Text is drawn via Pango Layouts. The easiest way to create a Pango::Layout is to use Gtk::Widget::create_pango_layout(). Once created, the layout can be manipulated in various ways, including changing the text, font, etc. Finally, the layout can be rendered using the Pango::Layout::show_in_cairo_context() method.

Here is an example of a program that draws some text, some of it upside-down. The Printing chapter contains another example of drawing text.

Source Code

File: myarea.h (For use with gtkmm 3, not gtkmm 2)

#ifndef GTKMM_EXAMPLE_MYAREA_H
#define GTKMM_EXAMPLE_MYAREA_H

#include <gtkmm/drawingarea.h>

class MyArea : public Gtk::DrawingArea
{
public:
  MyArea();
  virtual ~MyArea();

protected:
  //Override default signal handler:
  bool on_draw(const Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context>& cr) override;

private:
  void draw_rectangle(const Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context>& cr, int width, int height);
  void draw_text(const Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context>& cr, int rectangle_width, int rectangle_height);

};

#endif // GTKMM_EXAMPLE_MYAREA_H

File: main.cc (For use with gtkmm 3, not gtkmm 2)

#include "myarea.h"
#include <gtkmm/application.h>
#include <gtkmm/window.h>

int main(int argc, char* argv[])
{
  auto app = Gtk::Application::create(argc, argv, "org.gtkmm.example");

  Gtk::Window window;
  window.set_title("Drawing text example");

  MyArea area;
  window.add(area);
  area.show();

  return app->run(window);
}

File: myarea.cc (For use with gtkmm 3, not gtkmm 2)

#include "myarea.h"

MyArea::MyArea()
{
}

MyArea::~MyArea()
{
}

bool MyArea::on_draw(const Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context>& cr)
{
  Gtk::Allocation allocation = get_allocation();
  const int width = allocation.get_width();
  const int height = allocation.get_height();

  const int rectangle_width = width;
  const int rectangle_height = height / 2;

  // Draw a black rectangle
  cr->set_source_rgb(0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
  draw_rectangle(cr, rectangle_width, rectangle_height);

  // and some white text
  cr->set_source_rgb(1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
  draw_text(cr, rectangle_width, rectangle_height);

  // flip the image vertically
  // see http://www.cairographics.org/documentation/cairomm/reference/classCairo_1_1Matrix.html
  // the -1 corresponds to the yy part (the flipping part)
  // the height part is a translation (we could have just called cr->translate(0, height) instead)
  // it's height and not height / 2, since we want this to be on the second part of our drawing
  // (otherwise, it would draw over the previous part)
  Cairo::Matrix matrix(1.0, 0.0, 0.0, -1.0, 0.0, height);

  // apply the matrix
  cr->transform(matrix);

  // white rectangle
  cr->set_source_rgb(1.0, 1.0, 1.0);
  draw_rectangle(cr, rectangle_width, rectangle_height);

  // black text
  cr->set_source_rgb(0.0, 0.0, 0.0);
  draw_text(cr, rectangle_width, rectangle_height);

  return true;
}

void MyArea::draw_rectangle(const Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context>& cr,
                            int width, int height)
{
  cr->rectangle(0, 0, width, height);
  cr->fill();
}

void MyArea::draw_text(const Cairo::RefPtr<Cairo::Context>& cr,
                       int rectangle_width, int rectangle_height)
{
  // http://developer.gnome.org/pangomm/unstable/classPango_1_1FontDescription.html
  Pango::FontDescription font;

  font.set_family("Monospace");
  font.set_weight(Pango::WEIGHT_BOLD);

  // http://developer.gnome.org/pangomm/unstable/classPango_1_1Layout.html
  auto layout = create_pango_layout("Hi there!");

  layout->set_font_description(font);

  int text_width;
  int text_height;

  //get the text dimensions (it updates the variables -- by reference)
  layout->get_pixel_size(text_width, text_height);

  // Position the text in the middle
  cr->move_to((rectangle_width-text_width)/2, (rectangle_height-text_height)/2);

  layout->show_in_cairo_context(cr);
}