Style Properties — Ren'Py Documentation

# Style Properties

The style properties associated with styles control how Displayables are shown. Style properties can be either given without a prefix, in which case they apply to all states of the displayable, or with a prefix that limits the property to a limited number of states.

## Style Property Prefixes

Applying a prefix to a style property indicates allows a displayable to change it's look in response to its focus or selection status. For example, a button can change its color when the mouse hovers above it, or to indicate when the choice represented by the button is the currently selected one.

There are five states a displayable can be it.

insensitive
  Used when the user cannot interact with the displayable.
idle
  Used when the displayable is neither focused nor selected.
hover
  Used when the displayable is focused, but not selected.
selected_idle
  Used when the displayable is not focused, and is selected.
selected_hover
  Used when the displayable is focused and selected.

Button and Bar displayables (and their variants) update their state, and the state of their children, in response to events. For example, when the user puts his mouse over an unselected button, it and all its children will be put into the hover state.

Style property prefixes allow one to set style properties for the different states. There is a system of implications set up, so that a prefix can imply setting the property for more than one state.

The implications are:

prefix | states implied by prefix
--- | ---
(no prefix) | insensitive, idle, hover, selected_idle, selected_hover
`idle_` | idle, selected_idle
`hover_` | hover, selected_hover
`selected_` | selected_idle, selected_hover
`insensitive_` | insensitive
`selected_idle_` | selected_idle
`selected_hover_` | selected_hover
`selected_insensitive_` | selected_insensitive

Using a text button, we can show this in action. Text buttons use two styles by default: `button` for the button itself, and `button_text` for the text inside the button. The `background` style property sets the background of a button, while the `color` property sets the color of text.:

    # The button background is gray when insensitive, light
    # blue when hovered, and dark blue otherwise.
    style button:
        background "#006"
        insensitive_background "#444"
        hover_background "#00a"

    # The button text is yellow when selected, and white
    # otherwise.
    style button_text:
        color "#fff"
        selected_color "#ff0"

## Style Property Values

Each style property expects a specific kind of data. Many of these are standard python types, but a few are novel. Here are descriptions of the novel kinds of value a style property can expect.

position

  Positions are used to specify locations relative to the upper-left corner of the containing area. (For positions, the containing area is given by the layout the displayable is in, if one is given, or the screen otherwise. For anchors, the containing area is the size of the displayable itself.)

  The way a position value is interpreted depends on the type of the value:

  int (like 0, 1, 37, or 42)
    An integer is interpreted as the number of pixels from the left or top side of the containing area.
  float (like 0.0, 0.5, or 1.0)
    A floating-point number is interpreted as a fraction of the containing area. For example, 0.5 is a point halfway between the sides of the containing area, while 1.0 is on the right or bottom side.
  renpy.absolute (like renpy.absolute(100.25))
    A renpy.absolute number is interpreted as the number of pixels from the left or top side of the screen, when using subpixel-precise rendering.
displayable
  Any displayable. If a displayable contains a "[prefix_]" substitution, a prefix search is performed as described below.
color

  Colors in Ren'Py can be expressed as strings beginning with the hash mark (#), followed by a hex triple or hex quadruple, with each of the three or four elements consisting of a one or two hexadecimal character color code.

  In a triple, the components represent red, green, and blue. In a quadruple, the components represent red, green, blue, and alpha. For example:

  - `"#f00"` and `"#ff0000"` represent an opaque red color.
  - `"#0f08"` and `#00ff0080"` represent a semi-transparent green color.

  The color triples are the same as used in HTML.

  Colors can also be represented as a 4-component tuple, with the 4 components being integers between 0 and 255. The components correspond to red, green, blue, and alpha, in that order.

  - `(0, 0, 255, 255)` represents an opaque blue color.

  Finally, colors can be an instance of `Color`.

### Style Prefix Search

When a style property contains the "[prefix_]" substitution, a prefix search is performed. The prefix search is performed separately for each state, including states that are implied by the original property assigned.

