Convert an image into WMF with .NET?

Question

There are plenty of examples of converting a wmf into a bitmap like: Reliable .wmf/wmf to Pixel based image conversion

But I need the reverse operation. I do not look for a vectorizer. I just want to embed a picture inside a wmf file without having to bother about the bits and bytes of the wmf format. I need a solution for .NET preferably in C#.

I first thought this would do the job:

using (Image img = Image.FromFile (path)) {
    img.Save (myStream, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Wmf);
}

But this complains at runtime that the encoder is null. Where/How can I build such an encoder? I do not need a complicated one, just one that wraps an image into a wmf. Are there some requirements on the supported formats in WMF? I suppose png and bmp are supported but is gif also supported?

score 7 · Answer 1 · answered Mar 15 '11 at 08:42

Here is the full answer to the question including my modifications. Vincent's answer is fully correct. Only some definitions and one enum were missing. That is why I post here the "clean" working code in the hope it can be useful for someone else.

        [Flags]
        private enum EmfToWmfBitsFlags {
            EmfToWmfBitsFlagsDefault = 0x00000000,
            EmfToWmfBitsFlagsEmbedEmf = 0x00000001,
            EmfToWmfBitsFlagsIncludePlaceable = 0x00000002,
            EmfToWmfBitsFlagsNoXORClip = 0x00000004
        }

        private static int MM_ISOTROPIC = 7;
        private static int MM_ANISOTROPIC = 8;

        [DllImport ("gdiplus.dll")]
        private static extern uint GdipEmfToWmfBits (IntPtr _hEmf, uint _bufferSize,
            byte[] _buffer, int _mappingMode, EmfToWmfBitsFlags _flags);
        [DllImport ("gdi32.dll")]
        private static extern IntPtr SetMetaFileBitsEx (uint _bufferSize,
            byte[] _buffer);
        [DllImport ("gdi32.dll")]
        private static extern IntPtr CopyMetaFile (IntPtr hWmf,
            string filename);
        [DllImport ("gdi32.dll")]
        private static extern bool DeleteMetaFile (IntPtr hWmf);
        [DllImport ("gdi32.dll")]
        private static extern bool DeleteEnhMetaFile (IntPtr hEmf);

        private static MemoryStream MakeMetafileStream (Bitmap image)
        {
            Metafile metafile = null;
            using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage (image)) {
                IntPtr hDC = g.GetHdc ();
                metafile = new Metafile (hDC, EmfType.EmfOnly);
                g.ReleaseHdc (hDC);
            }

            using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage (metafile)) {
                g.DrawImage (image, 0, 0);
            }
            IntPtr _hEmf = metafile.GetHenhmetafile ();
            uint _bufferSize = GdipEmfToWmfBits (_hEmf, 0, null, MM_ANISOTROPIC,
                EmfToWmfBitsFlags.EmfToWmfBitsFlagsDefault);
            byte[] _buffer = new byte[_bufferSize];
            GdipEmfToWmfBits (_hEmf, _bufferSize, _buffer, MM_ANISOTROPIC,
                    EmfToWmfBitsFlags.EmfToWmfBitsFlagsDefault);
            IntPtr hmf = SetMetaFileBitsEx (_bufferSize, _buffer);
            string tempfile = Path.GetTempFileName ();
            CopyMetaFile (hmf, tempfile);
            DeleteMetaFile (hmf);
            DeleteEnhMetaFile (_hEmf);

            var stream = new MemoryStream ();
            byte[] data = File.ReadAllBytes (tempfile);
            //File.Delete (tempfile);
            int count = data.Length;
            stream.Write (data, 0, count);
            return stream;
        }

Thanks for posting this! I felt my "answer" was more a series of hints based on some educated Google searches :p — Vincent Vancalbergh, May 16 '13 at 11:36
Man, I love you right now... I've been trying to create wordpad-compatible rtf with WPF for almost a week now, and was stump on the "create a wmetafile from an image" part... thanks — David, Jun 24 '13 at 15:26

score 6 · Answer 2 · answered Dec 04 '14 at 01:44

An improved version of what jdehaan posted (kudos btw to him and Vincent)

