# SDL_CreateSurfaceFrom

Allocate a new surface with a specific pixel format and existing pixel data.

## Header File

Defined in [<SDL3/SDL_surface.h>](https://github.com/libsdl-org/SDL/blob/main/include/SDL3/SDL_surface.h)

## Syntax

```c
SDL_Surface * SDL_CreateSurfaceFrom(int width, int height, SDL_PixelFormat format, void *pixels, int pitch);
```

## Function Parameters

|                                    |            |                                                                            |
| ---------------------------------- | ---------- | -------------------------------------------------------------------------- |
| int                                | **width**  | the width of the surface.                                                  |
| int                                | **height** | the height of the surface.                                                 |
| [SDL_PixelFormat](SDL_PixelFormat) | **format** | the [SDL_PixelFormat](SDL_PixelFormat) for the new surface's pixel format. |
| void *                             | **pixels** | a pointer to existing pixel data.                                          |
| int                                | **pitch**  | the number of bytes between each row, including padding.                   |

## Return Value

([SDL_Surface](SDL_Surface) *) Returns the new [SDL_Surface](SDL_Surface)
structure that is created or NULL on failure; call
[SDL_GetError](SDL_GetError)() for more information.

## Remarks

No copy is made of the pixel data. Pixel data is not managed automatically;
you must free the surface before you free the pixel data.

Pitch is the offset in bytes from one row of pixels to the next, e.g.
`width*4` for [`SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGBA8888`](SDL_PIXELFORMAT_RGBA8888).

You may pass NULL for pixels and 0 for pitch to create a surface that you
will fill in with valid values later.

## Thread Safety

It is safe to call this function from any thread.

## Version

This function is available since SDL 3.2.0.

## See Also

- [SDL_CreateSurface](SDL_CreateSurface)
- [SDL_DestroySurface](SDL_DestroySurface)

----
[CategoryAPI](CategoryAPI), [CategoryAPIFunction](CategoryAPIFunction), [CategorySurface](CategorySurface)

