In a geographical software written in C#, a PictureBox is used to show GIS map that is saved as a png file in a temporary directory. There is some geometric shapes we need to be drawn on map. We used System.Drawing methods to perform this action.
Sometimes we need to change some properties these shapes or delete them, we need to remove the shapes without making beneath them black. Drawing them again with Color.Transparent obviously doesn't work, using Graphics#Clear(Color.Transparent) doesn't work too for the same reason.
We even tried using another picture box with transparent background that is used only for purpose of drawing shapes on; so that when we use Graphics#Clear(Color.Transparent) map container remains untouched. Sounded like a perfect idea at first, but because i don't know how and why it makes map container PictureBox invisible and map viewer panel is totally black, this idea failed too.
MapViewerForm
|-- Toolbar
|-- StatusBar
|-- MapViewer Panel (Provides scrollbars)
|-- MapContainer Pictutebox
|-- Shapes drawing canvas PictureBbox (The same size and location as map container, only difference is z-order)
I prefer to use the two PictureBoxes and making 'layers' idea, i think it's less unprofessional than the other idea (I am actually a java developer and this is a C# project!), I think there should be something like java's JLayeredPane in C# to adjust z-order of those two picture boxes and omit black screen bug, But if there is a solution to draw shapes on map container itself and then clear them without losing portions of maps lying behind them i'd appreciate that answer too.
P.S: If we load map picture from file and store it in a Bitmap or Image private field and when we need to clear drawings, load image from that field with a piece of code like picMapArea.Image = MapViewer.getInstance().getMapImage(); (Note: MapViewer is a singleton class) the painted shapes will be gone but it's obviously not anything like a "good idea" because of poor performance and lagging.
Thanks in advance.
Simply draw the shapes in an event handler for the picturebox Paint event.
To restore the view, all you have to do is call the picturebox Invalidate() method, so it repaints the Image, and not draw anything in your Paint event handler.
Just use an additional Bitmap:
Bitmap original = LoadBitmap(...);
Bitmap copy = new Bitmap(original);
Graphics graph = Graphics.FromImage(copy);
// draw some extra
PictureBox1.Image = copy;
Related
Sorry for my bad English.
I have a picturebox where I draw 100000 shapes (but there may be more).
The drawing is made in the Paint Handler of the picturebox.
The problem is : When I Resize the form (where the picturebox is), use the scrollbar of the panel which contain it, come from another application, ... the paint handler is called...
But the paint process takes quite some time and the user must wait until the paint have finished...
I tried the folowing :
Create a bitmap where i draw the shapes
In the paint handler, i copy the bitmap in the picturebox
NB : The size and the content of the picturebox can change, so the bitmap must also change.
The creation of the bitmap + restoration of the bitmap make the application slower than before :
Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(picturebox.Width, picturebox.Height);
// draw in Graphics.FromImage(bmp);
picturebox.Invalidate();
bmp.Dispose();
I also tried with a boolean flag : canRedraw.
I set it true when the content of the picturebox change and then I call picturebox.Invalidate(). In the paint handler, I check if (canRedraw) and if so, I redraw the content (and canRedraw = false), else I make nothing.
But with this last solution, when I make something with the form, my picturebox is cleared...
Do you have any idea of how I can make this :
If you are a method that change the content of the picturebox then you can redraw the picturebox, else you leave the visual content of the picturebox unchanged.
Can you help me ?
Thank you very much :)
If you're not using any other functionality of the PictureBox, try replacing it with a UserControl of your own. Then take the following steps in your UserControl:
Set DoubleBuffered property of the control to True.
Always check e.ClipRectangle property to get the area that needs to be redrawn. Then loop through the collection of your shapes and for each shape, try to figure our whether it intersects with the ClipRectangle. I don't know what kind of shapes you have, but there are fairly fast implementations available for most shapes, including polygon, that can check whether two polygons intersect or not. A good article about polygons intersection is available in this article, including c# code. (Note that if your shapes are rectangles, circles or triangles, the intersection problem becomes much easier and faster to compute)
Paint a shape only if it intersects with ClipRectangle.
Besides streamlining the Paint as dotNet suggest the other way to do it is pretty much what you tried, but you need to do it right:
Yes, do draw into a Bitmap but not in the Paint event, which will be called unnecessarily and then still take too much time! Instead draw only when you know that your data have changed and need to be redrawn!
You didn't tell us just what you draw but the drawing should be done like this:
void drawStuff()
{
Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(pictureBox.ClientSize.Width, pictureBox.ClientSize.Height);
using (Graphics G = Graphics.FromImage(bmp) )
{
// do all your drawing stuff here!!
