[...] although I can see how to use them to convert
from 5V to 3.3V,
I am not sure I understand how to use them for the opposite
conversion from 3.3V to 5V.
Depending on what you're driving with them, this "conversion" may be a
no-op. AIUI 3.3V outputs normally swing rail-to-rail, and 3.3V is well
above the TTL "high" input threshold, so you can just feed a 3.3V
output directly to a TTL input, provided they share GND.
While I daresay there are exceptions (I know of none, but I'd be
surprised if there weren't), I imagine most 5V logic families stay
reasonably close to TTL's input thresholds and thus work equally well
with null conversion here. I'm sure someone will correct me if this
guess is wrong....
I have no idea how to determine the
"current-sinking capability of
the driver"
Perhaps I've just misunderstood something, but I would expect to find
this on its datasheet.
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