SparkFun Bitmap to Progmem Array

SparkFun Flexible Grayscale Display (SPX-14543)

This script takes in a bitmap and converts the bitmap into 4-bit grayscale. An array of bytes is generated that can be copy/pasted into a header file.

This is very useful if you have a bitmap that you'd like to output onto a grayscale display (like the SparkFun flexible OLED). I attempted to use the bitmap2lcd program but found it very hard to use and over blown (and costs money) to generate an image array.

Three bitmaps are provided as an example. Requires python v2.7+.

To use your own image:

• Convert your JPEG or whatever format to BMP
• Down convert the BMP to Black and White only. This should retain the grayscale components but remove any color information. We use paint.net and recommend it for use with this repo.
• Run the python script against your bitmap
• An output.txt file will be generated. Copy and paste the contents of this file to a image.h file
• Send this array to the display of your choice. See the example below about how to implement the header file.

Usage:

python bmp2array.py macaque.bmp

Example output:

static const unsigned char myGraphic[2560] PROGMEM = {
0xf, 0xf0, 0x44, 0x44, 0x44, 0x44, 
0x84, 0xa9, 0xaa, 0xaa, 0xaa, 0xaa, 0xaa, 0xaa, 
0xaa, 0x6a, 0x44, 0x44, 0x54, 0xa9, 0xaa, 0xaa, 
0xaa, 0xaa, 0xaa, 0xaa, 0xaa, 0x6a, 0x25, 0x22, 

You can find an example of how to implement the header file here.

This is pretty much my first hack at python so I greatly welcome improvements with a pull request.

License Information

This product is open source!

The code is released under the GPL v3 license. See the included LICENSE.md for more information.

Distributed as-is; no warranty is given.

• Your friends at SparkFun.