It is useful to store the images used by a program inside the executable as resources. Visual studio offers an efficient way to do that.
The method is very simple but I always forget how to do it. So, this is a very short tutorial.
Note: I use Visual studio 2017 but the procedure is similar with other versions.
1. Create the project
We use Visual studio to create a windows Forms App.
2. Put the resource in the project
Open the Resource.resx file by double clicking on it. (Visual studio will open a specific editor)
In the toolbar of this editor select Add Resource and select “Add existing file” then choose the desired image file (here I will use summer.bmp).
This will create a new resource containing the desired image
3. Use the image
You can now use the image resource in the designer i.e. as the image property of a Picture box
But you can also access the image in the code by using <program_name>.Properties.Resources.<resourcename>.
See example below:
namespace image_in_ressource
{
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
private Image summerImage;
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
summerImage = new Bitmap(image_in_ressource.Properties.Resources.summer);
}
private void Form1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
e.Graphics.DrawImageUnscaled(summerImage, new Point(0, 0));
}
}
}
