How do I draw text with GLUT / OpenGL in C++?

Question

How do I draw a text string onto the screen using GLUT / OpenGL drawing functions?

Answer 1

There are two ways to draw strings with GLUT

glutStrokeString will draw text in 3D

_{(source: uwa.edu.au)}

and glutBitmapString will draw text facing the user

_{(source: sourceforge.net)}

Answer 2

If you don't like the built-in stroke font or bitmap font that comes with GLUT as per epatel's answer, you'll have to roll your own solution.

NeHe has some good tutorials (along with fully-working sample code) on this:

• Lesson 13 - Bitmap Fonts
• Lesson 14 - Outline Fonts
• Lesson 15 - Texture-Mapped Outline Fonts

Answer 3

void RenderString(float x, float y, void *font, const char* string, RGB const& rgb)
{  
  char *c;

  glColor3f(rgb.r, rgb.g, rgb.b); 
  glRasterPos2f(x, y);

  glutBitmapString(font, string);
}

And you can call it like;

RenderString(0.0f, 0.0f, GLUT_BITMAP_TIMES_ROMAN_24, "Hello", RGB(1.0f, 0.0f, 0.0f));

Answer 4

It's generally a bit nasty and not straightforward. Give this tool a try:

http://students.cs.byu.edu/~bfish/glfontdl.php