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Overview

ImDrawList is the low-level list of polygons that ImGui functions are filling. At the end of each frame, all command lists are passed to your rendering function. You can use ImGui::GetWindowDrawList() to access the current window’s draw list and add custom primitives.
You can interleave normal ImGui calls and adding primitives to the current draw list.

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Getting a Draw List

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GetWindowDrawList

ImDrawList* GetWindowDrawList();
Get draw list associated to the current window, to append your own drawing primitives.
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Returns
ImDrawList*
Pointer to the current window’s draw list
Example: 
ImDrawList* draw_list = ImGui::GetWindowDrawList();
ImVec2 pos = ImGui::GetCursorScreenPos();
draw_list->AddCircleFilled(pos, 20.0f, IM_COL32(255, 0, 0, 255));

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Structure

struct ImDrawList
{
    ImVector<ImDrawCmd>     CmdBuffer;      // Draw commands
    ImVector<ImDrawIdx>     IdxBuffer;      // Index buffer
    ImVector<ImDrawVert>    VtxBuffer;      // Vertex buffer
    ImDrawListFlags         Flags;          // Flags (anti-aliasing, etc.)
    
    // ... internal members
};
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CmdBuffer
ImVector<ImDrawCmd>
Draw commands. Typically 1 command = 1 GPU draw call (unless it’s a callback).
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IdxBuffer
ImVector<ImDrawIdx>
Index buffer. Each command consumes ImDrawCmd::ElemCount of these.
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VtxBuffer
ImVector<ImDrawVert>
Vertex buffer.
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Flags
ImDrawListFlags
Flags controlling anti-aliasing and other rendering options.

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Clipping

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PushClipRect

void PushClipRect(const ImVec2& clip_rect_min, const ImVec2& clip_rect_max, 
                  bool intersect_with_current_clip_rect = false);
Render-level scissoring. This is passed down to your render function but not used for CPU-side coarse clipping.
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clip_rect_min
const ImVec2&
Top-left corner of clipping rectangle
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clip_rect_max
const ImVec2&
Bottom-right corner of clipping rectangle
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intersect_with_current_clip_rect
bool
default:"false"
If true, intersect with current clip rect instead of replacing it
Prefer using higher-level ImGui::PushClipRect() to affect logic (hit-testing and widget culling).

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PopClipRect

void PopClipRect();
Restore previous clipping rectangle.

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PushClipRectFullScreen

void PushClipRectFullScreen();
Set clipping rectangle to full screen.

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Texture Management

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PushTexture

void PushTexture(ImTextureRef tex_ref);
Set texture for subsequent drawing commands.
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tex_ref
ImTextureRef
Texture reference to use

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PopTexture

void PopTexture();
Restore previous texture.

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Primitive Shapes

Filled shapes must always use clockwise winding order. The anti-aliasing fringe depends on it. Counter-clockwise shapes will have “inward” anti-aliasing.

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AddLine

void AddLine(const ImVec2& p1, const ImVec2& p2, ImU32 col, float thickness = 1.0f);
Draw a line between two points.
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p1
const ImVec2&
Start point
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p2
const ImVec2&
End point
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col
ImU32
Color (use IM_COL32(r, g, b, a) macro)
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thickness
float
default:"1.0f"
Line thickness in pixels
Example: 
ImDrawList* draw_list = ImGui::GetWindowDrawList();
ImVec2 p1 = ImGui::GetCursorScreenPos();
ImVec2 p2 = ImVec2(p1.x + 100, p1.y + 50);
draw_list->AddLine(p1, p2, IM_COL32(255, 255, 0, 255), 2.0f);

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AddRect

void AddRect(const ImVec2& p_min, const ImVec2& p_max, ImU32 col, 
             float rounding = 0.0f, ImDrawFlags flags = 0, float thickness = 1.0f);
Draw a rectangle outline.
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p_min
const ImVec2&
Top-left corner
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p_max
const ImVec2&
Bottom-right corner
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col
ImU32
Color
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rounding
float
default:"0.0f"
Corner rounding radius
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flags
ImDrawFlags
default:"0"
Flags for corner rounding (e.g., ImDrawFlags_RoundCornersTopLeft)
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thickness
float
default:"1.0f"
Border thickness

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AddRectFilled

void AddRectFilled(const ImVec2& p_min, const ImVec2& p_max, ImU32 col, 
                   float rounding = 0.0f, ImDrawFlags flags = 0);
Draw a filled rectangle. Example: 
ImVec2 p_min = ImGui::GetCursorScreenPos();
ImVec2 p_max = ImVec2(p_min.x + 100, p_min.y + 100);
draw_list->AddRectFilled(p_min, p_max, IM_COL32(0, 255, 0, 128), 10.0f);

