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Panel to Image (DrawToBtimap doesn't work) [duplicate]

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DrawToBitmap returning blank image
(1 answer)
Closed 3 years ago.
I'm trying to make an application similar to Paint.
Everything works well, but I have a problem with saving the image to a file.
The function for saving works okay, the file saves in the selected location, but it is empty when something is drawn.
It works only when I change the background color, then the image saves with this color.
When I 'draw' something like that
the saved image looks like this
Code:
private void saveToolStripMenuItem_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
int width = pnl_Draw.Width;
int height = pnl_Draw.Height;
Bitmap bm = new Bitmap(width, height);
SaveFileDialog sf = new SaveFileDialog();
sf.Filter = "Bitmap Image (.bmp)|*.bmp|Gif Image (.gif)|*.gif|JPEG Image (.jpeg)|*.jpeg|Png Image (.png)|*.png|Tiff Image (.tiff)|*.tiff|Wmf Image (.wmf)|*.wmf";
sf.ShowDialog();
var path = sf.FileName;
pnl_Draw.DrawToBitmap(bm, new Rectangle(0, 0, width, height));
bm.Save(path, ImageFormat.Jpeg);
}
Drawing:
private void pnl_Draw_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if(startPaint)
{
//Setting the Pen BackColor and line Width
Pen p = new Pen(btn_PenColor.BackColor,float.Parse(cmb_PenSize.Text));
//Drawing the line.
g.DrawLine(p, new Point(initX ?? e.X, initY ?? e.Y), new Point(e.X, e.Y));
initX = e.X;
initY = e.Y;
}
}

Where is your "g" (System.Drawing.Graphics?) object come from when you DrawLine on it? I also can't see where you fill the background color, but I have the suspiction that your drawing gets discarded/overwritten - but given the little code visible here, it's hard to tell.
I'd just suggest what worked for me in the past:
Use a Bitmap object to draw your lines etc into, not the panel directly. And when you want to save it, just save the bitmap.
To make the drawing visible on your panel, call Invalidate(...) on your panel after a new line stroke was made, with the bounding rectangle around the line stroke as the update-rectangle passed to Invalidate.
In the OnPaint handler of your panel, then make sure to only draw that portion that's new, e.g. that rectangle I mentioned. This will be passed as the clip bounds of the OnPaint call. If only the changed portion of the whole image is drawn in the OnPaint handler, it will be much faster than always drawing the whole bitmap onto the panel.
For that, you need to creage a graphics object from the drawn-to bitmap, and keep both the bitmap and the graphics object alive throughout your drawing session (i.e. don't let it get garbage collected by not having references to them somewhere)
Something roughly like this:
// assuming you're all doing this directly in your main form, as a simple experimental app:
// Somewhere in your form class:
Bitmap drawingBitmap;
Graphics gfx;
// in your form class' constructor, AFTER the InitializeComponent() call, so the sizes are known:
// using a pixelformat which usually yields good speed vs. non-premultiplied ones
drawingBitmap = new Bitmap( pnl.Width, pnl.Height, System.Drawing.Imaging.PixelFormat.Format32bppPArgb );
gfx = Graphics.FromImage( drawingBitmap );
private void pnl_Draw_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if(startPaint)
{
//Setting the Pen BackColor and line Width
Pen p = new Pen(btn_PenColor.BackColor,float.Parse(cmb_PenSize.Text));
//Drawing the line.
var p1 = new Point(initX ?? e.X, initY ?? e.Y);
var p2 = new Point(e.X, e.Y);
gfx.DrawLine( p, p1, p2 ); // !!! NOTE: gfx instance variable is used
initX = e.X;
initY = e.Y;
// makes the panel's Paint handler being called soon - with a clip rectangle just covering your new little drawing stroke, not more.
pnl.Invalidate( new Rectangle( p1.X, p1.Y, 1+p2.X-p1.X, 1+p2.Y-p1.Y ));
}
}
private void pnl_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
var g = e.Graphics;
// use the clip bounds of the Graphics object to draw only the relevant area, not always everything.
var sourceBounds = new RectangleF( g.ClipRectangle.X, g.ClipRectangle.Y, g.ClipRectangle.Width, g.ClipRectangle.Height );
// The bitmap and drawing panel are assumed to have the same size, to make things easier for this example.
// Actually you might want have a drawing bitmap of a totally unrelated size, and need to apply scaling to a setting changeable by the user.
g.DrawImage( drawingBitmap, g.ClipRectangle.X, g.ClipRectangle.Y, sourceBounds );
}
Here is a little bit about that, although pretty old article. But GDI+ hasn't change that much since then, as it's a wrapper around the Win32 drawing stuff.
https://www.codeproject.com/Articles/1355/Professional-C-Graphics-with-GDI
NOTE: What I don't have time right now to check and do not remember is whether you are allowed to, at the same time:
have an "open" graphics object of a bitmap and draw into the bitmap
paint that same bitmap onto something else (like the panel)
save the bitmap to file
You'd have to check that, and manage the existence of the graphics object with its claws on your drawing bitmap accordingly.

