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The Graphics Device Interface (GDI) is Windows’ original graphics interface for drawing graphics and formatted text on displays and printers. An application calls GDI functions rather than controlling graphics hardware directly; GDI works with device drivers to produce output.
How GDI uses a device context
Before drawing, an application works with a device context (DC): an object that identifies an output target or device data and holds drawing state. The application changes that state and requests drawing through GDI functions rather than manipulating the DC directly. Depending on the task, its state can include a pen, brush, bitmap, palette, clipping region, or path. Microsoft’s device-context documentation explains this model.
Microsoft describes four broad DC types:
- Display DC: used for drawing to a display.
- Printer DC: used for output to a printer.
- Memory DC: backed by a bitmap, commonly used for drawing away from the visible screen before copying the result elsewhere.
- Information DC: used to retrieve information about a device.
These categories are described in Microsoft’s device context types reference.
How applications obtain display DCs
For ordinary display drawing, Windows applications can obtain a DC using functions such as BeginPaint, GetDC, or GetDCEx. A common DC should be released when the application is finished with it. Microsoft retains class DCs for 16-bit compatibility and advises developers to use private DCs instead. The appropriate acquisition and release pattern depends on the function and drawing context; see Microsoft’s display device context guidance.
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What GDI can draw and manage
GDI covers basic drawing as well as the supporting facilities needed to create formatted output. Microsoft’s documentation includes bitmaps, brushes, clipping, colors, coordinate spaces and transformations, fonts and text, lines and curves, painting, paths, pens, rectangles, and regions. Because GDI works with device drivers, applications can use it for both displays and printers rather than targeting each device’s hardware directly. See the Windows GDI overview.
Metafiles: recording and replaying drawing
GDI can record drawing commands in a metafile and replay them to reproduce a picture. A metafile contains records corresponding to the GDI functions used to draw that picture. Microsoft distinguishes enhanced-format metafiles from older Windows-format metafiles; it describes the older format as limited and recommends enhanced-format functions for new work. See About Metafiles and Windows-Format Metafiles.
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GDI compared with GDI+, Direct2D, and Direct3D
These names refer to related but distinct Windows graphics interfaces, not interchangeable versions of one API. Microsoft describes GDI as the original Windows graphics interface, GDI+ as a successor introduced in Windows XP, Direct2D as the modern 2-D successor to GDI and GDI+, and Direct3D as an API for 3-D graphics. The right choice depends on an application’s graphics requirements and programming context. Microsoft’s Windows graphics architecture overview describes how these interfaces fit together.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.What the definition does—and does not—guarantee
GDI is a Windows software interface, not a graphics card or a single drawing program. Its purpose is to let applications request graphics and text output through a common system interface, with device drivers handling device-specific work. The definition does not mean every GDI function behaves identically on every Windows release; Microsoft directs developers to each function’s Requirements section for its platform support details.
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