Develop Reference

C#.Net How do I resize pixel art without it becoming blurry?

So I've made a function that can create pixel art from an image by finding and setting the average colour in a grid with dimensions specified by the user. But while the new picture looks like pixel art, each "pixel" is a grid of actual pixels of the same colour. My resize function below divides the height and width of the image by the number of smaller pixels in the grid. And I'm stumped on why it turns out blurry after changing the interpolation mode and all that. Any help is greatly appreciated.
Original:
face
Face after going through my function, but still full size:
pixel art
Pixel art after being resized by the below function: blurry
If I upload the blurry picture to a program like Piskel.com, I can see the pixel size is accurate, so I don't think the problem is in the ratio.
Edit: The resized picture should look exactly like the pixel art one
public static Bitmap Resize(Bitmap bmp, int scaleFactor)
{
//Where bmp is mypic.Image as a bitmap, scaleFactor is what I want to scale down by
int newWidth = bmp.Width / scaleFactor;
int newHeight = bmp.Height / scaleFactor;
Bitmap newImage = new Bitmap(newWidth, newHeight);
using (var graphics = Graphics.FromImage(newImage))
{
graphics.InterpolationMode = InterpolationMode.NearestNeighbor;
graphics.PixelOffsetMode = PixelOffsetMode.Half;
graphics.DrawImage(bmp, 0, 0, newWidth, newHeight);
}
return newImage;
}

Resizing a Bitmap used as watermark the result shows dark borders

Problem:
I have a watermark that I want to print on an Image. The Image varies in size so sometimes the watermark is too big and sometimes it's too small. In order to fix this I calculate the size of the image and resize the watermark. However, after resizing the Image, black borders appear around its margins.
Code
I am on a Mac using .NET Core3.1 and I am using two NuGet packages that helps to draw images / bitmaps. One is System.Drawing.Common and the other one, because I am on macOS is, runtime.osx.10.10x64.CoreCompat.System.Drawing.
The code that I use to resize the watermark founded here:
Bitmap watermarkNew = new Bitmap(watermark, new Size(image.Width / 10 * 3, image.Height / 10 * 3));
I have to use / 10 * 3 because the Bitmap constructor doesn't accept floats values, so I cannot multiply by * 0.3.
Results:
watermark before watermark after

To superimpose an Image on another, it's preferable to use an unscaled Image than generate a new Bitmap based on the desired size beforehand.
▶ The two Image are meant to blend, thus the scaling of one of the Images, in this case the Watermark Image, should be performed while the Image to scale is painted over the other with a SourceOver operation.
This way, the internal GDI+ (well, the GDI+ replica here) functions have means to calculate the blending procedure correctly.
This also prevents the copy to show imperfect semi-transparent pixels (similar to a dark halo) generated when a smaller Image is created using the new Bitmap() method.
▶ Also, we need to be sure that all operations are performed on a 32BitArgb Bitmaps.
It's better to create a 32BitArgb copy of the destination Image and draw the watermark on this copy. This can also ensure a better result. GDI+ function work better on this kind of Images.
Here, the CopyToArgb32() method takes care of this aspect, also applying the DPI resolution of the original Image to the copy.
▶ Furthermore, this produces a distorted Image (unless that's the expected result, that is):
Bitmap watermarkNew = new Bitmap(watermark, new Size(image.Width / 10 * 3, image.Height / 10 * 3));
The watermark Image dimensions should be resized calculating a scale factor that is a desired fraction (a percentage or a fixed measure) or the destination Image.
For example, to occupy a maximum size equals to one third of the destination Bitmap minimum dimension.
In other words, if the destination Bitmap size is 1500x600 px, the watermark Bitmap will be scaled proportionally to have a maximum Height of 200px:
float scale = (Math.Min(original.Width, original.Height) * .33f) /
Math.Min(watermark.Width, watermark.Height);
SizeF watermarkSize = new SizeF(watermark.Width * scale, watermark.Height * scale);
To further improve the blending, the Watermark could be made less opaque (or, more transparent, as you want to see it).
This can be simply achieved using as ColorMatrix as shown here:
How to apply a fade transition effect to Images
All combined in a class object that exposes a Watermark([Bitmap], [Bitmap], [Imageformat]) static method.
In the sample code, the Watermark is scaled to 1/3 of the maximum dimension of destination image and centered (just a generic placement, since the position of the watermark is not specified):
using System.Drawing;
using System.Drawing.Drawing2D;
using System.Drawing.Imaging;
public class BitmapOperations
{
public static Bitmap Watermark(Bitmap watermark, Bitmap original, ImageFormat format)
{
var units = GraphicsUnit.Pixel;
float scale = (Math.Max(original.Width, original.Height) * .33f) /
Math.Max(watermark.Width, watermark.Height);
var watermarkSize = new SizeF(watermark.Width * scale, watermark.Height * scale);
var watermarkBounds = CenterRectangleOnRectangle(
new RectangleF(PointF.Empty, watermarkSize), original.GetBounds(ref units));
var workImage = CopyToArgb32(original);
// Using the SetOpacity() extension method described in the linked question
// watermark = watermark.SetOpacity(.5f, 1.05f);
using (var g = Graphics.FromImage(workImage)) {
g.PixelOffsetMode = PixelOffsetMode.Half;
g.InterpolationMode = InterpolationMode.HighQualityBicubic;
g.DrawImage(watermark, watermarkBounds);
return workImage;
}
}
private static Bitmap CopyToArgb32(Bitmap source)
{
var bitmap = new Bitmap(source.Width, source.Height, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);
bitmap.SetResolution(source.HorizontalResolution, source.VerticalResolution);
using (var g = Graphics.FromImage(bitmap)) {
g.DrawImage(source, new Rectangle(0, 0, bitmap.Width, bitmap.Height),
new Rectangle(0, 0, bitmap.Width, bitmap.Height), GraphicsUnit.Pixel);
g.Flush();
}
return bitmap;
}
private static RectangleF CenterRectangleOnRectangle(RectangleF source, RectangleF destination)
{
source.Location = new PointF((destination.Width - source.Width) / 2,
(destination.Height - source.Height) / 2);
return source;
}
}
Results:
Applying an opacity level of 50% and small correction in gamma:

Create multiple bitmap objects fast

What's the fastest way to create 500+ Bitmaps from 500+ different image files? They need to be HQ resized and converted to the pixel format Format32bppPArgb for faster painting.
I'm creating each Bitmap as follows:
Bitmap resized;
using (Bitmap original = new Bitmap(pathToFile))
{
resized = new Bitmap(width, height, PixelFormat.Format32bppPArgb);
resized.SetResolution(original.HorizontalResolution, original.VerticalResolution);
using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(resized))
{
g.CompositingQuality = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.CompositingQuality.HighQuality;
g.InterpolationMode = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.InterpolationMode.HighQualityBicubic;
g.SmoothingMode = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.SmoothingMode.HighQuality;
g.DrawImage(original, 0, 0, width, height);
}
}
I'm running a new BackgroundWorker to handle each Bitmap creation, which speeds up the process substantially, but I'm still looking for more speed (without sacrificing image quality). Pre-sizing images is not a possibility for what I'm trying to do.
Any help would be greatly appreciated. :)

Graphics.DrawImage alternatives for large images

I am trying to draw a crosshair ("plus sign") with inverted colors over an image to show the location of a selected point within the image. This is how I do it:
private static void DrawInvertedCrosshair(Graphics g, Image img, PointF location, float length, float width)
{
float halfLength = length / 2f;
float halfWidth = width / 2f;
Rectangle absHorizRect = Rectangle.Round(new RectangleF(location.X - halfLength, location.Y - halfWidth, length, width));
Rectangle absVertRect = Rectangle.Round(new RectangleF(location.X - halfWidth, location.Y - halfLength, width, length));
ImageAttributes attributes = new ImageAttributes();
float[][] invertMatrix =
{
new float[] {-1, 0, 0, 0, 0 },
new float[] { 0, -1, 0, 0, 0 },
new float[] { 0, 0, -1, 0, 0 },
new float[] { 0, 0, 0, 1, 0 },
new float[] { 1, 1, 1, 0, 1 }
};
ColorMatrix matrix = new ColorMatrix(invertMatrix);
attributes.SetColorMatrix(matrix, ColorMatrixFlag.Default, ColorAdjustType.Bitmap);
g.DrawImage(img, absHorizRect, absHorizRect.X, absHorizRect.Y, absHorizRect.Width, absHorizRect.Height, GraphicsUnit.Pixel, attributes);
g.DrawImage(img, absVertRect, absVertRect.X, absVertRect.Y, absVertRect.Width, absVertRect.Height, GraphicsUnit.Pixel, attributes);
}
It works as expected, however, it is really slow. I want the user to be able to move the selected location around with their mouse by setting the location to the cursor's location whenever it moves. Unfortunately, on my computer, it can update only around once per second for big images.
So, I am looking for an alternative to using Graphics.DrawImage to invert a region of an image. Are there any ways to do this with speeds proportional to the selected region area rather than the entire image area?

