C# Bitmap Library to Replace System.Drawing.Common in .NET

IronDrawing is free, open-source, and supports most .NET drawing library formats

IronDrawing is an open-source library originally developed by Iron Software that helps C# Software Engineers to replace System.Drawing.Common in .NET projects on Windows, macOS, and Linux platforms.

Developing class libraries and NuGet packages for .NET 5, 6, 7 & 8 that support graphics, images, and fonts should be easy.

IronDrawing acts as a seamless bridge between all the new proposed .NET 5, 6, 7 & 8 graphics standards as they evolve - so you only need to develop for the one you prefer.

IronDrawing is free, open-source, and supports most .NET drawing library formats

Context

Microsoft .NET is a multi-platform, highly compatible software framework used by millions of software developers across the globe. Microsoft has announced a breaking change in which System.Drawing.Common will only be supported on Windows platforms.

This is problematic for .NET library developers who maintain cross-platform libraries that use System.Drawing.Common because Microsoft's recommended action requires you to rebuild your library to support non-Windows users. Volunteers and academics are expected to rebuild every NuGet package and class library to use each of the new suggested graphics libraries as they emerge, causing a technical debt which will slow adoption of modern .NET.

Ultimately, when we use .NET, we use NuGet.

NuGet package developers are doing us all a favor by advancing .NET and pre-packaged code that would take thousands of hours to write ourselves every day.

This breaking change will slow NuGet development and could lead to abandoned or obsolete code libraries which .NET developers depend upon. We need to act now!

Our Solution

An intermediary graphics format that converts between all the old and new graphics libraries.

As a class library developer, your public Bitmap, Color, Rectangle, Font, and Size Inputs and Outputs can be of only one type that supports all the new standards. Internally, you can continue to do what you like.

IronDrawing is backward compatible with .NET Framework 4.62, supports all versions of .NET (including .NET 8).

The development and release of IronDrawing solves this issue by providing an open-source solution to the lack of a uniform format for important classes such as Bitmap, Color, Rectangle, Font, and Size. IronSoftware.Drawing will seamlessly convert between the implementations of these types in System.Drawing, Microsoft.Maui, SkiaSharp, and SixLabors for you. This allows you, the developer, not to have to replace all instances of these classes within your library.

For example, if you are using System.Drawing.Bitmap, you may use IronDrawing's AnyBitmap class which has implicit conversions to any of these types: System.Drawing.Bitmap, System.Drawing.Image, SkiaSharp.SKBitmap, SkiaSharp.SKImage, SixLabors.ImageSharp, Microsoft.Maui.Graphics.Platform.PlatformImage.

Why Are We Doing This for Free

We have developed IronDrawing because we at Iron Software are long-term senior .NET developers who care about the evolution of .NET and want it to grow and succeed. We love to see that .NET is growing and evolving, as seen with .NET 7. We use NuGet all day, and I'm sure you do too. We support and hope to encourage an easy transition to the future and away from System.Drawing.

We want all .NET class-library and NuGet development to be easier, so that the NuGet Ecosystem continues to thrive, and so that all .NET developers benefit.

IronSoftware.Drawing Features

  • AnyBitmap: A universally compatible Bitmap class. Implicit casting between IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap and the following supported:
    • System.Drawing.Bitmap
    • System.Drawing.Image
    • SkiaSharp.SKBitmap
    • SkiaSharp.SKImage
    • SixLabors.ImageSharp
    • Microsoft.Maui.Graphics.Platform.PlatformImage
  • Color: A universally compatible Color class. Implicit casting between IronSoftware.Drawing.Color and the following supported:
    • System.Drawing.Color
    • SkiaSharp.SKColor
    • SixLabors.ImageSharp.Color
    • SixLabors.ImageSharp.PixelFormats
  • Rectangle: A universally compatible Rectangle class. Implicit casting between IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle and the following supported:
    • System.Drawing.Rectangle
    • SkiaSharp.SKRect
    • SkiaSharp.SKRectI
    • SixLabors.ImageSharp.Rectangle
  • Font: A universally compatible Font class. Implicit casting between IronSoftware.Drawing.Font and the following supported:
    • System.Drawing.Font
    • SkiaSharp.SKFont
    • SixLabors.Fonts.Font

