Bitmap allows loading an image in C1Bitmap object using the Load method of the C1Bitmap class. With Load and LoadAsync method overloads, the image can be loaded from StorageFile or IInputStream, or from System.IO.Stream. Bitmap also allows loading image metadata, which can be used to determine size of the image, its resolution (DPI), or pixel format. Additionally, several images can be loaded or imported, one by one, into the same instance of C1Bitmap.

Like loading, the image from C1Bitmap can be saved to a StorageFile or IOutputStream, and to System.IO.Stream. The Bitmap provides general Save methods in C1Bitmap class, that accept the container format as an argument. It also provides a specific SaveAs method for each of the supported container formats which has the corresponding encoder.

Here, we discuss loading an arbitrary image from a file. To load an image from a stream, refer to Quick Start.

The following steps illustrate loading an arbitrary image from a file. This code uses LoadAsync method to load an image from a StorageFile.

1. Create and initialize the following class objects.
   • Visual Basic
   • C#

   • Visual Basic

   Dim btmp As New C1Bitmap()
   Dim sb As SoftwareBitmap
   Dim sbs As SoftwareBitmapSource
   

   • C#

   C1Bitmap btmp = new C1Bitmap();
   SoftwareBitmap sb;
   SoftwareBitmapSource sbs;
   

2. Add the following code to load an image from a StorageFile.
   
   • Visual Basic
   • C#

   • Visual Basic

   Dim picker = New FileOpenPicker()
   
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".ico")
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".bmp")
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".gif")
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".png")
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".jpg")
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".jpeg")
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".jxr")
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".tif")
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".tiff")
   
   Dim file As StorageFile = Await picker.PickSingleFileAsync()
   
   If file IsNot Nothing Then
       Await btmp.LoadAsync(file, New FormatConverter(PixelFormat.Format32bppPBGRA))
       Await UpdateImageSource()
   End If
   

   • C#

   var picker = new FileOpenPicker();
   
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".ico");
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".bmp");
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".gif");
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".png");
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".jpg");
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".jpeg");
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".jxr");
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".tif");
   picker.FileTypeFilter.Add(".tiff");
   
   StorageFile file = await picker.PickSingleFileAsync();
   
   if (file != null)
   {
           await btmp.LoadAsync(file, new FormatConverter(PixelFormat.Format32bppPBGRA));
           await UpdateImageSource();
   }
   

   Note: To call an asynchronous method on an event, we have used async keyword and await operator.
3. Create a method, named UpdateImageSource, to create a SoftwareBitmap, set the source SoftwareBitmap and assign it to the image source.
   • Visual Basic
   • C#

   • Visual Basic

   Private Async Function UpdateImageSource() As Task
       sb = btmp.ToSoftwareBitmap()
       sbs = New SoftwareBitmapSource()
       Await sbs.SetBitmapAsync(sb)
       img.Source = sbs
   End Function
   

   • C#

   async Task UpdateImageSource()
   {
       sb = btmp.ToSoftwareBitmap();
       sbs = new SoftwareBitmapSource();
       await sbs.SetBitmapAsync(sb);
       img.Source = sbs;
   }
   

4. Save the loaded arbitrary image using the following code. The SaveAsPngAsync method is used here to save the image to a StorageFile in PNG format.
   • Visual Basic
   • C#

   • Visual Basic

   Dim picker = New FileSavePicker()
   picker.FileTypeChoices.Add("png", New List(Of String)() From {
       ".png"
   })
   picker.DefaultFileExtension = ".png"
   
   Dim file As StorageFile = Await picker.PickSaveFileAsync()
   
   If file IsNot Nothing Then
       Await btmp.SaveAsPngAsync(file, Nothing)
       Dim md As New MessageDialog("Your file have been saved.")
   
       Await md.ShowAsync()
   End If
   
   btmp.Dispose()
   

   • C#

   var picker = new FileSavePicker();
   picker.FileTypeChoices.Add("png", new List<string> { ".png" });
   picker.DefaultFileExtension = ".png";
   
   StorageFile file = await picker.PickSaveFileAsync();
   
   if (file != null)
   {
       await btmp.SaveAsPngAsync(file, null);
       MessageDialog md = new MessageDialog("Your file have been saved.");
       await md.ShowAsync();
   }
   btmp.Dispose();