Quick Start

Connect Inkplate 7SPECTRA to your computer with the USB-C cable from the box, pick Arduino or MicroPython below, and put your first text on the six-color screen.

Arduino

1. Install the platform and library

1. Install the Inkplate board definition. In Arduino IDE, add this URL to Additional Boards Manager in the Preferences:

   https://github.com/SolderedElectronics/Inkplate-Board-Definitions-for-Arduino-IDE/raw/refs/heads/main/package_Inkplate_Boards_index.json

   Then open Tools → Board → Boards Manager, search for Soldered Inkplate Boards and install it.

2. If you aren't using macOS, install the CH340 drivers in case you don't have them yet: instructions here.

3. Install the Inkplate Arduino library from the Arduino Library Manager: type Inkplate and click Install.

Tip: downloading from GitHub. On the library's GitHub page, click the green Code button and choose Download ZIP, then add it in Arduino IDE with Sketch → Include Library → Add .ZIP Library....

2. Select and connect the board

Select Tools → Board → Inkplate Boards and pick Soldered Inkplate 7SPECTRA, as well as the correct COM port.

3. Upload the first example

Open the example, upload it, and wait for the screen to refresh.

Select Board

Inkplate7SPECTRA_Hello_World.ino

#include "Inkplate.h" // Include the Inkplate library
Inkplate display; // Create an Inkplate object for Inkplate 7SPECTRA

void setup() {
    display.begin();             // Initialize the display hardware
    display.clearDisplay();      // Clear the frame buffer (does NOT clear the physical screen)
    display.setCursor(10, 10);   // Set the text position to (10, 10) pixels
    display.setTextSize(3);      // Set text size to 3 (default is 1)
    display.setTextColor(INKPLATE_BLACK); // Set text color to black
    display.print("Hello World!"); // Print "Hello World!" at the set position
    display.display();           // Refresh the e-paper display to show changes
}

void loop() {
    // No code needed here for this example
}

🔗Open the complete Arduino example

examples/Inkplate7SPECTRA/Basic/Inkplate7SPECTRA_Hello_World

→

4. What to expect

After the refresh, Hello World! appears in black, three times the base text size, near the top-left corner of the screen. The sketch prints nothing to the Serial Monitor. If compiling stops with "Wrong board selection for this example", the selected board is not Soldered Inkplate 7SPECTRA.

MicroPython

1. Install the platform and firmware

1. Download the firmware file onto your computer. Inkplate 7SPECTRA has an ESP32-S3, so it takes inkplate13spectra-firmware.bin, the image Inkplate 13SPECTRA and Inkplate 7SPECTRA share.

2. Flash the firmware onto the Inkplate, with either the MicroPython VSCode Extension or the Thonny IDE:

   • VSCode extension: after setting up the VSCode extension, go to Install MicroPython on your board and pick Upload Binary file from PC, pick the firmware file and wait for it to flash on the device.
   • Thonny IDE: go to Run -> Configure interpreter and on the bottom of the window go to Install or update MicroPython. On the bottom of that window click on the ≡ button and pick Select local MicroPython image, pick the firmware file on your computer and press Install.

3. Install the mpremote package.

4. With mpremote, install the Inkplate 7SPECTRA modules onto the board:

   mpremote mip install github:SolderedElectronics/Inkplate-micropython/boards/inkplate7spectra

   or, on Windows:

   python -m mpremote mip install github:SolderedElectronics/Inkplate-micropython/boards/inkplate7spectra

You only do these steps once per board.

2. Connect to the board

Keep the board connected over USB-C. You can now run examples and write code with the IDE of your choosing, for example the Thonny IDE or the VSCode extension you flashed with.

3. Run the first program

"""Example showing how to display colorful text on the screen."""

from inkplate7spectra import Inkplate  # Include the Inkplate module

inkplate = Inkplate()  # Create an instance of the display
inkplate.begin()  # Initialize the display

inkplate.set_text_size(2)  # Scale up the font size

inkplate.set_cursor(180, 180)  # Set the cursor from where the text will be written

hello_world = "Hello world!"  # Declare the string we want to print

i = 0  # Declare the counter we will use to iterate through the colors

# Iterate through each character in the string
for char in hello_world:
    # Change the color of every character
    inkplate.set_text_color(i)
    # Print a single character to the framebuffer
    inkplate.print(char)
    # Iterate the color counter
    i = i + 1
    if i == 1:  # If the color is white, skip it
        i = i + 1
    elif i // 6 > 0:  # If we displayed all 6 colors, return to the first one
        i = 0

inkplate.display()  # Display what is drawn to the buffer

🔗Open the complete MicroPython example

examples/inkplate7spectra/hello_world.py

→

4. What to expect

After the refresh, Hello world! appears at (180, 180) at twice the base text size, each character in a different color. The colors cycle through black, yellow, red, blue and green, skipping white so every letter stays visible on the white screen.

If setup fails or the display stays blank, continue with the checks on the Troubleshooting page.