How can I center Graphics.drawString() in Java?

Daniel Kvist picture Daniel Kvist · Dec 30, 2014 · Viewed 50.6k times · Source

I'm currently working on the menu system for my Java game, and I wonder how I can center the text from Graphics.drawString(), so that if I want to draw a text whose center point is at X: 50 and Y: 50, and the text is 30 pixels wide and 10 pixels tall, the text will start at X: 35 and Y: 45.

Can I determine the width of the text before I draw it?
Then it would be easy maths.

EDIT: I also wonder if I can get the height of the text, so that I can center it vertically too.

Any help is appreciated!

Answer

Daniel Kvist picture Daniel Kvist · Jan 2, 2015

I used the answer on this question.

The code I used looks something like this:

/**
 * Draw a String centered in the middle of a Rectangle.
 *
 * @param g The Graphics instance.
 * @param text The String to draw.
 * @param rect The Rectangle to center the text in.
 */
public void drawCenteredString(Graphics g, String text, Rectangle rect, Font font) {
    // Get the FontMetrics
    FontMetrics metrics = g.getFontMetrics(font);
    // Determine the X coordinate for the text
    int x = rect.x + (rect.width - metrics.stringWidth(text)) / 2;
    // Determine the Y coordinate for the text (note we add the ascent, as in java 2d 0 is top of the screen)
    int y = rect.y + ((rect.height - metrics.getHeight()) / 2) + metrics.getAscent();
    // Set the font
    g.setFont(font);
    // Draw the String
    g.drawString(text, x, y);
}