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How to Print Colored Text to the Terminal

As a software engineer, you may be familiar with printing text to the terminal. However, have you ever wanted to add some color to make your output more visually appealing? In this post, we’ll explore how to print colored text to the terminal using ANSI escape codes.
By Saturn Cloud | | Miscellaneous | Updated:

As a software engineer, you may be familiar with printing text to the terminal. However, have you ever wanted to add some color to make your output more visually appealing? In this post, we’ll explore how to print colored text to the terminal using ANSI escape codes.

Table of Contents

  1. Introduction
  2. What are ANSI Escape Codes?
  3. How to Use ANSI Escape Codes
    1. Color Codes
    2. Background Color Codes
    3. Other Action Codes
    4. Combining Action Codes
    5. Handling Non-ANSI Terminals
  4. Conclusion

What are ANSI Escape Codes?

ANSI escape codes are a sequence of characters that allow you to control various aspects of the terminal, such as the color of the text or the position of the cursor. These codes begin with the escape character, represented by the ASCII value 27, followed by a series of characters that specify the desired action.

How to Use ANSI Escape Codes

To use ANSI escape codes to print colored text to the terminal, you’ll need to follow these steps:

  1. Print the escape character: \u001b (or \033 in octal)
  2. Add the desired action code
  3. Optionally, add any additional parameters for the action
  4. Print the text you want to be affected by the action
  5. Reset the terminal to its default state (optional)

Color Codes

Let’s start with the most common use case: printing colored text. ANSI escape codes provide several color codes that you can use to change the color of your text. Here are the most commonly used ones:

  • Black: \u001b[30m
  • Red: \u001b[31m
  • Green: \u001b[32m
  • Yellow: \u001b[33m
  • Blue: \u001b[34m
  • Magenta: \u001b[35m
  • Cyan: \u001b[36m
  • White: \u001b[37m

To print red text to the terminal, for example, you would use the following code:

print("\u001b[31mHello, world!\u001b[0m")

Text Terminal Colors

Note that we reset the terminal to its default state at the end of the string by using the code \u001b[0m. This is important because otherwise, any text printed after this statement would also be in red.

Background Color Codes

You can also change the background color of your text by using background color codes. Here are the most commonly used ones:

  • Black: \u001b[40m
  • Red: \u001b[41m
  • Green: \u001b[42m
  • Yellow: \u001b[43m
  • Blue: \u001b[44m
  • Magenta: \u001b[45m
  • Cyan: \u001b[46m
  • White: \u001b[47m

To print text with a blue background, for example, you would use the following code:

print("\u001b[44mHello, world!\u001b[0m")

Text Terminal Colors Background

Other Action Codes

In addition to color codes, ANSI escape codes provide other action codes that you can use to control various aspects of the terminal, such as the position of the cursor or the font style. Here are some of the most commonly used ones:

  • Cursor Up: \u001b[{n}A
  • Cursor Down: \u001b[{n}B
  • Cursor Forward: \u001b[{n}C
  • Cursor Backward: \u001b[{n}D
  • Clear Screen: \u001b[2J
  • Bold: \u001b[1m
  • Underline: \u001b[4m
  • Blink: \u001b[5m

Combining Action Codes

You can combine multiple action codes to achieve more complex effects. For example, to print bold red text, you would use the following code:

print("\u001b[1m\u001b[31mHello, world!\u001b[0m")

Handling Non-ANSI Terminals

It’s worth noting that not all terminals support ANSI escape codes. In some cases, the codes may display as plain text instead of changing the color of the text. To handle non-ANSI terminals, you can use a library like colorama to provide cross-platform support for colored text.

Conclusion

Printing colored text to the terminal can be a great way to make your output more visually appealing and easier to read. By using ANSI escape codes, you can easily change the color of your text or background, or even control other aspects of the terminal. With this knowledge, you can take your console output to the next level and impress your colleagues with your newfound skills!

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