(This is the legacy documentation for stable SDL2, the current stable version; SDL3 is the current development version.)

SDL_ConvertSurface

Copy an existing surface to a new surface of the specified format.

Header File

Defined in SDL_surface.h, but apps should only #include "SDL.h"!

Syntax

SDL_Surface* SDL_ConvertSurface
    (SDL_Surface * src, const SDL_PixelFormat * fmt, Uint32 flags);

Function Parameters

src	the existing SDL_Surface structure to convert
fmt	the SDL_PixelFormat structure that the new surface is optimized for
flags	the flags are unused and should be set to 0; this is a leftover from SDL 1.2's API

Return Value

Returns the new SDL_Surface structure that is created or NULL if it fails; call SDL_GetError() for more information.

Remarks

This function is used to optimize images for faster repeat blitting. This is accomplished by converting the original and storing the result as a new surface. The new, optimized surface can then be used as the source for future blits, making them faster.

Version

This function is available since SDL 2.0.0.