For example, if we have:

    style button:
        hover_background "[prefix_]background.png"

separate searches are performed for the hover and selected_hover states. The prefixes searched vary based on the state.

state | search order
--- | ---
idle | "idle_", ""
hover | "hover_", "",
insensitive | "insensitive_", "", "idle_"
selected_idle | "selected_idle_", "idle_", "selected_", ""
selected_hover | "selected_hover_", "hover_", "selected_", ""
selected_insensitive | "selected_insensitive_", "hover_", "selected_", "", "selected_idle_", "idle_"

When a search is performed, each prefix is tried in the order given. The string has "[prefix_]" replaced with the prefix, and then Ren'Py checks to see if a loadable file or image with that name exists. If the file or image exists, the search stops and the displayable found is used. Otherwise, it proceeds to the next prefix.

The style prefix is passed through displayables that do not take user input, including containers, transforms, and frames.

As an example of how this can be used, if the files "idle_button.png" and "hover_button.png" exist (and no other files ending in "button.png" do), the following code:

    style button:
        background "[prefix_]button.png"

is equivalent to:

    style button:
        idle_background "idle_button.png"
        hover_background "hover_button.png"
        insensitive_background "idle_button.png"

        selected_idle_background "idle_button.png"
        selected_hover_background "hover_button.png"
        selected_insensitive_background "idle_button.png"

## List of All Style Properties

The style properties control the look of the various displayables. Not all style properties apply to all displayables, so we've divided them up into groups.

### Position Style Properties

These properties apply to all displayables, and mostly control the position of a displayable inside the area allocated to it by a layout, or on the screen when not inside a layout.

`alt` - string or None

  Alternative text used for the displayable when self-voicing is enabled. See the self voicing section for more information.

`xpos` - position

  The position of the displayable relative to the left side of the containing area.

`ypos` - position

  The position of the displayable relative to the right side of the containing area.

`pos` - tuple of (position, position)

  Equivalent to setting xpos to the first component of the tuple, and ypos to the second component of the tuple.

`xanchor` - position

  The position of the anchor relative to the left side of the displayable.

`yanchor` - position

  The position of the anchor relative to the top side of the displayable.

`anchor` - tuple of (position, position)

  Equivalent to setting xanchor to the first component of the tuple, and yanchor to the second component of the tuple.

`xalign` - float

  Equivalent to setting xpos and xanchor to the same value. This has the effect of placing the displayable at a relative location on the screen, with 0.0 being the left side, 0.5 the center, and 1.0 being the right side.

`yalign` - float

  Equivalent to setting ypos and yanchor to the same value. This has the effect of placing the displayable at a relative location on the screen, with 0.0 being the top, 0.5 the center, and 1.0 the bottom.

`align` - tuple of (float, float)

  Equivalent to setting xalign to the first component of the tuple, and yalign to the second.

`xcenter` - position

  Equivalent to setting xpos to the value of this property, and xanchor to 0.5.

`ycenter` - position

  Equivalent to setting ypos to the value of tihis property, and yanchor to 0.5.

`xoffset` - int

  Gives a number of pixels that are added to the horizontal position computed using xpos and xalign.

`yoffset` - int

  Gives a number of pixels that are added to the vertical position computed using ypos and yalign.

`offset` - tuple of (position, position)

  Equivalent to setting xpos to the first component of the tuple, and ypos to the second component of the tuple.

`xmaximum` - int

  Specifies the maximum horizontal size of the displayable, in pixels.

`ymaximum` - int

  Specifies the maximum vertical size of the displayable in pixels.

`maximum` - tuple of (int, int)

  Equivalent to setting xmaximum to the first component of the tuple, and ymaximum to the second.

`xminimum` - int

  Sets the minimum width of the displayable, in pixels. Only works with displayables that can vary their size.

`yminimum` - int

  Sets the minimum height of the displayables, in pixels. Only works with displayables that can vary their size.

