Python Colorama init() Function
The init() function is used to initialize the Colorama before using it in the script. It can be used without any argument or with an argument. Some keyword arguments can be used in the init() function which is described below.
| Argument Name | Description |
|---|---|
| Autoreset | It is used to reset the color and style after each line when the value of this argument is set to True. |
| Strip | It is used to remove the ANSI code from the output when the value of this argument is set to True. |
| Convert | It is used to convert the ANSI code of the output when the value of this argument is set to True. |
| Wrap | It is used to disable the overriding task when the value of this argument is set to False. |
Terminal Colors
The following colors can be used by the Colorama as the background and font color of the terminal.
- RED
- GREEN
- BLUE
- WHITE
- YELLOW
- MAGENTA
- CYAN
- WHITE
Style Settings
Three text styles are available in Colorama to change the thickness of the text. These are:
- DIM
- NORMAL
- BRIGHT
Different ways to set the background and font colors for the terminal text have been in the next part of this tutorial.
Example 1: Print Text with Background and Font Color
Create a Python file with the following script that shows the way to change the background and the font color using the Colorama module. The autoreset argument has been used in the init() function to reset the previous color and style after each line. At first, the background color is set to RED, and the font color is set to BLUE for the text, “Welcome to LinuxHint”. Next, the background color is set to GREEN for the text, ‘I like programming’.
import colorama
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style
#Initialize colorama
colorama.init(autoreset=True)
#Print text using background and font colors
print(Back.RED + Fore.BLUE + "Welcome to LinuxHint")
#Add newline
print()
#Print text using background color
print(Back.GREEN + "I like programming")
Output
The following output will appear after executing the above script. The output shows that the color setting for the first text data didn’t overwrite the color setting of the second text and the color setting has been applied separately for each text because autoreset argument is set True in the script.
Example 2: Print Text with Color and Style
Create a Python file with the following script to know the way of setting the style for the terminal text with the color. At first, the font color is set to CYAN for the text, ‘Welcome to Linuxhint’. Next, the background color is set to YELLOW, and the style is set to DIM for the text, ‘Learn Python. The Style.RESET_ALL property will reset all previous color and style settings. Next, the font color is set to RED and the text style is set to BRIGHT for the text, ‘Bright text’. In the same way, the style is set to NORMAL for the text, ‘Normal Text’ after resetting all previous color and style settings.
from colorama import Fore, Back, Style
#Print text using font color
print(Fore.CYAN + 'Welcome to Linuxhint')
#Print text using background color and DIM style
print(Back.YELLOW + Style.DIM + 'Learn Python', end='')
#Reset all style
print(Style.RESET_ALL)
#Print text using font color and BRIGHT style
print(Fore.RED + Style.BRIGHT + 'Bright Text', end='')
#Print reset all style again
print(Style.RESET_ALL)
#Print text without any color and normal style
print(Style.NORMAL + 'Normal Text')
Output
The following output will appear after executing the above script. The output shows that the font color of the first text has been applied in the second text because no reset task was done. But the color and style setting for the third and fourth text has been done separately for using Style.RESET_ALL property.
Example 3: Print Color Text Without Colorama
Many other modules exist in Python to set the color and style for the terminal text. The termcolor module is one of them. You have to install the module before using it in the script. Run the following command to install the termcolor module.
After installation, create a Python file with the following script to set the background color and font color by using the termcolor module. The font color will be set to RED and the background color will be set to CYAN for the text, ‘Colored text using Python’ after executing this script.
from termcolor import colored
#Initialize a text variable
text = "Colored text using Python"
#Print the text with font and background colors
print(colored(text, 'red', 'on_cyan'))
Output
The following output will appear after executing the above script.
Example 4: Clear Terminal Screen
The terminal screen can be cleared by using ansi.clear.screen() function of Colorama module. Create a Python file with the following to clear the terminal screen by using the Colorama module.
import colorama as cl
#Imitialalize colorama
cl.init()
#Clear the terminal screen
print(cl.ansi.clear_screen())
Output
The following output will appear after executing the above script.
Conclusion
The output of the terminal can be made more attractive and understandable for the users by using the Colorama module of Python. Different ways of coloring the text background and setting the style and color of the font of the terminal have been shown in this tutorial by using colorama and another module. I hope the Python users will be able to apply color and style to the terminal text after reading this tutorial.