C# Picturebox Image is null when I draw a shape in Paint event [duplicate]

in a UserControl I have a PictureBox and some other controls. For the user control which contains this picturebox named as Graph I have a method to draw a curve on this picture box:
//Method to draw X and Y axis on the graph
private bool DrawAxis(PaintEventArgs e)
{
var g = e.Graphics;
g.DrawLine(_penAxisMain, (float)(Graph.Bounds.Width / 2), 0, (float)(Graph.Bounds.Width / 2), (float)Bounds.Height);
g.DrawLine(_penAxisMain, 0, (float)(Graph.Bounds.Height / 2), Graph.Bounds.Width, (float)(Graph.Bounds.Height / 2));
return true;
}
//Painting the Graph
private void Graph_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
base.OnPaint(e);
DrawAxis(e);
}
//Public method to draw curve on picturebox
public void DrawData(PointF[] points)
{
var bmp = Graph.Image;
var g = Graphics.FromImage(bmp);
g.DrawCurve(_penAxisMain, points);
Graph.Image = bmp;
g.Dispose();
}
When application starts, the axis are drawn. but when I call the DrawData method I get the exception that says bmp is null. What can be the problem?
I also want to be able to call DrawData multiple times to show multiple curves when user clicks some buttons. What is the best way to achive this?
Thanks

You never assigned Image, right? If you want to draw on a PictureBox’ image you need to create this image first by assigning it a bitmap with the dimensions of the PictureBox:
Graph.Image = new System.Drawing.Bitmap(Graph.Width, Graph.Height);
You only need to do this once, the image can then be reused if you want to redraw whatever’s on there.
You can then subsequently use this image for drawing. For more information, refer to the documentation.
By the way, this is totally independent from drawing on the PictureBox in the Paint event handler. The latter draws on the control directly, while the Image serves as a backbuffer which is painted on the control automatically (but you do need to invoke Invalidate to trigger a redraw, after drawing on the backbuffer).
Furthermore, it makes no sense to re-assign the bitmap to the PictureBox.Image property after drawing. The operation is meaningless.
Something else, since the Graphics object is disposable, you should put it in a using block rather than disposing it manually. This guarantees correct disposing in the face of exceptions:
public void DrawData(PointF[] points)
{
var bmp = Graph.Image;
using(var g = Graphics.FromImage(bmp)) {
// Probably necessary for you:
g.Clear();
g.DrawCurve(_penAxisMain, points);
}
Graph.Invalidate(); // Trigger redraw of the control.
}
You should consider this as a fixed pattern.

Drawing on PictureBox

in a UserControl I have a PictureBox and some other controls. For the user control which contains this picturebox named as Graph I have a method to draw a curve on this picture box:
//Method to draw X and Y axis on the graph
private bool DrawAxis(PaintEventArgs e)
{
var g = e.Graphics;
g.DrawLine(_penAxisMain, (float)(Graph.Bounds.Width / 2), 0, (float)(Graph.Bounds.Width / 2), (float)Bounds.Height);
g.DrawLine(_penAxisMain, 0, (float)(Graph.Bounds.Height / 2), Graph.Bounds.Width, (float)(Graph.Bounds.Height / 2));
return true;
}
//Painting the Graph
private void Graph_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
base.OnPaint(e);
DrawAxis(e);
}
//Public method to draw curve on picturebox
public void DrawData(PointF[] points)
{
var bmp = Graph.Image;
var g = Graphics.FromImage(bmp);
g.DrawCurve(_penAxisMain, points);
Graph.Image = bmp;
g.Dispose();
}
When application starts, the axis are drawn. but when I call the DrawData method I get the exception that says bmp is null. What can be the problem?
I also want to be able to call DrawData multiple times to show multiple curves when user clicks some buttons. What is the best way to achive this?
Thanks

You never assigned Image, right? If you want to draw on a PictureBox’ image you need to create this image first by assigning it a bitmap with the dimensions of the PictureBox:
Graph.Image = new System.Drawing.Bitmap(Graph.Width, Graph.Height);
You only need to do this once, the image can then be reused if you want to redraw whatever’s on there.
You can then subsequently use this image for drawing. For more information, refer to the documentation.
By the way, this is totally independent from drawing on the PictureBox in the Paint event handler. The latter draws on the control directly, while the Image serves as a backbuffer which is painted on the control automatically (but you do need to invoke Invalidate to trigger a redraw, after drawing on the backbuffer).
Furthermore, it makes no sense to re-assign the bitmap to the PictureBox.Image property after drawing. The operation is meaningless.
Something else, since the Graphics object is disposable, you should put it in a using block rather than disposing it manually. This guarantees correct disposing in the face of exceptions:
public void DrawData(PointF[] points)
{
var bmp = Graph.Image;
using(var g = Graphics.FromImage(bmp)) {
// Probably necessary for you:
g.Clear();
g.DrawCurve(_penAxisMain, points);
}
Graph.Invalidate(); // Trigger redraw of the control.
}
You should consider this as a fixed pattern.