`minimum` - tuple of (int, int)

  Equivalent to setting xminimum to the first component of the tuple, and yminimum to the second.

`xsize` - int

  Equivalent to setting xminimum and xmaximum to the same value. This has the effect of setting the width of the displayable.

`ysize` - int

  Equivalent to setting yminimum and ymaximum to the same value. This has the effect of setting the height of the displayable.

`xysize` - tuple of (int, int)

  Equivalent to setting xminimum and xmaximum to the first component of the tuple, and yminimum and ymaximum to the second component. This has the effect of setting the size of the displayable.

`xfill` - boolean

  If true, the displayable will expand to fill all available horizontal space. If not true, it will only be large enough to contain its children.

  This only works for displayables that can change size.

`yfill` - boolean

  If true, the displayable will expand to fill all available vertical space. If not true, it will only be large enough to contain its children.

  This only works for displayables that can change size.

`area` - tuple of (int, int, int, int)

  The tuple is interpreted as (xpos, ypos, width, height). Attempts to position the displayable such that it's upper-left corner is at xpos and ypos, and its size is width and height.

  It does this by setting the xpos, ypos, xanchor, yanchor, xmaximum, ymaximum, xminimum, yminimum, xfill, and yfill properties to appropriate values.

  This will not work with all displayables and all layouts.

### Text Style Properties

`antialias` - boolean

  If True, the default, truetype font text will be rendered anti-aliased.

`adjust_spacing` - boolean

  If True, Ren'Py will adjust the spacing of drawable-resolution text to match the spacing of the text rendered at virtual resolution, to ensure the size of frames and other containers holding text does not change.

  When set to False, text will not change in size, but it is the creator's responsibility to ensure there is enough space to layout text at any window size.

  Defaults to True for most text, but False for text in an `input`.

`black_color` - color

  When rendering an image-based font, black will be mapped to this color. This has no effect for truetype fonts.

`bold` - boolean

  If True, render the font in a bold style. For a truetype font, this usually involves synthetically increasing the font weight. It can also cause the font to be remapped, using `config.font_replacement_map`.

`caret` - displayable or None

  If not None, this should be a displayable. The input widget will use this as the caret at the end of the text. If None, a 1 pixel wide line is used as the caret.

`color` - color

  The color the text is rendered in. When using a truetype font, the font is rendered in this color. When using an image-based font, white is mapped to this color.

`first_indent` - int

  The amount that the first line of text in a paragraph is indented by, in pixels.

`font` - string

  A string giving the name of the font used to render text.

  For a truetype font file, this is usually the name of the file containing the font (like `"DejaVuSans.ttf"`). To select a second font in a collection, this can be prefixed with a number and at sign (like `"0@font.ttc"` or `"1@font.ttc"`). For an image-based font, this should be the name used to register the font.

`size` - int

  The size of the font on the screen. While this is nominally in pixels, font files may have creative interpretations of this value.

`italic` - boolean

  If true, the text will be rendered in italics. For a truetype font, this usually involves synthetically increasing the font slant. It can also cause the font to be remapped, using `config.font_replacement_map`.

`justify` - boolean

  If true, additional whitespace is inserted between words so that the left and right margins of each line are even. This is not performed on the last line of a paragraph.

`kerning` - float

  A kerning adjustment, the number of pixels of space that's added between each pair of characters. (This can be negative to remove space between characters.)

`language` - string

  Controls the language family used to break text into lines. Legal values are:

  `"unicode"` (default)
    Uses the unicode linebreaking algorithm, which is suitable for most languages.
  `"japanese-strict"`
    Formats Japanese text in a "strict" manner. It forbids breaks before small kana and prolonged sound marks.
  `"japanese-normal"`
    Formats Japanese text in a "normal" manner. It allows breaks before small kana, prolonged sound marks, and certain hyphens.
  `"japanese-loose"`
    Formats Japanese text in a "loose" manner. It allows breaks before small kana , prolonged sound marks, iteration marks, inseparable characters, centered punctuation marks, and postfixes; and allows breaks before prefixes.
  `"korean-with-spaces"`
    Used for Korean text delimited by whitespace. This prevents linebreaking between adjacent Korean characters.
  `"western"`
    Allows breaking only at whitespace. Suitable for most languages.

