Not only can you draw shapes but you can also load images from the SD card, perfect for static images!

Tri-Color and Mono Display Demo

The Tri-color and Mono demo uses a single bitmap. The Blinka bitmaps below is used for the demonstration. Select the one that is correct for your display:

Download the blinka.bmp file and place it into the base directory of a microSD card and insert it into the microSD socket in the breakout.

Plug the MicroSD card into the display. You may want to try the SD library examples before continuing, especially one that lists all the files on the SD card

Open the file→examples→Adafruit_ImageReader→ThinkInkDisplays example

There are just a couple of things you may need to change in this file.

If you are using the FeatherWing, set EPD_RESET and EPD_BUSY to -1 otherwise it will wait indefinitely.

If you are using the Flexible Monochrome Display, you may need to change your initializer to use ThinkInk_290_Mono_M06.

Upload to your board and you should see an image of Blinka appear.

GrayScale Display Demo

The 2.9" Grayscale display can show a max of 296x128 pixels. The grayscale demo uses three bitmaps. These bitmaps may be used for fun in the demo:

Rename the files to panda_head.bmp, adabot_head.bmp, and 29gray4.bmp and place them into the base directory of a microSD card and insert it into the microSD socket in the breakout.

Plug the MicroSD card into the display. You may want to try the SD library examples before continuing, especially one that lists all the files on the SD card

Open the file->examples->Adafruit_ImageReader->EInkGray29BmpButtonDemo example

Upload to your board and press the buttons on top. You should see a different image appear for each button.

If you want to later use your own image, use an image editing tool and crop your image to no larger than 296 pixels wide and 128 pixels high. Save it as a 24-bit color BMP file - it must be 24-bit color format to work, even if it was originally a 16-bit color image - because of the way BMPs are stored and displayed!

This guide was first published on Sep 22, 2021. It was last updated on Sep 22, 2021.

This page (Arduino Bitmaps) was last updated on Sep 15, 2021.

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