###### (This is the legacy documentation for stable SDL2, the current stable version; [SDL3](https://wiki.libsdl.org/SDL3/) is the current development version.) # SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceWithFormatFrom Allocate a new RGB surface with with a specific pixel format and existing pixel data. ## Syntax ```c SDL_Surface* SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceWithFormatFrom (void *pixels, int width, int height, int depth, int pitch, Uint32 format); ``` ## Function Parameters | | | | -------------- | ---------------------------------------------------------------------------------- | | **pixels** | a pointer to existing pixel data | | **width** | the width of the surface | | **height** | the height of the surface | | **depth** | the depth of the surface in bits | | **pitch** | the pitch of the surface in bytes | | **format** | the [SDL_PixelFormatEnum](SDL_PixelFormatEnum) for the new surface's pixel format. | ## Return Value Returns the new [SDL_Surface](SDL_Surface) structure that is created or NULL if it fails; call [SDL_GetError](SDL_GetError)() for more information. ## Remarks This function operates mostly like [SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceFrom](SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceFrom)(), except instead of providing pixel color masks, you provide it with a predefined format from [SDL_PixelFormatEnum](SDL_PixelFormatEnum). No copy is made of the pixel data. Pixel data is not managed automatically; you must free the surface before you free the pixel data. ## Version This function is available since SDL 2.0.5. ## Related Functions * [SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceFrom](SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceFrom) * [SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceWithFormat](SDL_CreateRGBSurfaceWithFormat) * [SDL_FreeSurface](SDL_FreeSurface) ---- [CategoryAPI](CategoryAPI)