  The three Japanese breaking modes are taken from the CSS3 text module.

`layout` - string

  Controls how words are allocated to lines. Legal values are:

  `"tex"` (default)
    Uses the Knuth-Plass linebreaking algorithm, which attempts to minimize the difference in line lengths of all but the last line.
  `"subtitle"`
    Uses the Knuth-Plass linebreaking algorithm, but attempts to even out the lengths of all lines.
  `"greedy"`
    A word is placed on the first line that has room for it.
  `"nobreak"`
    Do not line-break.

`line_leading` - int

  The number of pixels of spacing to include above each line.

`line_overlap_split` - int

  When in slow text mode, and two lines overlap, this many pixels of the overlap are allocated to the top line. Increase this if the bottoms of characters on the top line are clipped.

`line_spacing` - int

  The number of pixels of spacing to include below each line.

`min_width` - int

  Sets the minimum width of each line of that. If a line is shorter than this, it is padded to this length, with text_align used to specify where such padding is placed.

`newline_indent` - boolean

  If true, the `first_indent` indentation is used after each newline in a string. Otherwise, the `rest_indent` indentation is used.

`outlines` - list of tuple of (int, color, int, int)

  This is a list of outlines that are drawn behind the text. Each tuple specifies an outline, and outlines are drawn from back to front.

  The list contains (size, color, xoffset, yoffset) tuples. Size is the amount the font is expanded by, in pixels. Color is the color of the outline. xoffset and yoffset are the amount the outline is shifted by, in pixels.

  The outline functionality can also be used to give drop-shadows to fonts, by specifying a size of 0 and non-zero offsets.

  By default, size, xoffset and yoffset are scaled with the text. When given as the absolute type, they are not scaled. Code like:

      style default:
          outlines [ (absolute(1), "#000", absolute(0), absolute(0)) ]

  will always produce a 1 pixel-wide border.

  Outlines only work with truetype fonts.

`rest_indent` - int

  Specifies the number of pixels the second and later lines in a paragraph are indented by.

`ruby_style` - style or None

  If not None, this should be a style object. The style that's used for ruby text.

`slow_cps` - int or True

  If a number, shows text at the rate of that many characters per second. If True, shows text at the speed taken from the "Text Speed" preference.

`slow_cps_multiplier` - float

  The speed of the text is multiplied by this number. This can be used to have a character that speaks at a faster-than-normal rate of speed.

`strikethrough` - boolean

  If True, a line is drawn through the text.

`text_align` - float

  This is used when a line is shorter than the width of the text displayable. It determines how much of the extra space is placed on the left side of the text. (And hence, the text alignment.)

  0.0 will yield left-aligned text, 0.5 centered text, and 1.0 right-aligned text.

`underline` - boolean

  If true, an underline will be added to the text.

`hyperlink_functions` - tuple of (function, function, function)

  This is a tuple of three functions relating to hyperlinks in text.

  The first item is the hyperlink style function. When called with a single argument, the argument of the hyperlink, it must return a style object to use for the hyperlink, such as `style.hyperlink_text`. Note that a style object is not a string.

  The second item is the hyperlink clicked function. This function is called when a hyperlink is chosen by the user. If it returns a value other than None, the interaction returns that value.

  The third item is the hyperlink focus function. This function is called with the argument of the hyperlink when the hyperlink gains focus, and with None when it loses focus. If it returns a value other than None, the interaction returns that value

`vertical` - boolean

  If true, the text will be rendered vertically.

