pygame.surfarray

pygame module for accessing surface pixel data using array interfaces

pygame.surfarray.array2d	—	Copy pixels into a 2d array
pygame.surfarray.pixels2d	—	Reference pixels into a 2d array
pygame.surfarray.array3d	—	Copy pixels into a 3d array
pygame.surfarray.pixels3d	—	Reference pixels into a 3d array
pygame.surfarray.array_alpha	—	Copy pixel alphas into a 2d array
pygame.surfarray.pixels_alpha	—	Reference pixel alphas into a 2d array
pygame.surfarray.pixels_red	—	Reference pixel red into a 2d array.
pygame.surfarray.pixels_green	—	Reference pixel green into a 2d array.
pygame.surfarray.pixels_blue	—	Reference pixel blue into a 2d array.
pygame.surfarray.array_colorkey	—	Copy the colorkey values into a 2d array
pygame.surfarray.make_surface	—	Copy an array to a new surface
pygame.surfarray.blit_array	—	Blit directly from a array values
pygame.surfarray.map_array	—	Map a 3d array into a 2d array
pygame.surfarray.use_arraytype	—	Sets the array system to be used for surface arrays
pygame.surfarray.get_arraytype	—	Gets the currently active array type.
pygame.surfarray.get_arraytypes	—	Gets the array system types currently supported.

Functions to convert pixel data between pygame Surfaces and arrays. This module will only be functional when pygame can use the external Numpy or Numeric packages.

Every pixel is stored as a single integer value to represent the red, green, and blue colors. The 8bit images use a value that looks into a colormap. Pixels with higher depth use a bit packing process to place three or four values into a single number.

The arrays are indexed by the X axis first, followed by the Y axis. Arrays that treat the pixels as a single integer are referred to as 2D arrays. This module can also separate the red, green, and blue color values into separate indices. These types of arrays are referred to as 3D arrays, and the last index is 0 for red, 1 for green, and 2 for blue.

Supported array systems are

numpy
numeric (deprecated; to be removed in Pygame 1.9.3.)

The default will be numpy, if installed. Otherwise, Numeric will be set as default if installed, and a deprecation warning will be issued. If neither numpy nor Numeric are installed, the module will raise an ImportError.

The array type to use can be changed at runtime using the use_arraytype () method, which requires one of the above types as string.

Note: numpy and Numeric are not completely compatible. Certain array manipulations, which work for one type, might behave differently or even completely break for the other.

Additionally, in contrast to Numeric, numpy does use unsigned 16-bit integers. Images with 16-bit data will be treated as unsigned integers. Numeric instead uses signed integers for the representation, which is important to keep in mind, if you use the module’s functions and wonder about the values.

The support of numpy is new in Pygame 1.8. Official Numeric deprecation begins in Pygame 1.9.2.

pygame.surfarray.array2d()

Copy pixels into a 2d array

array2d(Surface) -> array

Copy the pixels from a Surface into a 2D array. The bit depth of the surface will control the size of the integer values, and will work for any type of pixel format.

This function will temporarily lock the Surface as pixels are copied (see the Surface.lock() - lock the Surface memory for pixel access method).

pygame.surfarray.pixels2d()

Reference pixels into a 2d array

pixels2d(Surface) -> array

Create a new 2D array that directly references the pixel values in a Surface. Any changes to the array will affect the pixels in the Surface. This is a fast operation since no data is copied.

Pixels from a 24-bit Surface cannot be referenced, but all other Surface bit depths can.

The Surface this references will remain locked for the lifetime of the array (see the Surface.lock() - lock the Surface memory for pixel access method).

pygame.surfarray.array3d()

Copy pixels into a 3d array

array3d(Surface) -> array

Copy the pixels from a Surface into a 3D array. The bit depth of the surface will control the size of the integer values, and will work for any type of pixel format.

This function will temporarily lock the Surface as pixels are copied (see the Surface.lock() - lock the Surface memory for pixel access method).

pygame.surfarray.pixels3d()

Reference pixels into a 3d array

pixels3d(Surface) -> array

Create a new 3D array that directly references the pixel values in a Surface. Any changes to the array will affect the pixels in the Surface. This is a fast operation since no data is copied.

This will only work on Surfaces that have 24-bit or 32-bit formats. Lower pixel formats cannot be referenced.