}
pictureBox.Image = bmp;
}
Call this function whenever you want the data to be drawn again!
Now you can leave the Paint event empty, as the Image if buffered by the System and you can still use the PictureBox.Zoom or Image.Save..
I'm making a graphics editor for my class project and i want to make so that when, for example a user loads a picture in to the editor or or draw something in the PictureBox, all the alpha parts are shown the chessboard like background.
My idea is that when I create a PictureBox with transparent background set, I create another one behind it, set its BackColor to white and add grey images 50x50, alternately horizontally and vertically. Is that a good approach to the problem? If, not do You have any suggestions?
In Photoshop, for example, I create image 1600x1600. When I zoom to a certain level, it shrinks the boxes and adds more of them to fill the image. If You'we used Photoshop of similar program you know what I mean. Now, how would I go about achieving the same effect?
Creating a Photoshop-like program is a fun project.
There will be many challenges along your way and it is well worth thinking ahead a little..
Here is a short and incomplete list of things to keep in mind:
Draw- and paint actions
Undo, redo, edit
Multiple layers
Zooming and scrolling
Saving and printing
So getting a checkerboard background is only the start of a long journey..
Using a PictureBox as the base canvas is a very good choice, as its several layers will help. Here is a piece of code that will provide you with a flexible checkerboard background, that will keep its size even when you scale the real graphics:
void setBackGround(PictureBox pb, int size, Color col)
{
if (size == 0 && pb.BackgroundImage != null)
{
pb.BackgroundImage.Dispose();
pb.BackgroundImage = null;
return;
}
Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(size * 2, size * 2);
using (SolidBrush brush = new SolidBrush(col))
using (Graphics G = Graphics.FromImage(bmp) )
{
G.FillRectangle(brush, 0,0,size, size);
G.FillRectangle(brush, size,size, size, size);
}
pb.BackgroundImage = bmp;
pb.BackgroundImageLayout = ImageLayout.Tile;
}
Load an Image for testing and this is what you'll get, left normal, right zoomed in:
Yes, for saving this background should be removed; as you can see in the code, passing in a size = 0 will do that.
What next? Let me give you a few hints on how to approach the various tasks from above:
Scrolling: Picturebox can't scroll. Instead place it in a Panel with AutoScroll = true and make it as large as needed.
Zooming: Playing with its Size and the SizeMode will let you zoom in and out the Image without problems. The BackgroundImage will stay unscaled, just as it does in Photoshop. You will have to add some more code however to zoom in on the graphics you draw on top of the PB or on the layers. The key here is scaling the Graphics object using a Graphics.MultiplyTransform(Matrix).
Layers: Layers are imo the single most useful feature in PhotoShop (and other quality programs). They can be achieved by nesting transparent drawing canvases. Panels can be used, I prefer Labels. If each is sitting inside the one below it and the one at the bottom has the PB as its Parent, all their contents will be shown combined.
Don't use the Label directly but create a subclass to hold additional data and know-how!
Changing their order is not very hard, just keep the nested structure in mind and intact!
Hiding a layer is done by setting a flag and checking that flag in the painting actions
Other data can include a Name, Opacity, maybe an overlay color..
The layers should also be shown in a Layers Palette, best by creating a thumbnail and inserting a layer userobject in a FlowLayoutPanel
Draw Actions: These are always the key to any drawing in WinForms. When using the mouse to draw, each such activity creates an object of a DrawAction class you need to design, which holds all info needed to do the actual drawing, like:
Type (Rectangle, filledRectangle, Line, FreeHandLine (a series of Points), Text, etc.etc..)
Colors
Points
Widths
Text
The layer to draw on
maybe even a rotation
Along with the LayerCanvas class the DrawAction class will be the most important class in the project, so getting its design right is worth some work!
Only the topmost layer will receive the mouse events. So you need to keep track which layer is the active one and add the action to its actions list. Of course the active layer must also be indicated in the Layers Palette.
Since all drawing is stored in List(s), implementing a unlimited undo and redo is simple. To allow for effective drawing and undo, maybe a common action list and an individual list for each layer is the best design..
Undo and Redo are just matter of removing the last list element and pushing it onto a redo-stack.
Editing actions is also possible, including changing the parameters, moving them up or down the actions list or removing one from the middle of the list. It help to show an Actions Palette, like F9 in PhotoShop.
To flatten two or more layers together all you need is to combine their action lists.
To flatten all layers into the Image you only need to draw them not onto their canvas but into the Image. For the difference of drawing onto a control or into a Bitmap see here! Here we have the PictureBox.Image as the second level of a PB's structure above the Background.Image. (The 3rd is the Control surface, but with the multiple layers on top we don't really need it..)