`hinting` - str

  Controls how the font will be hinted. This should be one of the following strings:

  "auto"
    The default, forces use of the Freetype auto hinter.
  "bytecode"
    Uses bytecode hinting information found in the font.
  "none"
    Does not hint the font.

### Window Style Properties

Window properties are used to specify the look of windows, frames, and buttons.

`background` - displayable or None

  A displayable that is used as the background of the window. This is often a `Frame()`, allowing the size of the background to scale with the size of the window.

  If None, no background is drawn, but other properties function as if the background was present.

`foreground` - displayable or None

  If not None, this displayable is drawn above the contents of the window.

`left_margin` - int

  The amount of transparent space to the left of the background, in pixels.

`right_margin` - int

  The amount of transparent space to the right of the background, in pixels.

`xmargin` - int

  Equivalent to setting left_margin and right_margin to the same value.

`top_margin` - int

  The amount of transparent space above the background, in pixels.

`bottom_margin` - int

  The amount of transparent space below the background, in pixels.

`ymargin` - int

  Equivalent to setting top_margin and bottom_margin to the same value.

`margin` - tuple

  When given a two-item tuple, equivalent to setting xmargin and ymargin to the two items. When given a four-item tuple, equivalent to setting left_margin, top_margin, right_margin, and bottom_margin to the four items.

`left_padding` - int

  The amount of space between the background and the left side of the window content, in pixels.

`right_padding` - int

  The amount of space between the background and the right side of the window content, in pixels.

`xpadding` - int

  Equivalent to setting left_padding and right_padding to the same value.

`top_padding` - int

  The amount of space between the background and the top side of the window content, in pixels.

`bottom_padding` - int

  The amount of space between the background and the bottom side of the window content, in pixels.

`ypadding` - int

  Equivalent to setting top_padding and bottom_padding to the same value.

`padding` - tuple

  When given a two-item tuple, equivalent to setting xpadding and ypadding to the two items. When given a four-item tuple, equivalent to setting left_padding, top_padding, right_padding, and bottom_padding to the four items.

`size_group` - string or None

  If not None, this should be a string. Ren'Py will render all windows with the same size_group value at the same size.

### Button Style Properties

`child` - displayable or None

  If not None, this gives a displayable that replaces the child of the button. For example, this (as insensitive_child) can be used to replace the contents of an insensitive button with an image that indicates the button is locked.

`hover_sound` - string

  A sound that is played when the button gains focus.

`activate_sound` - string

  A sound that is played when the button is clicked.

`mouse` - string

  The mouse style that is used when the button is focused. This should be one of the styles in `config.mouse`.

`focus_mask` - multiple

  A mask that's used to control what portions of the button can be focused, and hence clicked on. The type of this property determines how it is interpreted.

  Displayable
    The areas of the displayable that are not transparent cause the button to be focused.
  True
    The button itself is used as the displayable (so non-transparent areas of the button cause the button to be focused).
  callable
    If a non-displayable callable (like a function, method, or object with a __call__ method) is given, the function is called with two arguments, the x and y offset from the top-left corner of the displayable. If the function returns true, the displayable is focused.
  None
    If none is given, the entire button can be focused.

`keyboard_focus` -

  If true, the default, this button can be focused using the keyboard focus mechanism, if it can be focused at all. If false, the keyboard focus mechanism will skip this button. (The keyboard focus mechanism is used by keyboards and keyboard-like devices, such as joypads.)

`key_events` -

  If true, keyboard-generated events are passed to the children of this button. If false, those events are not propagated. In this default style, this is set to true while the button is hovered, and false otherwise.

  Setting this to true can be used to propagate keyboard events to an input inside a button, even when the button isn't focused.

### Bar Style Properties

Bars are drawn with gutters on the left and right, that when clicked can cause the bar to move by a small amount. The remaining space is the portion of the bar that can change, with the amount on each side proportional to the bar's value as a fraction of the range.

The thumb is an area in the center of the bar that can be dragged by the user.

