Graphics Programming With Gdi

Currently, there aren't any good books on Windows graphics programming. Programmers looking for help are left to muddle their way through online documentation and API books that don't focus on this topic. This book paves new ground, covering actual graphics implementation, hidden restrictions, and performance issues programmers need to know about.

& All Windows programmers developing applications that deal with graphics, monitors, or printers need to use GDI+. & & There is little documentation available on GDI+. There are only two books on the market, and they are both introductory. & & The author uses real world examples and extensive sample code.

Providing a look ahead at some of the most promising innovations in graphics technologies, this guide covers the GDI+ graphical library, the .NET Framework platform, C#, and the DirectX library. Theoretical aspects of graphics, algorithms for solving common problems, and examples of their practical implementation are covered. The support of popular graphic file formats, such as BMP, GIF, TIFF, JPEG, EXI, PNG, ICO, WMF, and EMF, as well as bitmap redrawing with the application of the external alpha channel are discussed. Resizing, stretching, distorting, and rotating bitmaps are addressed in detail, as is gradient filling.

Whether you are using Windows Forms to build rich-client business applications or the ASP.NET framework to build powerful web applications or web services, the use of well-designed graphics will greatly enhance their usability, impact, and visual appeal. This book provides a comprehensive guide to the use of GDI+ in .NET applications and aims to provide developers with all the information they need to build effective custom controls.

*Adheres closely to original style/approach that made this book a best-seller in its previous incarnation *Functions as a practical guide for a business audience *Case-study contains the fully working source code to a real commercial product

GDI+ Programming in C# and VB .NET starts out with an explanation of GDI+ and how it relates to GDI. Nick Symmonds also includes a chapter on common ways to draw using VB6 and C++. The book then delves deep into the GDI+ namespaces and classes-basic drawing is discussed first with later chapters going deeper into more complex drawing. Paths, Gradients, Alpha Blends, Matrix operations, and transformations are all explained in understandable detail. Later chapters discuss working with bitmaps and other images, drawing, and printing. The final two chapters are devoted to useful projects that tie up the subject matter of the previous chapters in real world examples. Throughout GDI+ Programming in C# and VB .NET, the author not only explains the different namespaces and classes relating to GDI+, but he also takes time to talk about best practices concerning graphics programming. Woven throughout the book are numerous examples that tie together different aspects of programming in .NET, teaching programmers how to get the best possible speed and efficiency out of their code.

A quick and clear introduction to graphics programming under Windows 98 without encumbering the reader in a mass of extraneous details. The application of object oriented techniques to graphics programming is a principal theme throughout the text and many illustrative coding examples in C++ are provided. The main topics include: message-based programming; window management; working with C++ objects; Windows 98 GDI; pens, brushes, bitmaps and palettes; sprite animation; wire-frame and polygon-fill images; assembly language programming; 3D vector geometry; perspective projections; hidden pixel removal; colour shading and texture mapping; virtual world simulation.