Here's what I'm currently using. Some of the other techniques I've tried have been non-optimal because they changed the bit depth of the pixels (24-bit vs. 32-bit) or ignored the image's resolution (dpi).
// ImageConverter object used to convert byte arrays containing JPEG or PNG file images into
// Bitmap objects. This is static and only gets instantiated once.
private static readonly ImageConverter _imageConverter = new ImageConverter();
Image to byte array:
/// <summary>
/// Method to "convert" an Image object into a byte array, formatted in PNG file format, which
/// provides lossless compression. This can be used together with the GetImageFromByteArray()
/// method to provide a kind of serialization / deserialization.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="theImage">Image object, must be convertable to PNG format</param>
/// <returns>byte array image of a PNG file containing the image</returns>
public static byte[] CopyImageToByteArray(Image theImage)
{
using (MemoryStream memoryStream = new MemoryStream())
{
theImage.Save(memoryStream, ImageFormat.Png);
return memoryStream.ToArray();
}
}
Byte array to Image:
/// <summary>
/// Method that uses the ImageConverter object in .Net Framework to convert a byte array,
/// presumably containing a JPEG or PNG file image, into a Bitmap object, which can also be
/// used as an Image object.
/// </summary>
/// <param name="byteArray">byte array containing JPEG or PNG file image or similar</param>
/// <returns>Bitmap object if it works, else exception is thrown</returns>
public static Bitmap GetImageFromByteArray(byte[] byteArray)
{
Bitmap bm = (Bitmap)_imageConverter.ConvertFrom(byteArray);
if (bm != null && (bm.HorizontalResolution != (int)bm.HorizontalResolution ||
bm.VerticalResolution != (int)bm.VerticalResolution))
{
// Correct a strange glitch that has been observed in the test program when converting
// from a PNG file image created by CopyImageToByteArray() - the dpi value "drifts"
// slightly away from the nominal integer value
bm.SetResolution((int)(bm.HorizontalResolution + 0.5f),
(int)(bm.VerticalResolution + 0.5f));
}
return bm;
}
Edit: To get the Image from a jpg or png file you should read the file into a byte array using File.ReadAllBytes():
Bitmap newBitmap = GetImageFromByteArray(File.ReadAllBytes(fileName));
This avoids problems related to Bitmap wanting its source stream to be kept open, and some suggested workarounds to that problem that result in the source file being kept locked.