C#-Bitmap to Byte array

Question

I have a method which saves the image from a panel. This method is using Bitmap class. I want my method to return byte array of the image.

private byte[] SaveImage()
{
    byte[] byteContent = null;
    using (Bitmap bitmap = new Bitmap(500, 500))
    {
        using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitmap))
        {
            Rectangle rectangle = myPanel.Bounds;
            Point sourcePoints = myPanel.PointToScreen(new Point(myPanel.ClientRectangle.X, myPanel.ClientRectangle.Y));
            g.CopyFromScreen(sourcePoints, Point.Empty, rectangle.Size);
        }

        string fileName = @"E:\\MyImages.Jpg";
        bitmap.Save(fileName, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Jpeg);
    }
    return byteContent;
}

why are you returning Null byteContent? where in the code are you using or assigning byteContent..? — MethodMan
– MethodMan, Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 18:54
Save the bitmap to a memory stream and set byteContent = stream.ToArray(); — Brandon Moretz
– Brandon Moretz, Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 18:55
@DJ KRAZE Actully i am intentionally returning the null to byte array variable because i don't know how to assign it the byte arrays — user1399377
– user1399377, Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 18:59
why did you point out "wpf" as a tag? the bitmap handling in wpf is COMPLETELY different! — user287107
– user287107, Commented Sep 28, 2012 at 19:07

Joachim Isaksson · Accepted Answer · 2012-09-28 18:56:17Z

23

You'll need to use a MemoryStream to serialize the bitmap to an image format and get the bytes;

using (Bitmap bitmap = new Bitmap(500, 500))
{
    using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromImage(bitmap))
    {
        ...
    }

    using (var memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
    {
        bitmap.Save(memoryStream, System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Jpeg);
        return memoryStream.ToArray();
    }
}

There are multiple output formats to choose from, you may instead want Bmp or MemoryBmp.

answered Sep 28, 2012 at 18:56

Joachim Isaksson

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