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Drawing rectangle is overwriting existing bitmap c#

I have a grid already drawn to a picturebox and I wish to draw a rectangle in the cell the mouse is clicked in. I'm trying to do this by drawing a rectangle in the top left corner of the cell and having it fill the entire cell.
However when I click the grid disappears.
How do I make it so the grid stays?
and is there an obvious better method for doing this?
The only way to redraw the grid is by pressing the button again but I want it to stay there.
Thanks.

You need to create a Graphics
Image bm;// Or Bitmap
using (var graphics = Graphics.FromImage(bm))
{
Draw(rects, graphics);
}
private static void Draw(List<Rectangle> rectangles, Graphics graphics)
{
Pen redPen = new Pen(Color.Red, 1);
foreach (var rect in rectangles)
{
graphics.DrawRectangle(redPen, rect);
}
}

At every mouse click in the mouse_click event at first you dispose the image of the picture box and then again assign the bitmap to the picturebox image otherwise you might face out of memory exception if you click on the grid too many times
private void InitializePictureBoxImage(PictureBox pictureBox)
{
if(pictureBox.Image != null)
{
var image = pictureBox.Image; // cache it to dispose
pictureBox.Image = null; // don't dispose an used object
image.Dispose(); // and dispose of it
}
Bitmap bitmap = new Bitmap(pictureBox.Width, pictureBox.Height);
pictureBox.Image = bitmap; // assign bitmap to image
}
Then call the method in the mouse_click event which you used to draw the picture box when you press the Generate Grid button in your form. Afterwards use graphics inside the mouse_click event to colour the grid which you pressed taking the X-Y coordinate from MouseEventArgs.
Altogether I think it will be something like this
private void Mouse_ClickEvent(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
InitializePictureBoxImage(pictureBox);
DrawThePictureBoxImage(pictureBox);
using (Graphics graphics = Graphics.FromImage(pictureBox.Image))
{
Color color = Color.Blue;
color = Color.FromArgb(150, color.R, color.G, color.B); // lower the opacity so the writing in the grid is visible
var brush = new SolidBrush(color);
// Calculate the starting X-Y coordinate and Width,Height of the grid to color
graphics.FillRectangle(brush, startX, startY,
width, height);
}

WinForms - How do I run a function with PaintEventArgs when the form is loaded?

I'm trying to understand the graphics, and in the Graphics.FromImage documentation, it has this as an example:
private void FromImageImage(PaintEventArgs e)
{
// Create image.
Image imageFile = Image.FromFile("SampImag.jpg");
// Create graphics object for alteration.
Graphics newGraphics = Graphics.FromImage(imageFile);
// Alter image.
newGraphics.FillRectangle(new SolidBrush(Color.Black), 100, 50, 100, 100);
// Draw image to screen.
e.Graphics.DrawImage(imageFile, new PointF(0.0F, 0.0F));
// Dispose of graphics object.
newGraphics.Dispose();
}
I'm new to C# and Windows Forms and am struggling to understand how this all fits together. How is this code run, say when the form first loads or when a button is pressed?

Maybe this will help. I have an example of both drawing on Paint events but also drawing on top of an existing Image. I created a form with two picture boxes. One for each case. pictureBox1 has an event handler for the .Paint event, while pictureBox2 is only drawn when a button is pressed.
public partial class Form1 : Form
{
public Form1()
{
InitializeComponent();
}
protected override void OnLoad(EventArgs e)
{
base.OnLoad(e);
pictureBox1.BackColor=Color.Black;
}
private void pictureBox1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
// The code below will draw on the surface of pictureBox1
// It gets triggered automatically by Windows, or by
// calling .Invalidate() or .Refresh() on the picture box.
DrawGraphics(e.Graphics, pictureBox1.ClientRectangle);
}
private void toolStripButton1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
// The code below will draw on an existing image shown in pictureBox2
var img = new Bitmap(pictureBox2.Image);
var g = Graphics.FromImage(img);
DrawGraphics(g, pictureBox2.ClientRectangle);
pictureBox2.Image=img;
}
void DrawGraphics(Graphics g, Rectangle target)
{
// draw a red rectangle around the moon
g.DrawRectangle(Pens.Red, 130, 69, 8, 8);
}
}
So when you launch the application a red rectangle appears on the left only, because the button hasn't been pressed yet.
and when the button is pressed, the red rectangle appears on top of the image displayed in pictureBox2.
Nothing dramatic, but it does the job. So depending on the mode of operation you need (user graphics, or image annotations) use the example code to understand how to do it.