    [Flags]
    private enum EmfToWmfBitsFlags
    {
        EmfToWmfBitsFlagsDefault = 0x00000000,
        EmfToWmfBitsFlagsEmbedEmf = 0x00000001,
        EmfToWmfBitsFlagsIncludePlaceable = 0x00000002,
        EmfToWmfBitsFlagsNoXORClip = 0x00000004
    }

    private static int MM_ISOTROPIC = 7;
    private static int MM_ANISOTROPIC = 8;

    [DllImport("gdiplus.dll")]
    private static extern uint GdipEmfToWmfBits(IntPtr _hEmf, uint _bufferSize,
        byte[] _buffer, int _mappingMode, EmfToWmfBitsFlags _flags);
    [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
    private static extern IntPtr SetMetaFileBitsEx(uint _bufferSize,
        byte[] _buffer);
    [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
    private static extern IntPtr CopyMetaFile(IntPtr hWmf,
        string filename);
    [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
    private static extern bool DeleteMetaFile(IntPtr hWmf);
    [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
    private static extern bool DeleteEnhMetaFile(IntPtr hEmf);

    public static MemoryStream MakeMetafileStream(System.Drawing.Bitmap image)
    {
        Metafile metafile = null;
        using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(image))
        {
            IntPtr hDC = g.GetHdc();
            metafile = new Metafile(hDC, EmfType.EmfOnly);
            g.ReleaseHdc(hDC);
        }

        using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(metafile))
        {
            g.DrawImage(image, 0, 0);
        }
        IntPtr _hEmf = metafile.GetHenhmetafile();
        uint _bufferSize = GdipEmfToWmfBits(_hEmf, 0, null, MM_ANISOTROPIC,
            EmfToWmfBitsFlags.EmfToWmfBitsFlagsDefault);
        byte[] _buffer = new byte[_bufferSize];
        GdipEmfToWmfBits(_hEmf, _bufferSize, _buffer, MM_ANISOTROPIC,
                EmfToWmfBitsFlags.EmfToWmfBitsFlagsDefault);
        DeleteEnhMetaFile(_hEmf);

        var stream = new MemoryStream();
        stream.Write(_buffer, 0, (int)_bufferSize);
        stream.Seek(0, 0);

        return stream;
    }

This one does not leave temp files behind and also avoids copying _bufferSize to a temp file only to then copy it to another buffer. Thanks again guys.

score 6 · Accepted Answer · answered Mar 11 '11 at 09:08

From here:

When you use the Save method to save a graphic image as a Windows Metafile Format (WMF) or Enhanced Metafile Format (EMF) file, the resulting file is saved as a Portable Network Graphics (PNG) file instead. This behavior occurs because the GDI+ component of the .NET Framework does not have an encoder that you can use to save files as .wmf or .emf files.

But I guess you already got that far :)

Here someone is putting a bitmap in a FileStream.

metafileStream = MakeMetafileStream(gdiBitmap);

with MakeMetafileStream() being:

private static MemoryStream MakeMetafileStream(Bitmap image)
{
  Graphics graphics = null;
  Metafile metafile= null;
  var stream = new MemoryStream();
  try
  {
    using (graphics = Graphics.FromImage(image))
    {
      var hdc = graphics.GetHdc();
      metafile= new Metafile(stream, hdc);
      graphics.ReleaseHdc(hdc);
    }
    using (graphics = Graphics.FromImage(metafile))
    { graphics.DrawImage(image, 0, 0); }
  }
  finally
  {
    if (graphics != null)
    { graphics.Dispose(); }
    if (metafile!= null)
    { metafile.Dispose(); }
  }
  return stream;
}

Interesting stuff. But as to the encoder thing...