Sounds to me you are focusing on the wrong problem. Painting the image is slow, not painting the "cross-hairs".
Large images can certainly be very expensive when you don't help. And System.Drawing makes it very easy to not help. Two basic things you want to do to make the image paint faster, getting it more than 20 times faster is quite achievable:
avoid forcing the image painting code to rescale the image. Instead do it just once so the image can be drawn directly one-to-one without any rescaling. Best time to do so is when you load the image. Possibly again in the control's Resize event handler.
pay attention to the pixel format of the image. The fastest one by a long shot is the pixel format that's directly compatible with the way the image needs to be stored in the video adapter. So the image data can be directly copied to video RAM without having to adjust each individual pixel. That format is PixelFormat.Format32bppPArgb on 99% of all modern machines. Makes a huge difference, it is ten times faster than all the other ones.
A simple helper method that accomplishes both without otherwise dealing with the aspect ratio:
private static Bitmap Resample(Image img, Size size) {
var bmp = new Bitmap(size.Width, size.Height, System.Drawing.Imaging.PixelFormat.Format32bppPArgb);
using (var gr = Graphics.FromImage(bmp)) {
gr.DrawImage(img, new Rectangle(Point.Empty, size));
}
return bmp;
}

Draw the image once on Graphics g, then draw the crosshair on Graphics g directly instead of the image. You can optionally keep track of the places the user clicked so as to save them either in the image or elsewhere as needed.

How to create a simple glass effect

I am currently painting a light blue, partly transparent overlay over owner-drawn objects to indicate certain state. It's OK but I thought that it would be even nicer if I could at some sort of glass effect to further establish the idea that the particular object has "something" overlaid over the top of it.
I thought that some glass streaks, for example, in addition to the blue transparency would lend a nice effect.
I've Googled around for GDI+ (and others) algorithms to do simple things painting like this but have come up empty. Links to any (fairly simple) algorithms in any language would be appreciated. I prefer .NET but can figure out the painting from pseudo-code on up.
Sorry, shoul've also specified that I need to target WinXP and using .NET version 2.0 - So unable to use WPF or Vista/Win7 goodies.

I've not done this myself but, have used codeproject source to render a sample...Try this:
http://www.codeproject.com/KB/GDI-plus/Image-Glass-Reflection.aspx
public static Image DrawReflection(Image _Image, Color _BackgroundColor, int _Reflectivity)
{
// Calculate the size of the new image
int height = (int)(_Image.Height + (_Image.Height * ((float)_Reflectivity / 255)));
Bitmap newImage = new Bitmap(_Image.Width, height, PixelFormat.Format24bppRgb);
newImage.SetResolution(_Image.HorizontalResolution, _Image.VerticalResolution);
using (Graphics graphics = Graphics.FromImage(newImage))
{
// Initialize main graphics buffer
graphics.Clear(_BackgroundColor);
graphics.DrawImage(_Image, new Point(0, 0));
graphics.InterpolationMode = InterpolationMode.HighQualityBicubic;
Rectangle destinationRectangle = new Rectangle(0, _Image.Size.Height,
_Image.Size.Width, _Image.Size.Height);
// Prepare the reflected image
int reflectionHeight = (_Image.Height * _Reflectivity) / 255;
Image reflectedImage = new Bitmap(_Image.Width, reflectionHeight);
// Draw just the reflection on a second graphics buffer
using (Graphics gReflection = Graphics.FromImage(reflectedImage))
{
gReflection.DrawImage(_Image,
new Rectangle(0, 0, reflectedImage.Width, reflectedImage.Height),
0, _Image.Height - reflectedImage.Height, reflectedImage.Width,
reflectedImage.Height, GraphicsUnit.Pixel);
}
reflectedImage.RotateFlip(RotateFlipType.RotateNoneFlipY);
Rectangle imageRectangle =
new Rectangle(destinationRectangle.X, destinationRectangle.Y,
destinationRectangle.Width,
(destinationRectangle.Height * _Reflectivity) / 255);
// Draw the image on the original graphics
graphics.DrawImage(reflectedImage, imageRectangle);
// Finish the reflection using a gradiend brush
LinearGradientBrush brush = new LinearGradientBrush(imageRectangle,
Color.FromArgb(255 - _Reflectivity, _BackgroundColor),
_BackgroundColor, 90, false);
graphics.FillRectangle(brush, imageRectangle);
}
return newImage;
}

I was actually able to achieve a basic glass effect by overlaying my image with a rectangle about one third the size of the image below that contains a gradient fill of white that starts at 25% opacity and goes to 75% opacity. This is single bit of painting produces a glassy "streak" that I was happy with. The same idea could be repeated a number of times with a variety of rect widths to produce several "streaks" that will give the illusion of a glass overlay.

You could try the Aero Glass function, if you are using Vista or Windows 7.
These might be helpful:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa969537%28VS.85%29.aspx#blurbehind
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms748975.aspx