Drawing and fonts

Which API?

Need	Use
Basic pixels, lines, rects, text	framebuf API on display or buffer
Rounded rects, gradients, Area bounds	graphics.FrameBuffer or graphics.Draw
Peter Hinch scrollable buffer	add_ons/displaybuf.DisplayBuffer
CPython / CircuitPython without framebuf	add_ons/framebuf.py shim

See Architecture.

framebuf everywhere

All drawing targets support MicroPython's framebuf.FrameBuffer methods: pixel, hline, vline, line, rect, fill_rect, text, blit, etc.

CPython and CircuitPython lack a compatible built-in framebuf — use add_ons/framebuf.py.

graphics module

graphics subclasses FrameBuffer and adds helpers (e.g. round_rect). Methods return an Area object (x, y, w, h) describing the bounding box of what changed — useful for partial updates and e-paper (future).

Use Draw(canvas) when you prefer a separate drawer object over subclassing.

Font mechanisms

Mechanism	Source	Notes
graphics.Font	Tony DiCola 5×7 lineage, romfont .bin files	8×8, 8×14, 8×16
tft_text.text()	@russhughes text_font_converter	Width 8 or 16, height multiples of 8
tft_write.write()	@russhughes write_font_converter	Proportional fonts

Peter Hinch's Writer (MicroPython-Touch) may be used on MicroPython but does not return Area objects.

displaybuf.DisplayBuffer

Peter Hinch's API — full display as a logical framebuffer with 4/8/16-bit buffers drawing as 16-bit to the panel. Required for MicroPython-Touch; great for memory-constrained apps.

API reference

API reference (core) → graphics. Add-ons API → displaybuf, framebuf.