Saving can be done by either by Image.Save() after flattening all Layers or after you have switched off the BackgroundImage by telling the PB to draw itself into a Bitmap ( control.DrawToBitmap() ) which you can then save.
Have fun!
before question think about for example photoshop. When you draw a rectangle on the picture.You can move it. And when you move it works very quickly and it doeasnt make some traces on the picture.
So my question is, how to do that in c# application?
This might be useful for you
Image Processing for Dummies with C# and GDI+ Part 1 - Per Pixel Filters
Image Processing for Dummies with C# and GDI+ Part 2 - Convolution Filters
Image Processing for Dummies with C# and GDI+ Part 3 - Edge Detection Filters
Image Processing for Dummies with C# and GDI+ Part 4 - Bilinear Filters and Resizing
Image Processing for Dummies with C# and GDI+ Part 5 - Displacement filters, including swirl
Image Processing for Dummies with C# and GDI+ Part 6 - The HSL color space
When you are moving the rectangle, Photoshop doesn't put it in the image and then draw the image, instead the image is drawn without the rectangle, and the rectangle is drawn on top of that on the screen. That way when you move the rectangle it can redraw the part of the image that previously was covered by the rectangle, and draw the rectangle at the new position.
I think you're asking about selection rectangles (or other temporary shapes) on top of the document image. This effect is sometimes known as “rubber banding”, especially when drawing a line from one point to another (it stretches like a rubber band).
Traditionally, this was done by using XOR drawing -- instead of overwriting the image with the selection shape, the colors in that area are inverted. Then, to remove the selection, it suffices to invert the colors again, returning to the same original image. Today, graphics rendering is fast enough that such tricks are not usually necessary; it suffices to simply repaint that part of the window (without the rectangle).
Either way, it is important to recognize that the document image — the image the user is editing — is not the same as the window image, which is just a copy to be remade whenever necessary. In the window, the document image is drawn and then selections, guide marks, and other such controls are drawn on top of it.
I'm not familiar with C#'s GUI facilities (and I understand there is more than one GUI framework you might be using), but it's probably got the usual structure of putting many "widgets", "views", or "controls" in the window (possibly nested inside each other). You can do a straightforward selection box — though not an optimally efficient one — by just putting an appropriately sized rectangle widget (with a solid border and a transparent background) on top of an image widget. This lets your GUI framework take care of the appropriate redrawing for you and is probably a good cheap way to start.
I am having quite a few problems saving a C# control to a bitmap file. The control in question is a kind of drawing surface on which the user can write text, draw pictures and paint boxes. The control is resizable and draggable. What happen is, when the control is really big and is not totally visible on the screen, the parts of the control not visible are saved half-drawn on the bitmap. The code used to generate the bitmap is quite simple:
Bitmap bitmap = new Bitmap(myControl.Width, myControl.Height);
myControl.DrawToBitmap(bitmap);
I have tried the following methods to try to have a fully painted bitmap, without any success:
myControl.Invalidate(myControl.ClientRectangle, true);
myControl.Refresh();
myControl.Update();
Application.DoEvents();
I cannot scale the control down to make it fully visible since resolution and image quality are very important for that project. In fact, I am actually trying to scale the image up to increase it's quality. Are there ways I am not aware of generating an image from a control ?
Tank you.
DrawToBitmap has limitations and dont always work as expected. Try instead work with native GDI+
Here is example
Maybe my answer here Capturing a Window that is hidden or minimized can help you?
I'm doing a software where I need to put squary bordering fields on a satelite map (.png image), so that the fields can be clicked.
What is the best way to add shapes on a picture and associate them with data ?
Overlay a custom-draw UserControl on top of the Image control. Make part of it transparent to reveal the underlying image, but still be able to capture the mouse interaction.
You will have to calculate the exact position (pixel offset from the map top-left corner) of your control to overlay the proper map area. How you calculate that offset and the actual size of your custom control depends on the map zoom level and whether you use GPS coordinates or image recognition to determine which area needs to be overlayed.
Graphics.FillPolygon()
Is your friend. Hit testing is relatively trivial, with several algorithms available
You want to use the System.Drawing namespace to initially create a graphics object from your source image..then you want to draw on top of it, and finally export your edited graphics object to the filesystem...
Image image = Image.FromFile(Server.MapPath(String.Format("~/{0}.jpg", "YourImageNameHere")));
Graphics MyGraphic = Graphics.FromImage(LabelImage);
MyGraphic.DrawRectangle(SomePenObject, Point1, Point2, Point3, Point4);
Image.Save("C:\somepath.jpg",ImageFormat.Jpeg);