Graphics - Working with TCanvas

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Using the default GUI font

This can be done with the following simple code:

SelectObject(Canvas.Handle, GetStockObject(DEFAULT_GUI_FONT));

Drawing a text limited on the width

Use the DrawText routine, first with DT_CALCRECT and then without it.

// First calculate the text size then draw it
TextBox := Rect(0, currentPos.Y, Width, High(Integer));
DrawText(ACanvas.Handle, PChar(Text), Length(Text),
  TextBox, DT_WORDBREAK or DT_INTERNAL or DT_CALCRECT);

DrawText(ACanvas.Handle, PChar(Text), Length(Text),
  TextBox, DT_WORDBREAK or DT_INTERNAL);

Drawing text with sharp edges (non antialiased)

Some widgetsets support this via

Canvas.Font.Quality := fqNonAntialiased;

Some widgetsets like the gtk2 do not support this and always paint antialiased. Here is a simple procedure to draw text with sharp edges under gtk2. It does not consider all cases, but it should give an idea:

procedure PaintAliased(Canvas: TCanvas; x, y: integer; const TheText: string);
var
  w, h, dx, dy: Integer;
  IntfImg:      TLazIntfImage;
  Img:          TBitmap;
  col:          TFPColor;
  FontColor, c: TColor;
begin
  w := 0;
  h := 0;
  Canvas.GetTextSize(TheText, w, h);
  if (w <= 0) or (h <= 0) then exit;
  Img := TBitmap.Create;
  IntfImg := nil;
  try
    // paint text to a bitmap
    Img.Masked := true;
    Img.SetSize(w,h);
    Img.Canvas.Brush.Style := bsSolid;
    Img.Canvas.Brush.Color := clWhite;
    Img.Canvas.FillRect(0, 0, w, h);
    Img.Canvas.Font := Canvas.Font;
    Img.Canvas.TextOut(0, 0, TheText);
    // get memory image
    IntfImg := Img.CreateIntfImage;
    // replace gray pixels
    FontColor := ColorToRGB(Canvas.Font.Color);
    for dy := 0 to h - 1 do begin
      for dx := 0 to w - 1 do begin
        col := IntfImg.Colors[dx, dy];
        c := FPColorToTColor(col);
        if c <> FontColor then
          IntfImg.Colors[dx, dy] := colTransparent;
      end;
    end;
    // create bitmap
    Img.LoadFromIntfImage(IntfImg);
    // paint
    Canvas.Draw(x, y, Img);
  finally
    IntfImg.Free;
    Img.Free;
  end;
end;