Drawing Primitives#

This example shows how to use the drawing commands. It is a good place to start for new programmers because they do not need to know how to define functions or classes before drawing images.

See Happy Face for an example of drawing primitives in action. To keep things simple, this example does not have many of the things commonly shown in the Starting Template Using Window Class.

Note

The method of drawing shown here is simple, but it is very slow. Modern graphics typically draw in a ‘batch’, a technique not shown in this example.

To look up all the available commands search for the Drawing Primitives in the API Index.

Screenshot of drawing with functions example program
drawing_primitives.py#
  1"""
  2Example "Arcade" library code.
  3
  4This example shows the drawing primitives and how they are used.
  5It does not assume the programmer knows how to define functions or classes
  6yet.
  7
  8API documentation for the draw commands can be found here:
  9https://api.arcade.academy/en/latest/quick_index.html
 10
 11A video explaining this example can be found here:
 12https://vimeo.com/167158158
 13
 14If Python and Arcade are installed, this example can be run from the command line with:
 15python -m arcade.examples.drawing_primitives
 16"""
 17
 18# Import the Arcade library. If this fails, then try following the instructions
 19# for how to install arcade:
 20# https://api.arcade.academy/en/latest/install/index.html
 21import arcade
 22
 23# Open the window. Set the window title and dimensions (width and height)
 24arcade.open_window(600, 600, "Drawing Primitives Example")
 25
 26# Set the background color to white
 27# For a list of named colors see
 28# https://api.arcade.academy/en/latest/arcade.color.html
 29# Colors can also be specified in (red, green, blue) format and
 30# (red, green, blue, alpha) format.
 31arcade.set_background_color(arcade.color.WHITE)
 32
 33# Start the render process. This must be done before any drawing commands.
 34arcade.start_render()
 35
 36# Draw a grid
 37# Draw vertical lines every 120 pixels
 38for x in range(0, 601, 120):
 39    arcade.draw_line(x, 0, x, 600, arcade.color.BLACK, 2)
 40
 41# Draw horizontal lines every 200 pixels
 42for y in range(0, 601, 200):
 43    arcade.draw_line(0, y, 800, y, arcade.color.BLACK, 2)
 44
 45# Draw a point
 46arcade.draw_text("draw_point", 3, 405, arcade.color.BLACK, 12)
 47arcade.draw_point(60, 495, arcade.color.RED, 10)
 48
 49# Draw a set of points
 50arcade.draw_text("draw_points", 123, 405, arcade.color.BLACK, 12)
 51point_list = ((165, 495),
 52              (165, 480),
 53              (165, 465),
 54              (195, 495),
 55              (195, 480),
 56              (195, 465))
 57arcade.draw_points(point_list, arcade.color.ZAFFRE, 10)
 58
 59# Draw a line
 60arcade.draw_text("draw_line", 243, 405, arcade.color.BLACK, 12)
 61arcade.draw_line(270, 495, 300, 450, arcade.color.WOOD_BROWN, 3)
 62
 63# Draw a set of lines
 64arcade.draw_text("draw_lines", 363, 405, arcade.color.BLACK, 12)
 65point_list = ((390, 450),
 66              (450, 450),
 67              (390, 480),
 68              (450, 480),
 69              (390, 510),
 70              (450, 510)
 71              )
 72arcade.draw_lines(point_list, arcade.color.BLUE, 3)
 73
 74# Draw a line strip
 75arcade.draw_text("draw_line_strip", 483, 405, arcade.color.BLACK, 12)
 76point_list = ((510, 450),
 77              (570, 450),
 78              (510, 480),
 79              (570, 480),
 80              (510, 510),
 81              (570, 510)
 82              )
 83arcade.draw_line_strip(point_list, arcade.color.TROPICAL_RAIN_FOREST, 3)
 84
 85# Draw a polygon
 86arcade.draw_text("draw_polygon_outline", 3, 207, arcade.color.BLACK, 9)
 87point_list = ((30, 240),
 88              (45, 240),
 89              (60, 255),
 90              (60, 285),
 91              (45, 300),
 92              (30, 300))
 93arcade.draw_polygon_outline(point_list, arcade.color.SPANISH_VIOLET, 3)
 94
 95# Draw a filled in polygon
 96arcade.draw_text("draw_polygon_filled", 123, 207, arcade.color.BLACK, 9)
 97point_list = ((150, 240),
 98              (165, 240),
 99              (180, 255),
100              (180, 285),
101              (165, 300),
102              (150, 300))
103arcade.draw_polygon_filled(point_list, arcade.color.SPANISH_VIOLET)
104
105# Draw an outline of a circle
106arcade.draw_text("draw_circle_outline", 243, 207, arcade.color.BLACK, 10)
107arcade.draw_circle_outline(300, 285, 18, arcade.color.WISTERIA, 3)
108
109# Draw a filled in circle
110arcade.draw_text("draw_circle_filled", 363, 207, arcade.color.BLACK, 10)
111arcade.draw_circle_filled(420, 285, 18, arcade.color.GREEN)
112
113# Draw an ellipse outline, and another one rotated
114arcade.draw_text("draw_ellipse_outline", 483, 207, arcade.color.BLACK, 10)
115arcade.draw_ellipse_outline(540, 273, 15, 36, arcade.color.AMBER, 3)
116arcade.draw_ellipse_outline(540, 336, 15, 36,
117                            arcade.color.BLACK_BEAN, 3, 45)
118
119# Draw a filled ellipse, and another one rotated
120arcade.draw_text("draw_ellipse_filled", 3, 3, arcade.color.BLACK, 10)
121arcade.draw_ellipse_filled(60, 81, 15, 36, arcade.color.AMBER)
122arcade.draw_ellipse_filled(60, 144, 15, 36,
123                           arcade.color.BLACK_BEAN, 45)
124
125# Draw an arc, and another one rotated
126arcade.draw_text("draw_arc/filled_arc", 123, 3, arcade.color.BLACK, 10)
127arcade.draw_arc_outline(150, 81, 15, 36,
128                        arcade.color.BRIGHT_MAROON, 90, 360)
129arcade.draw_arc_filled(150, 144, 15, 36,
130                       arcade.color.BOTTLE_GREEN, 90, 360, 45)
131
132# Draw an rectangle outline
133arcade.draw_text("draw_rect", 243, 3, arcade.color.BLACK, 10)
134arcade.draw_rectangle_outline(295, 100, 45, 65,
135                              arcade.color.BRITISH_RACING_GREEN)
136arcade.draw_rectangle_outline(295, 160, 20, 45,
137                              arcade.color.BRITISH_RACING_GREEN, 3, 45)
138
139# Draw a filled in rectangle
140arcade.draw_text("draw_filled_rect", 363, 3, arcade.color.BLACK, 10)
141arcade.draw_rectangle_filled(420, 100, 45, 65, arcade.color.BLUSH)
142arcade.draw_rectangle_filled(420, 160, 20, 40, arcade.color.BLUSH, 45)
143
144# Load and draw an image to the screen
145# Image from kenney.nl asset pack #1
146arcade.draw_text("draw_bitmap", 483, 3, arcade.color.BLACK, 12)
147texture = arcade.load_texture(":resources:images/space_shooter/playerShip1_orange.png")
148scale = .6
149arcade.draw_scaled_texture_rectangle(540, 120, texture, scale, 0)
150arcade.draw_scaled_texture_rectangle(540, 60, texture, scale, 45)
151
152# Finish the render.
153# Nothing will be drawn without this.
154# Must happen after all draw commands
155arcade.finish_render()
156
157# Keep the window up until someone closes it.
158arcade.run()