(This is the documentation for SDL3, which is the current stable version. SDL2 was the previous version!)

SDL_ConvertSurface

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

Header File

Syntax

SDL_Surface * SDL_ConvertSurface(SDL_Surface *surface, SDL_PixelFormat format);

Function Parameters

SDL_Surface *	surface	the existing SDL_Surface structure to convert.
SDL_PixelFormat	format	the new pixel format.

Return Value

(SDL_Surface *) Returns the new SDL_Surface structure that is created or NULL on failure; 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.

If you are converting to an indexed surface and want to map colors to a palette, you can use SDL_ConvertSurfaceAndColorspace() instead.

If the original surface has alternate images, the new surface will have a reference to them as well.

Version

This function is available since SDL 3.1.3.

Code Examples


SDL_Surface *input;
SDL_Surface *output = SDL_ConvertSurface(input, SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGBA32);