticks_ms(), start) > timeout * 1000:
                print("Failed to connect within timeout")
                return False
            time.sleep(0.5)
    print("Network config:", sta_if.ifconfig())
    return True


# Create Inkplate object
inkplate = Inkplate()

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

# Connect to WiFi
if not do_connect():
    raise SystemExit("WiFi connection failed")

# Draw an image on the screen.
#
# Parameters:
# - path: File path to the image. Supports local paths (e.g., from SD card) or URLs.
#         Supported formats: JPG, PNG, BMP.
#
# - x0: X-coordinate of the top-left corner where the image will be displayed.
#
# - y0: Y-coordinate of the top-left corner where the image will be displayed.
#
# - invert (bool, default=False): If True, inverts the image colors.
#
# - dither (bool, default=False): If True, applies a dithering algorithm to
#   the image for better grayscale rendering.
#
# - kernel_type (int): Specifies the dithering algorithm to use.
#     Available options:
#       Inkplate.KERNEL_FLOYD_STEINBERG = 0
#       Inkplate.KERNEL_JJN             = 1
#       Inkplate.KERNEL_STUCKI          = 2
#       Inkplate.KERNEL_BURKES          = 3
#
# Performance Notes:
# - JPG: ~3 seconds (or ~14s with dithering)
# - PNG: ~9 seconds (or ~19s with dithering)
# - BMP: ~20 seconds (or ~40s with dithering)
# - Maximum image file size: ~800kB
#
# Example usage:
inkplate.draw_image(
    "https://i.imgur.com/nSExTGr.jpeg",  # URL to image
    0,
    0,  # X, Y position
    invert=False,  # Do not invert colors
    dither=True,  # Enable dithering
    kernel_type=Inkplate.KERNEL_FLOYD_STEINBERG,  # Dithering algorithm
)

# Show the image from the internal buffer
inkplate.display()

Example image displayed on Inkplate with Dithering enabled

Example image displayed on Inkplate without Dithering

inkplate.draw_image()

This function draws an image from the specified char path (either web URL or local file path)

Returns type: none

Function parameters:

Type	Name	Description
string	path	Path and filename of the image. Can be a URL (for web images) or a file path (on the microSD card).
int	x0	X-coordinate of the image's upper-left corner in the framebuffer.
int	y0	Y-coordinate of the image's upper-left corner in the framebuffer.
bool	invert	If true, inverts colors.
bool	dither	Dithering mode: 0 (disabled), 1 (enabled).
int	kernel_type	Specifies dithering algorithm to use.

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Available options for dithering algorithm:

Algorithm	Value
Inkplate.KERNEL_FLOYD_STEINBERG	0
Inkplate.KERNEL_JJN	1
Inkplate.KERNEL_STUCKI	2
Inkplate.KERNEL_BURKES	3

Performance Notes

• JPG: ~3 seconds (or ~14s with dithering)
• PNG: ~9 seconds (or ~19s with dithering)
• BMP: ~20 seconds (or ~40s with dithering)
• Maximum image file size: ~800kB

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Full example

display_image_web.py

Example showing how to connect to WiFi and render an image from a URL.