ESP8266 Community Forum

Posted: **Wed May 29, 2019 12:13 am**

Hello. I've got an 8 X 32 Neopixel Matrix

https://www.adafruit.com/product/2294

and I am controlling it using an ESP8266 board I got from a friend. So far, I haven't had any trouble making it display scrolling text, but I would like to use a different font than the default one that comes with the Adafruit libraries. I am using this code:

Code: Select all

#include <Adafruit_GFX.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoMatrix.h>
#include <Adafruit_NeoPixel.h>
#include <Fonts/pixelmix.h>

#define PIN 3

Adafruit_NeoMatrix matrix = Adafruit_NeoMatrix(32, 8, PIN,
  NEO_MATRIX_TOP     + NEO_MATRIX_LEFT +
  NEO_MATRIX_COLUMNS + NEO_MATRIX_ZIGZAG,
  NEO_GRB            + NEO_KHZ800);

const uint16_t colors[] = {
  matrix.Color(255, 0, 0), matrix.Color(0, 255, 0), matrix.Color(255, 255, 0),matrix.Color(0, 0, 255), matrix.Color(255, 0, 255), matrix.Color(0, 255, 255), matrix.Color(255, 255, 255)};

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(115200);
  delay(10);

  Serial.println();
  Serial.print("Starting Matrix...");
  
  matrix.begin();
  matrix.setFont(&pixelmix5pt7b);
  matrix.setTextWrap(false);
  matrix.setBrightness(10);
  matrix.setTextColor(colors[0]);
}

int pass = 0;
String textToDisplay = "Thanks for your help!";
int pixelsInText = (textToDisplay.length() * 7) + 8;

void loop() {

  if (++pass >= 7) pass = 0;
  
  int x = matrix.width();

  while(x+17 > (matrix.width() - pixelsInText)) {
      matrix.fillScreen(0);
      matrix.setCursor(--x, 7);
      matrix.print(textToDisplay);
      matrix.show();
      delay(100);
  }
}

I've also discovered the `fontconvert` tool that comes with the `Adafruit_GFX` library, and have compiled it and used it to generate .h files from TTF files. Through trial and error experiments, I found that I need to use the number 5 for the second parameter to `fontconvert`, like this:

Code: Select all

./fontconvert pixelmix.ttf 5 > pixelmix.h

to get a font that is a good size for an 8 pixel high matrix. But when I added that font to the sketch, it only displayed the top row pixels from each character. So more trial and error lead me to change the original code:

Code: Select allmatrix.setCursor(--x, 0);

to:

Code: Select allmatrix.setCursor(--x, 7);

then the text was displayed. But I still don't quite like the font. I have tried some of the other ones in the `Fonts` directory, but it seems like they are intended for a 16 pixel high display.

I am wondering if anybody else has any experience with this, and can suggest a good font file to use? Should I stick with the number 5 for the second parameter to `fontconvert`, which I believe is the number of points of the font?

Also, since the font isn't monospaced anymore, this code:

Code: Select allint pixelsInText = (textToDisplay.length() * 7) + 8;

returns an incorrect value. It is too long. Is there any way to calculate the actual length of the string, in pixels, or get the value from the `Adafruit_NeoMatrix` ?

Or perhaps there's a better way of going about this?

Thanks.

ESP8266 Community Forum

Using fonts with an 8 X 32 Neopixel Matrix and an ESP8266

Using fonts with an 8 X 32 Neopixel Matrix and an ESP8266