FX Backglass

Automated generator for Pinball FX backglass images. The script takes a template (with a transparent artwork area and a Zen Studios + Pinball FX footer) and composites your table artwork PNGs into it, producing finished 1920×1080 backglass images.

Folder layout

FX Backglass/
├── Template/
│   └── 1.Table.png      # 1920x1080 PNG with a transparent top area and an opaque footer
├── src/                 # input artwork PNGs (any size)
├── modified/            # finished backglass images written here
├── make_backglass.py    # the script
└── README.md            # this file

The template's transparent area is 1920 × 878 (the top of the canvas). The bottom 1920 × 202 carries the Zen Studios logo, the table title window, and the Pinball FX logo.

Requirements

• Python 3.8 or newer
• Pillow

Install Pillow with:

python3 -m pip install Pillow

On newer macOS Python installs you may see an "externally-managed-environment" error. If that happens, use one of these instead:

python3 -m pip install --user Pillow
python3 -m pip install --break-system-packages Pillow

If python3 itself isn't found, install Python from python.org or via Homebrew (brew install python).

Usage

Drop your source artwork PNGs into src/, then run:

python3 make_backglass.py

The script will ask two questions. First, how to fit each source image into the template's transparent area:

How should the source artwork fit the template?
  [1] Fit     — show the whole image (black bars on sides if needed)
  [2] Stretch — fill the area, distorting the image if needed
  [3] Cover   — fill the area by cropping the top/bottom slightly
Choice [1/2/3, default 1]:

Then, what final resolution to render at:

What output resolution do you want?
  [1] 1080p  — 1920 x 1080  (template's native size)
  [2] 4K     — 3840 x 2160  (upscaled 2x)
Choice [1/2, default 1]:

Pressing Enter on either prompt accepts option [1]. Finished images are written to modified/ using the same filename as the source.

Skipping the prompts

You can pass either choice as a flag to skip the matching prompt — useful for batch runs or shell scripts. Flags can be combined:

python3 make_backglass.py --fit --1080
python3 make_backglass.py --stretch --4k
python3 make_backglass.py --cover           # still asks for size
python3 make_backglass.py --4k              # still asks for fit mode

Available flags:

• Fit mode: --fit (alias --contain), --stretch, --cover
• Output size: --1080 (aliases --1080p, --hd), --4k (aliases --2160p, --uhd)

Fit modes at a glance

• Fit (contain) — preserves the source aspect ratio. The whole source image is visible inside the transparent area; any leftover space on the sides is filled with black.
• Stretch — resizes the source to exactly match the transparent area. No cropping or bars, but the image is distorted slightly because the source is 16:9 while the area is roughly 2.19:1.
• Cover — preserves aspect ratio by filling the entire area, cropping whatever spills outside. A small slice off the top and bottom of the source is lost.

How it works

1. Load Template/1.Table.png and ensure it's 1920 × 1080. If 4K output was requested, upscale the template to 3840 × 2160 and scale the artwork-area coordinates by 2x.
2. For each PNG in src/:
   • Resize it to fit the artwork area using the chosen fit mode.
   • Paste it onto a fresh black canvas at the chosen output resolution.
   • Alpha-composite the template on top so the footer overlays the bottom.
   • Save the result to modified/<filename>.png.

Re-running the script overwrites any matching files in modified/. Source files are never modified.

Tweaking

If the template ever changes shape, edit the NATIVE_BOX and NATIVE_CANVAS constants near the top of make_backglass.py. New fit modes can be added by extending MODE_ALIASES and fit_image(). New output sizes can be added by extending SIZE_PRESETS.