format-printing 0.1.0

Colorful, styled terminal printing for Python

format_printing

A Python library for rich, styled terminal output — colors, gradients, tables, spinners, progress bars, and more. Works as a drop-in replacement for Python's built-in print and input.

pip install format_printing

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Features

• Colored and styled text (bold, italic, underline, strikethrough, dim)
• Named colors, hex colors, and RGB tuples
• Gradient text (per-character color blending)
• Bordered boxes
• Auto-sized tables from dicts or lists
• Clickable terminal hyperlinks
• Typewriter effect printing
• Spinner animations (context manager or function-wrapping)
• Progress bars (function-wrapping or fixed-duration)

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Quick Start

from format_printing import print, print_box, print_gradient, spinner, progress_bar

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Colors

Colors can be passed as:

• A named string: "red", "cyan", "neon_pink", "gold", etc.
• A hex string: "#ff6600"
• An RGB tuple: (255, 100, 0)

Built-in named colors: red, orange, yellow, green, blue, indigo, violet, black, white, brown, grey / gray, cyan, magenta, neon_pink, gold, crimson

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API Reference

print(*args, color, bg, bold, dim, italic, underline, strikethrough)

Drop-in replacement for the built-in print. Accepts all standard print keyword arguments.

from format_printing import print

print("Hello, world!", color="cyan", bold=True)
print("Warning!", color="#ff6600", bg="black", underline=True)
print("Soft text", dim=True)

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print_type(*args, color, bg, bold, dim, italic, underline, strikethrough, delay)

Prints text character by character with a typewriter effect.

from format_printing import print_type

print_type("Loading complete.", color="green", delay=0.05)

Param	Default	Description
delay	0.03	Seconds between each character

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input(prompt, color, bg, bold, dim, italic, underline, strikethrough)

Drop-in replacement for the built-in input with styled prompts.

from format_printing import input

name = input("Enter your name: ", color="yellow", bold=True)

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clear()

Clears the terminal screen.

from format_printing import clear

clear()

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print_box(*args, color, border_color, bold, dim, italic, padding)

Prints text inside a Unicode bordered box.

from format_printing import print_box

print_box("Operation complete!", color="green", border_color="cyan", padding=2)

Param	Default	Description
padding	1	Horizontal padding inside the box

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print_gradient(*args, start, end)

Prints text with a smooth per-character color gradient.

from format_printing import print_gradient

print_gradient("Rainbow text!", start="red", end="blue")
print_gradient("Sunset vibes", start="#ff6600", end="#ffcc00")

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print_dual_gradient(*args, text_start, text_end, bg_start, bg_end)

Prints text with independent gradients for both foreground and background.

from format_printing import print_dual_gradient

print_dual_gradient("Fancy!", text_start="white", text_end="yellow", bg_start="blue", bg_end="magenta")

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print_table(data, border_color, header_color)

Prints an auto-sized, aligned table. Accepts a list of dicts or a list of lists (first row = headers).

from format_printing import print_table

# From dicts
data = [
    {"Name": "Alice", "Role": "Engineer", "Level": "Senior"},
    {"Name": "Bob",   "Role": "Designer", "Level": "Mid"},
]
print_table(data, border_color="grey", header_color="cyan")

# From lists
data = [
    ["Name", "Score"],
    ["Alice", "98"],
    ["Bob",   "87"],
]
print_table(data)

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print_link(text, url, color, bold, underline)

Prints a clickable hyperlink (supported in most modern terminals).

from format_printing import print_link

print_link("Visit PyPI", "https://pypi.org", color="cyan", bold=True)

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loading_context(message, color, done)

A context manager that shows a spinner while a block of code runs.

from format_printing import loading_context
import time

with loading_context("Fetching data", color="cyan", done="Data loaded!"):
    time.sleep(2)

Param	Default	Description
message	"Processing"	Text shown next to the spinner
color	"cyan"	Spinner color
done	"Done!"	Message shown on completion

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spinner(message, fn, *args, duration, spinner_color, color, done, **kwargs)

Two modes:

Fixed duration — spins for a set number of seconds:

from format_printing import spinner

spinner("Warming up", duration=2.0, spinner_color="magenta")

Function-wrapping — spins until a function finishes, then returns its result:

from format_printing import spinner
import time

def fetch_data(url):
    time.sleep(2)
    return {"status": "ok"}

result = spinner("Fetching", fetch_data, "https://example.com", done="Fetched!")
print(result)

Param	Default	Description
duration	2.0	Seconds to spin (fixed mode only)
spinner_color	"cyan"	Color of the spinner character
color	None	Color of the message text
done	"Done!"	Completion message

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progress_bar(fn, *args, message, bar_color, bracket_color, text_color, length, duration, done, **kwargs)

Two modes:

Fixed duration — fills the bar over a set number of seconds:

from format_printing import progress_bar

progress_bar(duration=3.0, message="Installing", bar_color="green")

Function-wrapping — fills the bar while a function runs:

from format_printing import progress_bar
import time

def process():
    time.sleep(3)
    return "finished"

result = progress_bar(process, message="Processing", done="Complete!")
print(result)

Param	Default	Description
message	"Processing"	Label shown next to the bar
bar_color	"green"	Color of the filled portion
bracket_color	"grey"	Color of the [ ] brackets
text_color	None	Color of the message text
length	20	Width of the bar in characters
duration	3.0	Seconds to fill (fixed mode only)
done	"Done!"	Completion message

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License

MIT License — see LICENSE for details.