Master Colorful Terminal Output with echo and printf in Bash

Both echo and printf can output content in shell scripts. Using the -e option enables interpretation of escape sequences such as ANSI color codes.

echo -e "\033[43;35m david use echo say Hello World \033[0m 
"
printf "\033[44;36m david use printf say Hello World \033[0m 
"
echo -e "\033[47;30;5m david use echo say \033[0m Hello World 
"

The output appears with the specified colors and effects.

Format Explanation

In shell scripts, the echo command displays content; to show colored text you need the -e parameter. The format is:

echo -e "\033[BackgroundColor;TextColormString\033[0m"

Example: echo -e "\033[41;36m something here \033[0m" Here 41 sets the background color and 36 sets the text color.

Combination Commands

Example of combining commands to move the cursor and apply multiple text attributes:

echo -e "\033[20;1H\033[1;4;32m david use echo say \033[0m Hello World 
"

This moves the cursor to line 20, column 1, then sets high‑light, underline, and green color before printing the text, finally resetting attributes with \033[0m.

Effect Control

Common ANSI codes for text effects:

\033[0m   Reset all attributes
\033[1m   Bold
\033[4m   Underline
\033[5m   Blink
\033[7m   Reverse video
\033[8m   Conceal
\033[30m‑\033[37m   Set foreground color (30‑37)
\033[40m‑\033[47m   Set background color (40‑47)

Examples:

echo -e "\033[31m red \033[0m"
echo -e "\033[34m blue \033[0m"
echo -e "\033[41;33m red on yellow \033[0m"
echo -e "\033[41;37m red on white \033[0m"

Cursor and Screen Control

ANSI sequences for cursor movement and screen manipulation:

\33[nA   Move cursor up n lines
\33[nB   Move cursor down n lines
\33[nC   Move cursor right n columns
\33[nD   Move cursor left n columns
\33[y;xH Set cursor position
\33[2J   Clear screen
\33[K    Erase from cursor to end of line
\33[s    Save cursor position
\33[u    Restore cursor position
\33[?25l Hide cursor
\33[?25h Show cursor

Predefined Color Variables

Define color codes as variables for reuse in Bash scripts:

#! /bin/bash
RED_COLOR='\E[1;31m'
YELLOW_COLOR='\E[1;33m'
BLUE_COLOR='\E[1;34m'
RESET='\E[0m'

echo -e "${RED_COLOR}===david say red color===${RESET}"
echo -e "${YELLOW_COLOR}===david say yellow color===${RESET}"
echo -e "${BLUE_COLOR}===david say green color===${RESET}"

Define actions as variables to simplify color output and other effects, then invoke them directly.

# Define actions
SETCOLOR_BLACK="echo -en \\E[1;30m"
SETCOLOR_FAILURE="echo -en \\E[1;31m"
SETCOLOR_SUCCESS="echo -en \\E[1;32m"
SETCOLOR_WARNING="echo -en \\E[1;33m"
SETCOLOR_INFO="echo -en \\E[1;34m"
SETCOLOR_BUG="echo -en \\E[1;36m"
SETCOLOR_NORMAL="echo -en \\E[0;39m"
SETCOLOR_FLICKER="echo -en \\E[5m"

# Use actions
$SETCOLOR_BLACK && echo BLACK
$SETCOLOR_FAILURE && echo FAILURE
$SETCOLOR_SUCCESS && echo SUCCESS
$SETCOLOR_WARNING && echo WARNING
$SETCOLOR_INFO && echo INFO
$SETCOLOR_BUG && echo BUG
$SETCOLOR_NORMAL && echo NORMAL
$SETCOLOR_FLICKER && echo FLICKER
$SETCOLOR_NORMAL && echo NORMAL

Countdown Example Using Carriage Return

Show a progress countdown by returning to the line start:

for i in {1..100}; do
  echo -en "\r $i%"
  sleep 1
done

Save the script as myDisplay.sh, make it executable, and run it on a Linux server to see the effect.