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AddRectFilledMultiColor

void AddRectFilledMultiColor(const ImVec2& p_min, const ImVec2& p_max, 
                             ImU32 col_upr_left, ImU32 col_upr_right, 
                             ImU32 col_bot_right, ImU32 col_bot_left);
Draw a filled rectangle with different colors at each corner (gradient).
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col_upr_left
ImU32
Top-left corner color
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col_upr_right
ImU32
Top-right corner color
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col_bot_right
ImU32
Bottom-right corner color
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col_bot_left
ImU32
Bottom-left corner color

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AddQuad / AddQuadFilled

void AddQuad(const ImVec2& p1, const ImVec2& p2, const ImVec2& p3, const ImVec2& p4, 
             ImU32 col, float thickness = 1.0f);
void AddQuadFilled(const ImVec2& p1, const ImVec2& p2, const ImVec2& p3, const ImVec2& p4, 
                   ImU32 col);
Draw a quadrilateral (4-sided polygon).

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AddTriangle / AddTriangleFilled

void AddTriangle(const ImVec2& p1, const ImVec2& p2, const ImVec2& p3, 
                 ImU32 col, float thickness = 1.0f);
void AddTriangleFilled(const ImVec2& p1, const ImVec2& p2, const ImVec2& p3, ImU32 col);
Draw a triangle.

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AddCircle / AddCircleFilled

void AddCircle(const ImVec2& center, float radius, ImU32 col, 
               int num_segments = 0, float thickness = 1.0f);
void AddCircleFilled(const ImVec2& center, float radius, ImU32 col, int num_segments = 0);
Draw a circle.
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center
const ImVec2&
Center point
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radius
float
Circle radius
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col
ImU32
Color
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num_segments
int
default:"0"
Number of segments (0 = auto-calculate based on radius)
Use num_segments = 0 to automatically calculate tessellation (preferred).
Example: 
ImVec2 center = ImVec2(100, 100);
draw_list->AddCircleFilled(center, 30.0f, IM_COL32(255, 0, 0, 255));
draw_list->AddCircle(center, 35.0f, IM_COL32(255, 255, 255, 255), 0, 2.0f);

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AddNgon / AddNgonFilled

void AddNgon(const ImVec2& center, float radius, ImU32 col, 
             int num_segments, float thickness = 1.0f);
void AddNgonFilled(const ImVec2& center, float radius, ImU32 col, int num_segments);
Draw a regular polygon with specified number of sides.
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num_segments
int
Number of sides (e.g., 5 for pentagon, 6 for hexagon)

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AddEllipse / AddEllipseFilled

void AddEllipse(const ImVec2& center, const ImVec2& radius, ImU32 col, 
                float rot = 0.0f, int num_segments = 0, float thickness = 1.0f);
void AddEllipseFilled(const ImVec2& center, const ImVec2& radius, ImU32 col, 
                      float rot = 0.0f, int num_segments = 0);
Draw an ellipse.
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radius
const ImVec2&
Radius on X and Y axes
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rot
float
default:"0.0f"
Rotation in radians

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Text

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AddText

void AddText(const ImVec2& pos, ImU32 col, const char* text_begin, 
             const char* text_end = NULL);

void AddText(ImFont* font, float font_size, const ImVec2& pos, ImU32 col, 
             const char* text_begin, const char* text_end = NULL, 
             float wrap_width = 0.0f, const ImVec4* cpu_fine_clip_rect = NULL);
Draw text at specified position.
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pos
const ImVec2&
Text position (top-left)
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col
ImU32
Text color
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text_begin
const char*
Start of text string
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text_end
const char*
End of text string (NULL for null-terminated)
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font
ImFont*
Font to use (extended version)
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font_size
float
Font size (extended version)

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Curves

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AddBezierCubic

void AddBezierCubic(const ImVec2& p1, const ImVec2& p2, const ImVec2& p3, const ImVec2& p4, 
                    ImU32 col, float thickness, int num_segments = 0);
Draw a cubic Bezier curve (4 control points).
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p1
const ImVec2&
Start point
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p2
const ImVec2&
First control point
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p3
const ImVec2&
Second control point
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p4
const ImVec2&
End point

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AddBezierQuadratic

void AddBezierQuadratic(const ImVec2& p1, const ImVec2& p2, const ImVec2& p3, 
                        ImU32 col, float thickness, int num_segments = 0);
Draw a quadratic Bezier curve (3 control points).

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See Also

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