Compatibility

IronSoftware.Drawing has cross-platform support compatibility with:

  • .NET 8, .NET 7, .NET 6, .NET 5, .NET Core, .NET Standard, and .NET Framework 4.62+
  • Windows, macOS, Linux, Docker, Azure, and AWS

Installation

Installing the IronDrawing (IronSoftware.Drawing) NuGet package is quick and easy. Please install the package like this:

Install-Package IronSoftware.System.Drawing

Alternatively, download directly from the official NuGet website.

Once installed, you can get started by adding using IronSoftware.Drawing; to the top of your C# code.

Code Examples

AnyBitmap Example

:path=/static-assets/drawing/content-code-examples/get-started/anybitmap.cs
using IronSoftware.Drawing; using System.IO; using System.Drawing; // Create a new AnyBitmap object from a file // Replace "FILE_PATH" with the actual path of the image you want to process var bitmap = AnyBitmap.FromFile("FILE_PATH"); // Save the AnyBitmap object as a JPEG file bitmap.SaveAs("result.jpg"); // Export the AnyBitmap as a byte array // This can be useful if you want to send the image data over a network or save it in a database var bytes = bitmap.ExportBytes(); // Create a memory stream to export the AnyBitmap as a JPEG stream with 100% quality using (var resultExport = new MemoryStream()) { // This exports the image to the stream with the specified format and quality bitmap.ExportStream(resultExport, AnyBitmap.ImageFormat.Jpeg, 100); // Be sure to use 'using' or manually close the stream to release resources } // Casting between System.Drawing.Bitmap and IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap // Load a System.Drawing.Bitmap from the same file System.Drawing.Bitmap image = new System.Drawing.Bitmap("FILE_PATH"); // This is an implicit conversion from System.Drawing.Bitmap to IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap // This step is necessary if you are working with System.Drawing.Bitmap and need to convert to IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap for processing IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap anyBitmap = AnyBitmap.FromBitmap(image); // Save the resulting AnyBitmap from casting as a PNG file anyBitmap.SaveAs("result-from-casting.png");
Imports IronSoftware.Drawing Imports System.IO Imports System.Drawing ' Create a new AnyBitmap object from a file ' Replace "FILE_PATH" with the actual path of the image you want to process Private bitmap = AnyBitmap.FromFile("FILE_PATH") ' Save the AnyBitmap object as a JPEG file bitmap.SaveAs("result.jpg") ' Export the AnyBitmap as a byte array ' This can be useful if you want to send the image data over a network or save it in a database Dim bytes = bitmap.ExportBytes() ' Create a memory stream to export the AnyBitmap as a JPEG stream with 100% quality Using resultExport = New MemoryStream()	' This exports the image to the stream with the specified format and quality	bitmap.ExportStream(resultExport, AnyBitmap.ImageFormat.Jpeg, 100)	' Be sure to use 'using' or manually close the stream to release resources End Using ' Casting between System.Drawing.Bitmap and IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap ' Load a System.Drawing.Bitmap from the same file Dim image As New System.Drawing.Bitmap("FILE_PATH") ' This is an implicit conversion from System.Drawing.Bitmap to IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap ' This step is necessary if you are working with System.Drawing.Bitmap and need to convert to IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap for processing Dim anyBitmap As IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap = AnyBitmap.FromBitmap(image) ' Save the resulting AnyBitmap from casting as a PNG file anyBitmap.SaveAs("result-from-casting.png")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Color Example