Here Peter Huang from MS posted this unmanaged approach:

        [DllImport("gdiplus.dll")]
        private static extern uint GdipEmfToWmfBits (IntPtr _hEmf, uint _bufferSize,
            byte[] _buffer, int _mappingMode, EmfToWmfBitsFlags _flags);
        [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
        private static extern IntPtr SetMetaFileBitsEx (uint _bufferSize,
            byte[] _buffer);
        [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
        private static extern IntPtr CopyMetaFile (IntPtr hWmf,
            string filename);
        [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
        private static extern bool DeleteMetaFile (IntPtr hWmf);
        [DllImport("gdi32.dll")]
        private static extern bool DeleteEnhMetaFile (IntPtr hEmf);
        private void button4_Click(object sender, System.EventArgs e)
        {
            Graphics g= this.CreateGraphics();
            IntPtr hDC = g.GetHdc();
            Metafile mf = new Metafile(hDC,EmfType.EmfOnly);
            g.ReleaseHdc(hDC);
            g.Dispose();
            g=Graphics.FromImage(mf);
            //Pen p = new Pen(Color.White,5);
            g.DrawArc(Pens.Black,0,0,200,200,0,360);
            //g.DrawImage(Bitmap.FromFile(@"c:\temp\test.bmp"),0,0);
            g.Dispose();
            IntPtr _hEmf= mf.GetHenhmetafile();
            uint _bufferSize = GdipEmfToWmfBits(_hEmf, 0, null, MM_ANISOTROPIC,
                EmfToWmfBitsFlags.EmfToWmfBitsFlagsDefault);
            byte[] _buffer = new byte[_bufferSize];
            GdipEmfToWmfBits(_hEmf, _bufferSize, _buffer, MM_ANISOTROPIC,
                    EmfToWmfBitsFlags.EmfToWmfBitsFlagsDefault);
            IntPtr hmf = SetMetaFileBitsEx(_bufferSize, _buffer);
            CopyMetaFile(hmf, "C:\\ConvertedMetafile.wmf");
            DeleteMetaFile(hmf);
            DeleteEnhMetaFile(_hEmf);
        }

Hope this'll get you there :)

Thank you very much for these links, unfortunately it did not work out in my case... — jdehaan, Mar 11 '11 at 12:33
Seems like WMF is "on it's way out" anyway. Perhaps this is an argument to why you MUST switch to another format? :p — Vincent Vancalbergh, Mar 11 '11 at 13:02
Yes I am not really loving that crap stuff, believe me... I just need to feed an old established tool with data and it is quite reluctant regarding the supported formats. — jdehaan, Mar 11 '11 at 17:28
The unmanaged approach worked out with some changes, thanks for the hint! — jdehaan, Mar 15 '11 at 08:39
Is by chance that, "old established tool" Crystal Reports? That's what led me here. — Grinn, May 15 '13 at 13:41
For me the "old tool" is the RichTextBox in .Net. Irritating that it doesn't support jpeg or png images. Basically using .Net you can't create an RTF file with an image that's viewable using the RTF control built into .Net. — Steve Hiner, Nov 25 '15 at 17:02

score 0 · Answer 4 · answered May 07 '16 at 23:31

Here's a Win32 GDI+ example that worked for me (credit to http://www.codeproject.com/Articles/6879/How-to-use-GDI-to-save-image-in-WMF-EXIF-or-EMF-fo)

Bitmap *image;
image = Bitmap::FromFile(L"in.jpg");                // read in the JPG
HDC hdc = GetDC(hwnd);                              // parent window
Metafile *metafile = new Metafile(L"out.wmf", hdc);
Graphics *graphics = new Graphics(metafile);
graphics->DrawImage(image, 0, 0, image->GetWidth(), image->GetHeight());
delete graphics; delete metafile; delete image;
ReleaseDC(hwnd, hdc);

Convert an image into WMF with .NET?

4 Answers4

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