scroll text through multiple i2c connected dot matrix displays
This is what I found behind the link @mikael-patel posted, and with a little configuration it does exactly what I want. Basically the scroll()-method handles anything neccessary.

#include &lt;Wire.h&gt;
#include "Adafruit_LEDBackpack.h"
#include "Adafruit_GFX.h"

#define NUM_MATRICES 2
Adafruit_8x8matrix matrix[NUM_MATRICES];

void setup() {
  Serial.begin(9600);
  Serial.println("8x8 LED Matrix Test");

  for(uint8_t m=0; m&lt;NUM_MATRICES; m++) {
    matrix[m].begin(0x70 + m);
    matrix[m].clear();
    matrix[m].setTextSize(1);
    matrix[m].setTextWrap(false);  // we dont want text to wrap so it scrolls nicely
    matrix[m].setTextColor(LED_GREEN);
  }
}

void loop() {
  scroll("Hello World!");
}

void scroll(char* text) {
  int scrollPositions = (strlen(text) * 8) + 32;

  for (int x=(8 * NUM_MATRICES); x&gt;=-scrollPositions; x--) {
   for(uint8_t m=0; m&lt;NUM_MATRICES; m++) {
    matrix[m].clear();
    matrix[m].setCursor((x - (m * 8)), 0);
    matrix[m].print(text);
    matrix[m].writeDisplay();
   }
   delay(80);
  }
}