:path=/static-assets/drawing/content-code-examples/get-started/color.cs
using IronSoftware.Drawing; using System; // The IronSoftware.Drawing library provides enhanced color manipulation features. // This example demonstrates creating color objects and converting between // System.Drawing.Color and IronSoftware.Drawing.Color. // Create a new Color object from a hex string. Color fromHex = Color.FromHex("#191919"); // Create a new Color object from RGB values. Color fromRgb = Color.FromRgb(255, 255, 0); // Create a new Color object using an enumeration. Color fromEnum = Color.Crimson; // Casting between System.Drawing.Color and IronSoftware.Drawing.Color. System.Drawing.Color drawingColor = System.Drawing.Color.Red; // Convert System.Drawing.Color to IronSoftware.Drawing.Color. IronSoftware.Drawing.Color ironColor = Color.FromSystemColor(drawingColor); // Access the alpha, red, green, and blue components of the IronSoftware.Drawing.Color. byte alpha = ironColor.A; byte red = ironColor.R; byte green = ironColor.G; byte blue = ironColor.B; // Calculate the luminance of the color. // Luminance is a value from 0 (black) to 100 (white) where 50 is the perceptual "middle grey". double luminance = ironColor.GetLuminance(); // Log the calculated attributes to the console. Console.WriteLine($"Color Details - ARGB: ({alpha}, {red}, {green}, {blue}), Luminance: {luminance}");
Imports IronSoftware.Drawing Imports System ' The IronSoftware.Drawing library provides enhanced color manipulation features. ' This example demonstrates creating color objects and converting between ' System.Drawing.Color and IronSoftware.Drawing.Color. ' Create a new Color object from a hex string. Private fromHex As Color = Color.FromHex("#191919") ' Create a new Color object from RGB values. Private fromRgb As Color = Color.FromRgb(255, 255, 0) ' Create a new Color object using an enumeration. Private fromEnum As Color = Color.Crimson ' Casting between System.Drawing.Color and IronSoftware.Drawing.Color. Private drawingColor As System.Drawing.Color = System.Drawing.Color.Red ' Convert System.Drawing.Color to IronSoftware.Drawing.Color. Private ironColor As IronSoftware.Drawing.Color = Color.FromSystemColor(drawingColor) ' Access the alpha, red, green, and blue components of the IronSoftware.Drawing.Color. Private alpha As Byte = ironColor.A Private red As Byte = ironColor.R Private green As Byte = ironColor.G Private blue As Byte = ironColor.B ' Calculate the luminance of the color. ' Luminance is a value from 0 (black) to 100 (white) where 50 is the perceptual "middle grey". Private luminance As Double = ironColor.GetLuminance() ' Log the calculated attributes to the console. Console.WriteLine($"Color Details - ARGB: ({alpha}, {red}, {green}, {blue}), Luminance: {luminance}")
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Rectangle Example

:path=/static-assets/drawing/content-code-examples/get-started/rectangle.cs
using IronSoftware.Drawing; using System.Drawing; // Declare an IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle object IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle ironRectangle = new IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle(5, 5, 50, 50); // Declare a System.Drawing.Rectangle object System.Drawing.Rectangle systemRectangle = new System.Drawing.Rectangle(10, 10, 150, 150); // Implicitly convert System.Drawing.Rectangle to IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle // Note: Uncomment and use appropriate conversion methods if available in the IronSoftware.Drawing library // ironRectangle = (IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle)systemRectangle; // Output the properties of IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle if conversion is successful // These Console.WriteLine statements assume this code runs in a console environment Console.WriteLine(ironRectangle.X); Console.WriteLine(ironRectangle.Y); Console.WriteLine(ironRectangle.Width); Console.WriteLine(ironRectangle.Height); 
Imports IronSoftware.Drawing Imports System.Drawing ' Declare an IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle object Private ironRectangle As New IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle(5, 5, 50, 50) ' Declare a System.Drawing.Rectangle object Private systemRectangle As New System.Drawing.Rectangle(10, 10, 150, 150) ' Implicitly convert System.Drawing.Rectangle to IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle ' Note: Uncomment and use appropriate conversion methods if available in the IronSoftware.Drawing library ' ironRectangle = (IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle)systemRectangle; ' Output the properties of IronSoftware.Drawing.Rectangle if conversion is successful ' These Console.WriteLine statements assume this code runs in a console environment Console.WriteLine(ironRectangle.X) Console.WriteLine(ironRectangle.Y) Console.WriteLine(ironRectangle.Width) Console.WriteLine(ironRectangle.Height)
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Font Example