The Surface this references will remain locked for the lifetime of the array (see the Surface.lock() - lock the Surface memory for pixel access method).

pygame.surfarray.array_alpha()

Copy pixel alphas into a 2d array

array_alpha(Surface) -> array

Copy the pixel alpha values (degree of transparency) from a Surface into a 2D array. This will work for any type of Surface format. Surfaces without a pixel alpha will return an array with all opaque values.

This function will temporarily lock the Surface as pixels are copied (see the Surface.lock() - lock the Surface memory for pixel access method).

pygame.surfarray.pixels_alpha()

Reference pixel alphas into a 2d array

pixels_alpha(Surface) -> array

Create a new 2D array that directly references the alpha values (degree of transparency) in a Surface. Any changes to the array will affect the pixels in the Surface. This is a fast operation since no data is copied.

This can only work on 32-bit Surfaces with a per-pixel alpha value.

The Surface this array references will remain locked for the lifetime of the array.

pygame.surfarray.pixels_red()

Reference pixel red into a 2d array.

pixels_red (Surface) -> array

Create a new 2D array that directly references the red values in a Surface. Any changes to the array will affect the pixels in the Surface. This is a fast operation since no data is copied.

This can only work on 24-bit or 32-bit Surfaces.

The Surface this array references will remain locked for the lifetime of the array.

pygame.surfarray.pixels_green()

Reference pixel green into a 2d array.

pixels_green (Surface) -> array

Create a new 2D array that directly references the green values in a Surface. Any changes to the array will affect the pixels in the Surface. This is a fast operation since no data is copied.

This can only work on 24-bit or 32-bit Surfaces.

The Surface this array references will remain locked for the lifetime of the array.

pygame.surfarray.pixels_blue()

Reference pixel blue into a 2d array.

pixels_blue (Surface) -> array

Create a new 2D array that directly references the blue values in a Surface. Any changes to the array will affect the pixels in the Surface. This is a fast operation since no data is copied.

This can only work on 24-bit or 32-bit Surfaces.

The Surface this array references will remain locked for the lifetime of the array.

pygame.surfarray.array_colorkey()

Copy the colorkey values into a 2d array

array_colorkey(Surface) -> array

Create a new array with the colorkey transparency value from each pixel. If the pixel matches the colorkey it will be fully tranparent; otherwise it will be fully opaque.

This will work on any type of Surface format. If the image has no colorkey a solid opaque array will be returned.

This function will temporarily lock the Surface as pixels are copied.

pygame.surfarray.make_surface()

Copy an array to a new surface

make_surface(array) -> Surface

Create a new Surface that best resembles the data and format on the array. The array can be 2D or 3D with any sized integer values. Function make_surface uses the array struct interface to aquire array properties, so is not limited to just NumPy arrays. See pygame.pixelcopypygame module for general pixel array copying.

New in Pygame 1.9.2: array struct interface support.

pygame.surfarray.blit_array()

Blit directly from a array values

blit_array(Surface, array) -> None

Directly copy values from an array into a Surface. This is faster than converting the array into a Surface and blitting. The array must be the same dimensions as the Surface and will completely replace all pixel values. Only integer, ascii character and record arrays are accepted.

This function will temporarily lock the Surface as the new values are copied.

pygame.surfarray.map_array()

Map a 3d array into a 2d array

map_array(Surface, array3d) -> array2d

Convert a 3D array into a 2D array. This will use the given Surface format to control the conversion. Palette surface formats are supported for numpy arrays.

pygame.surfarray.use_arraytype()

Sets the array system to be used for surface arrays

use_arraytype (arraytype) -> None

Uses the requested array type for the module functions. Currently supported array types are:

numeric (deprecated; will be removed in Pygame 1.9.3.)
numpy

If the requested type is not available, a ValueError will be raised.

New in pygame 1.8.

pygame.surfarray.get_arraytype()

Gets the currently active array type.

get_arraytype () -> str

Returns the currently active array type. This will be a value of the get_arraytypes() tuple and indicates which type of array module is used for the array creation.

New in pygame 1.8

pygame.surfarray.get_arraytypes()

Gets the array system types currently supported.

get_arraytypes () -> tuple

Checks, which array systems are available and returns them as a tuple of strings. The values of the tuple can be used directly in the pygame.surfarray.use_arraytype()Sets the array system to be used for surface arrays () method. If no supported array system could be found, None will be returned.

New in pygame 1.8.