CreatePalette

Header: wingdi.h

Library: gdi32.lib

Syntax

HPALETTE CreatePalette(
    const LOGPALETTE *lpLogPalette
);

Parameters

lpLogPalette	Pointer to a `LOGPALETTE` structure that defines the logical palette.

Return Value

If the function succeeds, the return value is a handle to the logical palette. If the function fails, the return value is NULL. Use GetLastError for extended error information.

Remarks

The created palette can be selected into a device context with SelectPalette and realized with RealizePalette.
When a process terminates, all GDI objects it created are automatically deleted.
Only palette-based devices (e.g., 8‑bit displays) use palettes; on true‑color displays the function still works but the palette is ignored.

Example

#include <windows.h>
#include <stdio.h>

int WINAPI WinMain(HINSTANCE hInst, HINSTANCE hPrevInst, LPSTR lpCmdLine, int nCmdShow)
{
    LOGPALETTE *pLogPal;
    HPALETTE hPal;

    // Allocate palette memory for 256 colors
    pLogPal = (LOGPALETTE*)malloc(sizeof(LOGPALETTE) + 255 * sizeof(PALETTEENTRY));
    pLogPal->palVersion = 0x300;
    pLogPal->palNumEntries = 256;

    // Initialize the palette entries (simple grayscale)
    for (int i = 0; i < 256; ++i) {
        pLogPal->palPalEntry[i].peRed   = (BYTE)i;
        pLogPal->palPalEntry[i].peGreen = (BYTE)i;
        pLogPal->palPalEntry[i].peBlue  = (BYTE)i;
        pLogPal->palPalEntry[i].peFlags = 0;
    }

    hPal = CreatePalette(pLogPal);
    if (!hPal) {
        MessageBox(NULL, L"Failed to create palette", L"Error", MB_ICONERROR);
        return 0;
    }

    // Normally you would select the palette into a DC here
    // ...

    // Clean up
    DeleteObject(hPal);
    free(pLogPal);
    return 0;
}