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

SDL_SetColorKey

Set the color key (transparent pixel) in a surface.

Header File

Syntax

int SDL_SetColorKey(SDL_Surface * surface,
                    int flag, Uint32 key);

Function Parameters

SDL_Surface *	surface	the SDL_Surface structure to update.
int	flag	SDL_TRUE to enable color key, SDL_FALSE to disable color key.
Uint32	key	the transparent pixel.

Return Value

(int) Returns 0 on success or a negative error code on failure; call SDL_GetError() for more information.

Remarks

The color key defines a pixel value that will be treated as transparent in a blit. For example, one can use this to specify that cyan pixels should be considered transparent, and therefore not rendered.

It is a pixel of the format used by the surface, as generated by SDL_MapRGB().

RLE acceleration can substantially speed up blitting of images with large horizontal runs of transparent pixels. See SDL_SetSurfaceRLE() for details.

Version

This function is available since SDL 2.0.0.