Python Tkinter Tutorial with Examples

Tkinter is a standard cross-platform package for creating graphical user interfaces (GUIs). It is also called Tk interface. It is an original GUI library for Tcl (Tool Command Language). Tkinter comes pre installed with Python. The greatest strength of Tkinter is its simplicity. It comes with a wide range of necessary widgets for almost all common tasks, like - text, buttons, radio buttons, checkbox, scale, labels or drawing canvas.

Importing Tkinter in Python 3.x

import tkinter as tk
from tkinter import filedialog

If you want to check the presence of Tkinter in your machine, you can check this with the following command in your python REPL -

import tkinter as tk
tk._test()

First Tkinter Program

In the above code, we have imported the tkinter module. Now, we will create a top level object using the Tk class. This creates a window for your entire GUI application. This windowing object can contain different widgets, like - text labels, buttons, radio buttons etc.

obj = tk.Tk()

The object returned by tk.Tk() is called root window. Here is the first program to add text on the created window.

import tkinter as tk
w = tk.Tk()
# Create a text label
label = tk.Label(w, text="Hello World!") 
# Pack it into the window
label.pack(padx=30, pady=30) 
w.mainloop()

Output of the above code-

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These are the most commonly used Tkinter widgets -

Tkinter Label widget

A label is used to display a text or image on the screen.

label(master=None, options)

Here, master is the parent widget. These options can be used as key-value pairs and separated by comma-

Option	Description
bg	To display normal background color.
bd	To set size of border.
fg	It specifies color of the text.
font	To set the text font.
height	To set height of the new frame.
image	To add static image in label widget.
justify	To justify multiple lines text.
padx	To add left and right padding of the text within widget.
pady	To add top and bottom padding of the text within widget.
text	To display one or more lines of text within widget.
width	To set width of the new frame.

Label Widget Example

import tkinter as tk
w = tk.Tk()
# Create a text label
label = tk.Label(w, text="Hello World!", bg="#F4D6BC", fg="blue", font=("Helvetica", 16)) 
# Pack it into the window
label.pack(padx=30, pady=30) 
w.mainloop()

In the above code, pack() is the Tkinter geometry manager and used to position widgets.

Output of the above code-

Tkinter Button Widget

The button widget is used to add various types of buttons in Python applications. The button can contain text or image. We can attach a python method to a button. When the button is pressed, Tkinter automatically calls that method.

b = Button(parent, options)

It also has so many options, like - activeforeground, activebackground, bd, bg, fg, font, height, width, padx, pady, relief, justify, image.

Button Widget Example

from tkinter import *

w = Tk()
w.geometry("200x100")

# Create a button
button1 = Button(w, text = "Button", width="10", bg="yellow",
                 activeforeground = "blue" ,activebackground = "pink",
                 pady=10)

# Pack it into the window
button1.pack(side = TOP) 
w.mainloop()

Output of the above code-

Tkinter Radiobutton Widget

Radio button allows user to choose one of the predefined set of options. It can contain text or image. We can attach a python method to the radio button. When the radio button is pressed. Tkinter automatically calls that method.

rb = Radiobutton(parent, options)

Radiobutton Widget Example

from tkinter import *

def option():
   selection = "You selected the option " + str(var.get())
   label.config(text = selection)

w = Tk()
var = IntVar()
Rb1 = Radiobutton(w, text="Option 1", variable=var, value=1, command=option)
Rb1.pack()

Rb2 = Radiobutton(w, text="Option 2", variable=var, value=2, command=option)
Rb2.pack()

Rb3 = Radiobutton(w, text="Option 3", variable=var, value=3, command=option)
Rb3.pack()

label = Label(w)
label.pack()
w.mainloop()

Output of the above code-

Tkinter Checkbox Widget

Checkbox allows user to make a binary choice.

rb = Checkbox(parent, options)

Checkbox Widget Example

from tkinter import *

w = Tk()
var1 = IntVar()
Checkbutton(w, text="Male", variable=var1).grid(row=0, sticky=W)
var2 = IntVar()
Checkbutton(w, text="Female", variable=var2).grid(row=1, sticky=W)
mainloop()

Output of the above code-

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