Creating native UI for Python with PyQt and Qt Designer: Quick Tutorial on using Qt UI in Python

Qt is a popular cross-platform application and UI framework for developing desktop, mobile, and embedded applications. It provides a wide range of APIs to develop efficient and visually appealing user interfaces. PyQt is a set of Python bindings for Qt, allowing developers to write Qt applications using Python.

In this tutorial, we will cover how to use Qt’s UI components in Python using PyQt. We will also use Qt Designer to create a native UI for our Python application.

Step 1: Install PyQt and Qt

First, you need to install PyQt and Qt on your system. Qt can be downloaded and installed from the Qt website (https://www.qt.io/download). PyQt can be installed using pip:

pip install PyQt5

Step 2: Create a new PyQt application

Create a new Python file for your PyQt application. Import the necessary modules:

import sys
from PyQt5.QtWidgets import QMainWindow, QApplication

Create a new class for your main window:

class MyMainWindow(QMainWindow):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()

        self.initUI()

    def initUI(self):
        self.setWindowTitle('My PyQt Application')
        self.setGeometry(100, 100, 800, 600)

        self.show()

Create a new instance of QApplication and start the event loop:

if __name__ == '__main__':
    app = QApplication(sys.argv)
    window = MyMainWindow()
    sys.exit(app.exec_())

Run your Python script, and you should see a window with the title "My PyQt Application."

Step 3: Use Qt Designer to create a native UI

Qt Designer is a tool for designing and building graphical user interfaces. It allows developers to create UI layouts using drag-and-drop functionality. You can install Qt Designer from the Qt website.

Open Qt Designer and create a new form. Design your UI by adding widgets such as buttons, labels, text fields, etc. Once you are satisfied with your UI design, save the form as a .ui file.

Step 4: Convert .ui file to .py file

You can convert the .ui file created in Qt Designer to Python code using the pyuic5 tool that comes with PyQt. Run the following command in the terminal:

pyuic5 your_form.ui -o your_form.py

This will generate a Python file containing the code for your UI layout.

Step 5: Use the generated Python file in your PyQt application

Import the generated Python file in your main PyQt application file and use it to create the UI layout:

from your_form import Ui_MainWindow

class MyMainWindow(QMainWindow, Ui_MainWindow):
    def __init__(self):
        super().__init__()
        self.setupUi(self)

        self.show()

Now run your Python script again, and you should see the UI layout created in Qt Designer displayed in your PyQt application.

In this tutorial, we covered how to use Qt’s UI components in Python using PyQt and how to create a native UI for your Python application using Qt Designer. With Qt and PyQt, you can easily develop visually appealing user interfaces for your applications.