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Defining and using sprites

A Sprite is a small graphic element that can be used in diagrams.

In PlantUML, sprites are monochrome and can have either 4, 8 or 16 gray level.

To define a sprite, you have to use a hexadecimal digit between 0 and F per pixel.

Then you can use the sprite using <$XXX> where XXX is the name of the sprite.

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@startuml sprite $foo1 { FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF } Alice -> Bob : Testing <$foo1> @enduml

You can scale the sprite.

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@startuml sprite $foo1 { FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF } Alice -> Bob : Testing <$foo1{scale=3}> @enduml

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Inline SVG sprite

You can also use inlined SVG for sprites. Only a tiny subset of SVG directives is possible, so you probably have to compress existing SVG files using https://vecta.io/nano. [Ref. GH-1066]

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@startuml sprite foo1 <svg width="8" height="8" viewBox="0 0 8 8"><path d="M1 0l-1 1 1.5 1.5-1.5 1.5h4v-4l-1.5 1.5-1.5-1.5zm3 4v4l1.5-1.5 1.5 1.5 1-1-1.5-1.5 1.5-1.5h-4z" /></svg> Alice->Bob : <$foo1*3> @enduml

Another example:

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@startuml sprite foo1 <svg viewBox="0 0 36 36"> <path fill="#77B255" d="M36 32c0 2.209-1.791 4-4 4H4c-2.209 0-4-1.791-4-4V4c0-2.209 1.791-4 4-4h28c2.209 0 4 1.791 4 4v28z"/> <path fill="#FFF" d="M21.529 18.006l8.238-8.238c.977-.976.977-2.559 0-3.535-.977-.977-2.559-.977-3.535 0l-8.238 8.238-8.238-8.238c-.976-.977-2.56-.977-3.535 0-.977.976-.977 2.559 0 3.535l8.238 8.238-8.258 8.258c-.977.977-.977 2.559 0 3.535.488.488 1.128.732 1.768.732s1.28-.244 1.768-.732l8.258-8.259 8.238 8.238c.488.488 1.128.732 1.768.732s1.279-.244 1.768-.732c.977-.977.977-2.559 0-3.535l-8.24-8.237z"/> </svg> Alice->Bob : <$foo1> @enduml

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Changing colors

Although sprites are monochrome, it's possible to change their color.

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@startuml sprite $foo1 { FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF F0123456789ABCF FFFFFFFFFFFFFFF } Alice -> Bob : Testing <$foo1,scale=3.4,color=orange> @enduml

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Encoding Sprite

To encode sprite, you can use the command line like:

java -jar plantuml.jar -encodesprite 16z foo.png

where foo.png is the image file you want to use (it will be converted to gray automatically).

After -encodesprite, you have to specify a format: 4, 8, 16, 4z, 8z or 16z.

The number indicates the gray level and the optional z is used to enable compression in sprite definition.

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Importing Sprite

You can also launch the GUI to generate a sprite from an existing image.

Click in the menubar then on File/Open Sprite Window.

After copying an image into you clipboard, several possible definitions of the corresponding sprite will be displayed : you will just have to pickup the one you want.

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Examples

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@startuml sprite $printer [15x15/8z] NOtH3W0W208HxFz_kMAhj7lHWpa1XC716sz0Pq4MVPEWfBHIuxP3L6kbTcizR8tAhzaqFvXwvFfPEqm0 start :click on <$printer> to print the page; @enduml

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@startuml sprite $bug [15x15/16z] PKzR2i0m2BFMi15p__FEjQEqB1z27aeqCqixa8S4OT7C53cKpsHpaYPDJY_12MHM-BLRyywPhrrlw3qumqNThmXgd1TOterAZmOW8sgiJafogofWRwtV3nCF sprite $printer [15x15/8z] NOtH3W0W208HxFz_kMAhj7lHWpa1XC716sz0Pq4MVPEWfBHIuxP3L6kbTcizR8tAhzaqFvXwvFfPEqm0 sprite $disk { 444445566677881 436000000009991 43600000000ACA1 53700000001A7A1 53700000012B8A1 53800000123B8A1 63800001233C9A1 634999AABBC99B1 744566778899AB1 7456AAAAA99AAB1 8566AFC228AABB1 8567AC8118BBBB1 867BD4433BBBBB1 39AAAAABBBBBBC1 } title Use of sprites (<$printer>, <$bug>...) class Example { Can have some bug : <$bug> Click on <$disk> to save } note left : The printer <$printer> is available @enduml

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StdLib

The PlantUML StdLib includes a number of ready icons in various IT areas such as architecture, cloud services, logos etc. It including AWS, Azure, Kubernetes, C4, product Logos and many others. To explore these libraries:

• Browse the Github folders of PlantUML StdLib
• Browse the source repos of StdLib collections that interest you. Eg if you are interested in logos you can find that it came from gilbarbara-plantuml-sprites, and quickly find its

sprites-list. (The next section shows how to list selected sprites but unfortunately that's in grayscale whereas this custom listing is in color.)

• Study the in-depth Hitchhiker’s Guide to PlantUML, eg sections Standard Library Sprites and PlantUML Stdlib Overview

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Listing Sprites

You can use the listsprites command to show available sprites:

• Used on its own, it just shows ArchiMate sprites
• If you include some sprite libraries in your diagram, the command shows all these sprites, as explained in View all the icons with listsprites.

(Example from Hitchhikers Guide to PlantUML)

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@startuml !define osaPuml https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Crashedmind/PlantUML-opensecurityarchitecture2-icons/master !include osaPuml/Common.puml !include osaPuml/User/all.puml !include osaPuml/Hardware/all.puml !include osaPuml/Misc/all.puml !include osaPuml/Server/all.puml !include osaPuml/Site/all.puml listsprites ' From The Hitchhiker’s Guide to PlantUML @enduml

Most collections have files called all that allow you to see a whole sub-collection at once. Else you need to find the sprites that interest you and include them one by one. Unfortunately, the version of a collection included in StdLib often does not have such all files, so as you see above we include the collection from github, not from StdLib.

All sprites are in grayscale, but most collections define specific macros that include appropriate (vendor-specific) colors.