When a bar is drawn, the thumb's shadow is drawn first. Then the left/bottom and right/top sides of the bar, followed by the thumb itself.

Note that the valid sides of a bar depend on the value of the bar_vertical property. If it's True, the top and bottom sides are relevant. Otherwise, the left and right sides are used.

`bar_vertical` - boolean

  If true, the bar has a vertical orientation. If false, it has a horizontal orientation.

`bar_invert` - boolean

  If true, the value of the bar is represented on the right/top side of the bar, rather than the left/bottom side.

`bar_resizing` - boolean

  If true, we resize the sides of the bar. If false, we render the sides of the bar at full size, and then crop them.

`left_gutter` - int

  The size of the gutter on the left side of the bar, in pixels.

`right_gutter` - int

  The size of the gutter on the right side of the bar, in pixels.

`top_gutter` - int

  The size of the gutter on the top side of the bar, in pixels.

`bottom_gutter` - int

  The size of the gutter on the bottom side of the bar, in pixels.

`left_bar` - displayable

  The displayable used for the left side of the bar.

`right_bar` - displayable

  The displayable used for the right side of the bar.

`top_bar` - displayable

  The displayable used for the top side of the bar.

`bottom_bar` - displayable

  The displayable uses for the bottom side of the bar.

`base_bar` - displayable

  A single displayable that is used for left_bar/right_bar or top_bar/bottom_bar, as appropriate. (This can be used with thumb to make a slider or scrollbar.)

`thumb` - displayable or None

  If not None, this is a displayable that is drawn over the break between the sides of the bar.

`thumb_shadow` - displayable or None

  If not None, this is a displayable that is drawn over the break between the sides of the bar.

`thumb_offset` - int

  The amount that by which the thumb overlaps the bars, in pixels. To have the left and right bars continue unbroken, set this to half the width of the thumb in pixels.

`mouse` - string

  The mouse style that is used when the button is focused. This should be one of the styles in `config.mouse`.

`unscrollable` - string or None

  Controls what happens if the bar is unscrollable (if the range is set to 0, as is the case with a viewport containing a displayable smaller than itself). There are three possible values:

  `None`
    Renders the bar normally.
  `"insensitive"`
    Renders the bar in the insensitive state. This allows the bar to change its style to reflect its lack of usefulness.
  `"hide"`
    Prevents the bar from rendering at all. Space will be allocated for the bar, but nothing will be drawn in that space.

`keyboard_focus` -

  If true, the default, this button can be focused using the keyboard focus mechanism, if it can be focused at all. If false, the keyboard focus mechanism will skip this button. (The keyboard focus mechanism is used by keyboards and keyboard-like devices, such as joypads.)

### Box Style Properties

These are used for the horizontal and vertical box layouts.

`spacing` - int

  The spacing between members of this box, in pixels.

`first_spacing` - int

  If not None, the spacing between the first and second members of this box, in pixels. This overrides the spacing property.

`box_reverse` - boolean

  If true, the placement of the items in the box will be reversed. When this is true, a hbox will be filled right-to-left, and a vbox will be filled bottom-to-top. This defaults to false.

`box_wrap` - boolean

  If true, then boxes will wrap when they reach the end of a line or column. If false (the default), they will extend past the end of the line.

`order_reverse` - boolean

  If false, the default, the items in the box will be draw first-to-last, with the first item in the box being below the second, and so on. If true, this order will be reversed, and the first item in the box will be above all other items in the box.

### Fixed Style Properties

These are used with the fixed layout.

`fit_first` - bool or "width" or "height"

  If true, then the size of the fixed layout is shrunk to be equal with the size of the first item in the layout. If "width", only the width is changed (the fixed will fill the screen vertically). Similarly, "height" only changes the height.

`xfit` - bool

  If true, the size of the fixed layout is shrunk horizontally to match the right side of the rightmost child of the fixed.

`yfit` - bool

  If true, the size of the fixed layout is shrunk vertically to match the bottom side of the bottommost child of the fixed.