Windows Form, display indicator over a dynamically generated bitmap

I have a usercontrol that displays a gradient of colors which, once created will be constant.
The usercontrol doesn't contain any controls, not sure if i need to add a picturebox or dynamically add one.
Over that image, I'd like to display a line that will display what the current result is. I have no problem creating the gradient image on the map, however I'd like to somehow cache it so everytime I update the indicator (call CurrentValue from parent form), it will put the indicator line above the gradient image. This is updating about 30 times a second, thus, as of how the code below is working, it's repainting the gradient everytime, which is flickering.
Here's a code sample:
namespace Maps.UserControls
{
public partial class UserControlLegend : UserControl
{
private double m_CurrentValue;
public double CurrentValue
{
get
{
return m_CurrentValue;
}
set
{
m_CurrentValue = value;
RefreshValue();
}
}
public UserControlLegend()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
private void UserControlLegend_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
if (b == null)
{
g = e.Graphics;
b = new System.Drawing.Bitmap(menuWidth, menuHeight, System.Drawing.Imaging.PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);
// Code here that draws Menu
// Cache bitmap here?
g.Dispose();
}
}
private void RefreshValue()
{
this.Refresh();
g = this.CreateGraphics();
g.DrawImage(b, 0, 0);
//Code to Calcuate current Indicator Location
int x3 = 0;
// Draws current indicator correctly
g.DrawLine(new Pen(new SolidBrush(Color.Black)), this.Width / 2 - 15, x3, this.Width / 2 - 5, x3);
g.Dispose();
}
}
}

Explained above in comments, used a bitmap, and just set the x,y of the control.

First, I'd suggest you set your Control's property DoubleBuffered to True, so that flickering goes away. However, if you don't draw on the Control itself, that will be not useful at all. Drawing on a PictureBox is better, however, becuase it is automatically DoubleBuffered.
Second, you are painting into a new Bitmap every time, which is very bad in terms of memory, since the Bitmap is a few megabytes in size. I'd suggest you have a single Bitmap initialized in the constructor, and a single Graphics, created from that Bitmap in the constructor, too. Every time the paint accurs, just clear the old Graphics g and then draw onto it again and again. g Graphics and b Bitmap should be Disposed one time only, when the entire Control is Disposed.
This may inhance your code.

How to do Free hand Image Cropping in C# window application?

How to do Free hand Image Cropping in C# window application??

Okay, you provided very small amount of information, but I'll assume that you are using winforms. There are some tasks dealing with freehand-technique such as:
Drawing
Drag-n-dropping
Cropping
Selecting
They all are very similar. Let's assume that you have a PictureBox and want to crop an image inside it.
// Current selection
private Rectangle _cropRectangle;
// Starting point
private Point _cropStart;
// Dragging flag
private bool _isDragging;
private void pBox_MouseDown(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
_cropRectangle = new Rectangle(e.X, e.Y, 0, 0);
_isDragging = true;
}
private void pBox_MouseUp(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
_isDragging = false;
}
private void pBox_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (!_isDragging)
return;
_cropRectangle = new Rectangle(Math.Min(_cropStart.X, e.X),
Math.Min(_cropStart.Y, e.Y),
Math.Abs(e.X - _cropStart.X),
Math.Abs(e.Y - _cropStart.Y));
pBox.Invalidate();
}
private void pBox_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
e.Graphics.DrawRectangle(Pens.Red, _cropRectangle);
}
What happens: I make use of three mouse events (MouseDown, MouseUp, MoseMove) and the Paint event. Basically, whenever you want to do anything from the above list, you'll have handle these four events.
I tried to keep the code short and self-explanatory. There are four event handlers working with three instance fields. The fields are used to store the current state of dragging process.
Feel free to customize the code, especially the pBox_Paint handler. Mine just draws a thin red rectangle around selected area. You might want to do something more elaborate here.
Whenever you're done with your rectangle, you can call the Crop method:
private Image Crop()
{
Bitmap croppedImage = new Bitmap(_cropRectangle.Width, _cropRectangle.Height);
using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(croppedImage))
{
g.DrawImage(pBox.Image, 0, 0, _cropRectangle, GraphicsUnit.Pixel);
}
return croppedImage;
}
It creates a new Bitmap and put the selected portion of source image into it. The returned Image object might be used in any manner you like.
EDIT: trying to simplify the code I made some mistakes earlier, fixed now.

You can use Graphics.DrawImage to draw a cropped image onto the graphics object from a bitmap.
Rectangle cropRect = new Rectangle(...);
Bitmap src = Image.FromFile(fileName) as Bitmap;
Bitmap target = new Bitmap(cropRect.Width, cropRect.Height);
using(Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(target))
{
g.DrawImage(src, cropRect,
new Rectangle(0, 0, target.Width, target.Height),
GraphicsUnit.Pixel);
}
You can also refer the full code for this....
Refer this *Link*