FBLABEL(1)

📦
version 7.44.0 · 2 versions
, in nixpkgs unstable

💅 fblabel(1) — BRL-CAD, bestie edition ✨

okay so real talk: this is the fblabel page from the BRL-CAD manual, and it's lowkey one of the most fun little tools in the whole suite. it literally just... writes text on your framebuffer. that's it. that's the vibe. 🎀

✨ NAME ✨

fblabel — display a text string on a framebuffer 🖼️💬

🌸 SYNOPSIS 🌸

fblabel [-a] [-c] [-d] [-F framebuffer] [-f fontname] [-C r/g/b]
        [-r red] [-g green] [-b blue]
        [-s squaresize] [-S squaresize]
        [-w width] [-W width] [-n height] [-N height]
        x_position y_position text_string

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

fblabel writes a text string onto the image of the currently selected framebuffer. like, it literally stamps your words onto the picture that's already showing. no cap. ✍️

by default the text is anti-aliased (Gaussian filtered) against the existing image, so the label blends with whatever is already displayed — it's giving "seamless integration", it's giving "effortless". the lower-left corner of the text begins at the given x_position and y_position (in pixels); use fbpoint(1) to interactively locate a position if you're the type who needs to point at things. 👆

the environment variable FB_FILE specifies the current framebuffer; see brlcad(1). the framebuffer may instead be named with the -F flag. your choice, bestie, both slay. 💖

the text is drawn using a Berkeley vfont-format font. the default font is nonie.r.12 (she's the moment). fonts are located in BRL-CAD's data directory under vfont/, falling back to /usr/lib/vfont. the default text color is white (255/255/255) — classic, iconic, never misses. 🤍

💅 OPTIONS 💅

  • -a — disable anti-aliasing. text is rendered with hard edges rather than filtered against the background image. crunchy pixels, if that's your thing. 🔪
  • -c — clear the framebuffer before drawing the text. by default the existing image is preserved, so -c is the "fresh start, clean slate, new era" flag. ✨
  • -d — enable debugging output to standard error. for when you gotta know what's going on in there. 🔍
  • -F framebuffer — use the specified framebuffer device instead of FB_FILE. 💻
  • -f fontname — use the named vfont-format font instead of the default nonie.r.12. glow-up your typeface. 🖋️
  • -C r/g/b — set the text color from red, green, and blue values in the range [0..255], separated by slashes. the default is white (255/255/255). one flag, all the color, we stan. 🌈
  • -r red — set the red component [0..255] of the text color (backward compatibility; -C is preferred). ngl this one's a little vintage, but she still works. 🧓
  • -g green — set the green component [0..255] of the text color (backward compatibility; -C is preferred). same deal, bestie. 🌿
  • -b blue — set the blue component [0..255] of the text color (backward compatibility; -C is preferred). legacy but loyal. 💙
  • -s squaresize, -S squaresize — set both the width and height of the framebuffer to squaresize pixels. square era. ⬜
  • -w width, -W width — set the framebuffer width in pixels. 📏
  • -n height, -N height — set the framebuffer height in pixels. 📐
  • -h, -? — print a usage message. the universal "help me bestie" combo. 🫶

🎀 EXAMPLES 🎀

Example 1. Caption a rendered image 🖼️

pix-fb moss.pix
fblabel -C 255/255/0 10 10 "moss scene"

display a rendered image with pix-fb(1), then stamp a yellow caption in the lower-left corner, anti-aliased over the existing pixels. literally art direction. 🔥

Example 2. Position a label interactively with fbpoint 👆

fblabel -f oldenglish.14 `fbpoint` "Title"

use fbpoint(1) to click a location on the framebuffer; its emitted coordinates become the x_position and y_position for the label, drawn here in the oldenglish.14 font. fancy font, clicked position, main character energy. 👑

🌟 SEE ALSO 🌟

brlcad(1), fbpoint(1), fbline(1), fbclear(1), pix-fb(1), libfb(3)

the whole friend group, fr fr. 🫂

💜 AUTHOR 💜

BRL-CAD Team — legends, honestly.

This software is Copyright (c) 1989-2026 by the United States Government as represented by U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

🧚 BUG REPORTS 🧚

Reports of bugs or problems should be submitted via electronic mail to devs@brlcad.org

don't be shy, they wanna hear from you. 🙈

ok that's the whole page, bestie. go forth and label things. 💖✨

🌈 that's a wrap on the fblabel(1) page from BRL-CAD — this version's dated 1989-2026 per the copyright, and yeah, the manual name up top is FBLABEL(1), in case you were keeping track. mwah. 💋

📦 where this page comes from