3. ttk Label

See: https://docs.python.org/3/library/tkinter.ttk.html#label

3.1. Usage

The tkinter.ttk.Label widget provides a themed text label.
The themed ttk widgets offer a more modern appearance across different operating systems compared to classic tk widgets.
To create a themed label widget the general syntax is
(assuming import via "from tkinter import ttk"):
label_widget  = ttk.Label(parent, option=value)
parent is the window or frame object.
Options can be passed as parameters separated by commas.

3.2. Text

label_widget  = ttk.Label(parent, text=text_string)
text_string is text to display in the label widget.
e.g. label = ttk.Label(root, text="themed label text")

3.2.1. Text example

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

# Create the main window
root = tk.Tk()
root.geometry("300x200")  # Set window size
root.title("ttk Label text")  # Set window title

# Create the themed label widget
label = ttk.Label(root, text="themed label text")

# Pack the label into the window
label.pack()

# Run the main event loop
root.mainloop()
../_images/label_text1.png

3.3. Font

label_widget  = ttk.Label(parent, font=(font_type, font_size, font_style))

  • font_type is a font name. e.g "Arial"

  • font_size is the size of the font. eg. 12

  • font_style can be bold, italic, underline or a space separated combination

  • Default Value: System-dependent themed default font

  • Description: Specifies the font family, size, and style for the themed label text.

3.3.1. font example

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

# Create the main window
root = tk.Tk()
root.geometry("300x200")  # Set window size
root.title("ttk Label font")  # Set window title

# Create the label widget with options
label = ttk.Label(root, text="themed text", font=("Arial", 24))

# Pack the label into the window
label.pack()

# Run the main event loop
root.mainloop()
../_images/label_font2.png

3.4. Padding

label_widget  = ttk.Label(parent, padding=padding_value)

  • padding_value can be a single integer, a tuple of two integers (x, y), or a tuple of four integers (left, top, right, bottom).

  • Default Value: 0

  • Description: Adds extra space (in pixels) inside the widget border surrounding the text.

  • Note: Unlike classic tk.Label which uses padx and pady, ttk.Label uses a single padding parameter.

3.4.1. padding example

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

# Create the main window
root = tk.Tk()
root.geometry("300x200")  # Set window size
root.title("ttk Label padding")  # Set window title

# Create the label widget with 40 pixels left/right and 20 pixels top/bottom padding
label = ttk.Label(root, text="padded text", font=("Arial", 24), padding=(40, 20))

# Pack the label into the window
label.pack(pady=20)

# Run the main event loop
root.mainloop()
../_images/label_padding1.png

3.5. Styling

Configurations involving background, foreground, and border configurations are often managed via a ttk.Style object.
style.configure("Name.TWidget", option=value)

  • Name.TWidget: A string combining your custom name and the target widget class (e.g., "Highlight.TButton").

  • option: A keyword argument specifying the attribute to change (e.g., background, foreground, font).

  • Description: Defines the visual properties for a specific widget class. The configuration applies to all widgets assigned to this style name. The style name can be used to apply the configuration to multiple widgets.

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

root = tk.Tk()
root.geometry("300x200")
root.title("ttk Label Styling")
root.configure(bg='#f0f0f0')  #default

style = ttk.Style()

# Define the font within the style configuration
style.configure(
    "Custom.TLabel",
    foreground="#36454F",
    background="#f0f0f0",
    font=("Arial", 14),  # Font included here
    padding=(10, 10),
)

# Style applied here; no need to pass font= parameter
label = ttk.Label(root, text="Styled ttk Label", style="Custom.TLabel")
label.pack(pady=25)

root.mainloop()
../_images/label_style.png
In the code below, the Base.TLabel style is inherited by Medium.Base.TLabel and Large.Base.TLabel.
This means that the font property of Medium.Base.TLabel and Large.Base.TLabel will override the font property of Base.TLabel.
import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import ttk

root = tk.Tk()
root.geometry("400x300")
root.title("Inherited ttk Styling")

style = ttk.Style()

# 1. Base style: Defines shared properties (colors, relief, etc.)
style.configure("Base.TLabel",
    foreground="#000000",
    background="#E4E4E4",
    font=("Arial", 12),
    padding=(10, 5),
)

# 2. Inherit and override: Each child overrides font AND the background color

style.configure("Medium.Base.TLabel", font=("Arial", 16))

style.configure("Large.Base.TLabel", font=("Arial", 20))

# 3. Apply the specific styles
label1 = ttk.Label(root, text="Base Label", style="Base.TLabel")
label1.pack(pady=10)

label2 = ttk.Label(root, text="Medium Label", style="Medium.Base.TLabel")
label2.pack(pady=10)

label3 = ttk.Label(root, text="Large Label", style="Large.Base.TLabel")
label3.pack(pady=10)

root.mainloop()
../_images/labels_style.png

3.6. Options

label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, option=value)
parent is the window or frame object.
Options can be passed as parameters separated by commas.

Parameters:

anchor
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, anchor="position")
Description: Specifies how the information is positioned within the widget if there is extra space. Options are "nw", "n", "ne", "w", "center", "e", "sw", "s", "se".
Default: center
compound
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, compound="position")
Description: Specifies the relative position of the image relative to the text. Options include "none", "center", "top", "bottom", "left", "right".
Default: none
cursor
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, cursor="cursor_type")
Description: Sets the mouse cursor appearance when hovering over the label.
Default: None
font
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, font="font")
Description: Sets the font of the label text.
Default: TkDefaultFont
image
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, image="image")
Description: Sets an image to be displayed in the label. If specified, it can be combined with text using the compound option.
Default: None
justify
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, justify="alignment")
Description: Sets the justification of multi-line text within the widget layout bounds. Use "left", "right", or "center".
Default: left
padding
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, padding=value)
Description: Sets internal padding inside the widget border. Can accept a single value or multi-integer element collections (e.g., (x, y)).
Default: 0
style
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, style="StyleName.TLabel")
Description: Specifies the custom themed layout configuration to apply to this widget instance.
Default: TLabel
text
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, text="text")
Description: Sets the literal string contents displayed by the widget.
Default: None
textvariable
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, textvariable=variable)
Description: Binds a Tkinter StringVar tracker variable to dynamically alter text synchronization.
Default: None
underline
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, underline=index)
Description: Marks an integer character placement string value index to highlight for hotkey reference.
Default: -1
width
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, width=value)
Description: If greater than zero, specifies how many characters wide the label layout box boundary constraint should enforce.
Default: 0
wraplength
Syntax: label_widget = ttk.Label(parent, wraplength=value)
Description: Maximum structural layout pixel size target limits before automatic multi-line newline wrap parsing breaks take effect.
Default: 0