:path=/static-assets/drawing/content-code-examples/get-started/font.cs
using System; using System.Drawing; using IronSoftware.Drawing; // Create a new Font object with a specified font family, style, and size IronSoftware.Drawing.Font font = new IronSoftware.Drawing.Font("Times New Roman", FontStyle.Italic | FontStyle.Bold, 30); // Create a new instance of System.Drawing.Font System.Drawing.Font drawingFont = new System.Drawing.Font("Courier New", 30); try { // Attempt to cast System.Drawing.Font to IronSoftware.Drawing.Font // Note: This cast may not be directly possible if the libraries do not support each other; // additional conversion logic might be required. IronSoftware.Drawing.Font ironFont = new IronSoftware.Drawing.Font(drawingFont.FontFamily.Name, drawingFont.Style, drawingFont.Size); // Accessing properties of the IronSoftware.Drawing.Font object string familyName = ironFont.FamilyName; // Get the font family name FontStyle style = ironFont.Style; // Get the combined font style (italic, bold, etc.) float size = ironFont.Size; // Get the font size bool isItalic = ironFont.Italic; // Determine if the font style includes Italic bool isBold = ironFont.Bold; // Determine if the font style includes Bold // Output the font properties to verify correctness Console.WriteLine($"Family: {familyName}, Style: {style}, Size: {size}, Italic: {isItalic}, Bold: {isBold}"); } catch (InvalidCastException) { Console.WriteLine("The conversion between System.Drawing.Font and IronSoftware.Drawing.Font is not directly supported."); } catch (Exception ex) { Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}"); } 
Imports System Imports System.Drawing Imports IronSoftware.Drawing ' Create a new Font object with a specified font family, style, and size Private font As New IronSoftware.Drawing.Font("Times New Roman", FontStyle.Italic Or FontStyle.Bold, 30) ' Create a new instance of System.Drawing.Font Private drawingFont As New System.Drawing.Font("Courier New", 30) Try	' Attempt to cast System.Drawing.Font to IronSoftware.Drawing.Font	' Note: This cast may not be directly possible if the libraries do not support each other;	' additional conversion logic might be required.	Dim ironFont As New IronSoftware.Drawing.Font(drawingFont.FontFamily.Name, drawingFont.Style, drawingFont.Size)	' Accessing properties of the IronSoftware.Drawing.Font object	Dim familyName As String = ironFont.FamilyName ' Get the font family name	Dim style As FontStyle = ironFont.Style ' Get the combined font style (italic, bold, etc.)	Dim size As Single = ironFont.Size ' Get the font size	Dim isItalic As Boolean = ironFont.Italic ' Determine if the font style includes Italic	Dim isBold As Boolean = ironFont.Bold ' Determine if the font style includes Bold	' Output the font properties to verify correctness	Console.WriteLine($"Family: {familyName}, Style: {style}, Size: {size}, Italic: {isItalic}, Bold: {isBold}") Catch e1 As InvalidCastException	Console.WriteLine("The conversion between System.Drawing.Font and IronSoftware.Drawing.Font is not directly supported.") Catch ex As Exception	Console.WriteLine($"An error occurred: {ex.Message}") End Try
$vbLabelText   $csharpLabel

Support Available

License

The licensing information can be found here: LICENSE.txt

Contribute

If you would like to contribute to the IronDrawing open-source project, please read the license before making a pull-request to the repository on GitHub.

Information

For more information about Iron Software please visit our website: https://ironsoftware.com/

Support from Iron Software

For general support and technical inquiries, please email us at: mailto:support@ironsoftware.com

Chaknith Bin
Software Engineer
Chaknith works on IronXL and IronBarcode. He has deep expertise in C# and .NET, helping improve the software and support customers. His insights from user interactions contribute to better products, documentation, and overall experience.