WinForms create transparent clearable pictureBox overlays

I want to create 2 transparent overlays for pictureBox in WinFrom application so I can separately draw on both and I can also clear it when I want to blank transparent overlay.
On one overlay I draw rectangles. I want these rectangles there all time.
On second overlay I draw circles but I just want to draw 1 circle and after user input clear this circle and draw another.
For now I'm using
var transparentOverlay = pictureBox.createGraphics();
But I don't know how to clear an overlay to blank transparent graphics.
I tried
transparentOverlay.Clear(Color.Transparent) which turned all overlay to black
pictureBox.Invalidate() which cleared all graphics from both overlays so my rectangles remain where they were
use some backup graphics which I created before any drawing and clear my overlay by assigning this graphics to it transparentOverlay = transparentOverlayBackup but this did nothing, all rectangles and all circles remain at their places
Is there a way to create clearable transparent graphics sticked to pictureBox?
EDIT:
I have a picture with text in that picture box. And what I want to do is to draw rectangles around words of the text and this rectangles should remain all the time over the picture.
Than I want to draw a single circle and wait for user to click on a screen. This is all ok but when user click on a screen, I want to clear that circle and draw another.
//this method I call by click on a button to start annotation
private void ExpertAnnotate(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
var pen = new Pen(Color.Black, 1);
if (!annotationIsRunning) //check if annotation is in process or not
{
annotationIsRunning = true;
annotationOverlay = pictureBox.CreateGraphics(); //create transparent overlay for drawing
//draw rectangles around all words in text (AOIs)
annotationAOIs.ForEach(a =>
{
annotationOverlay.DrawRectangle(pen, a.Start.X, a.Start.Y, (a.End.X - a.Start.X), (a.End.Y - a.Start.Y));
});
//subscribe mouseMove and mouseClick events on pictureBox
pictureBox.MouseMove += HighlightAOI;
pictureBox.MouseClick += SelectAOI;
}
//define brushes for drawing circles (fixations)
var brush = new SolidBrush(Color.FromArgb(128, Color.BlueViolet));
var dotBrush = new SolidBrush(Color.DarkBlue);
pen.Color = Color.Blue;
long sizeOfFixation;
var f = Fixations[fixationCounter - 1]; //get current fixation to draw
sizeOfFixation = (int)f.Length / FIX_SIZE_COEFICIENT; //compute size of circle
annotationOverlay.FillEllipse(dotBrush, f.PosX - 1, f.PosY - 1, 3, 3);
//draw fixation on overlay
annotationOverlay.FillEllipse(brush, (f.PosX - sizeOfFixation), (f.PosY - sizeOfFixation), sizeOfFixation * 2, sizeOfFixation * 2);
}
//eventHandler for mouseMove - this method color rectangle over which mouse hover to red border
private void HighlightAOI(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//this just draw last highlighted rect to black when we not yet hover mouse above it
if (lastHighlightedAOI != null)
{
annotationOverlay.DrawRectangle(new Pen(Color.Black, 1), lastHighlightedAOI.Start.X, lastHighlightedAOI.Start.Y, (lastHighlightedAOI.End.X - lastHighlightedAOI.Start.X), (lastHighlightedAOI.End.Y - lastHighlightedAOI.Start.Y));
}
//get position of mouse sursor
var x = pictureBox.PointToClient(Cursor.Position).X;
var y = pictureBox.PointToClient(Cursor.Position).Y;
var tempFix = new Fixation() { PosX = x, PosY = y };
//get rectangle over which mouse hover
lastHighlightedAOI = tempFix.LiesIn(annotationAOIs).FirstOrDefault();
if (lastHighlightedAOI != null)
{
//highlight rectangle by painting red border
annotationOverlay.DrawRectangle(new Pen(Color.Red, 1), lastHighlightedAOI.Start.X, lastHighlightedAOI.Start.Y, (lastHighlightedAOI.End.X - lastHighlightedAOI.Start.X), (lastHighlightedAOI.End.Y - lastHighlightedAOI.Start.Y));
}
}
//eventHandler for mouse click
private void SelectAOI(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
//get position of cursor
var x = MousePosition.X;
var y = MousePosition.Y;
var tempFix = new Fixation() { PosX = x, PosY = y };
//get rectangle which we selected by a mouse click
var aoi = tempFix.LiesIn(annotationAOIs).FirstOrDefault();
//assign last shown fixation to selected rectangle
if (aoi != null)
{
aoi.AssignedFixations.Add(Fixations[fixationCounter - 1]);
}
//if it wasn't last fixation again call ExpertAnnotation function to draw another Fixation over image (!!! here I need to clear last drawn fixation (circle) disappear and draw next fixation in ExpertAnnotate method)
if (fixationCounter != Fixations.Count)
{
ExpertAnnotate(sender, e);
}
else
{
TerminateExpertAnnotation("regular");
}
}

Thanks to #Reza Aghaei who guided me in chat to solution.
For me acceptable solution was in building multilayer image and assigning it to pictureBox.Image attribute.
I built image by loading image from file:
Image im = new Bitmap(path); // loads image from file
Then create graphics from this image:
var g = Graphics.FromImage(im); // creates graphics from loaded image
Draw all needed rectangles to this image and backup this image to some global Image instance:
var pen = new Pen(Color.Black, 1);
// draws all rectangles on the image
annotationAOIs.ForEach(a =>
{
g.DrawRectangle(pen, a.Start.X, a.Start.Y, (a.End.X - a.Start.X), (a.End.Y - a.Start.Y));
});
g.Dispose(); // disposes used graphics
ImageBackup = new Bitmap(im); // backup image with rectangles
In above part I created a static part of an image, which will not change and I backed it up so next time I will just create new Image instance from backup without any rectangle drawing.
Then when I want to show up new circle over this image I just:
var image = new Bitmap(ImageBackup); // creates new instance of image with rectangles from backup
var g = Graphics.FromImage(image); // creates graphics from image
// in this part draw circle at specific point
var f = Fixations[fixationIndex];
sizeOfFixation = (int)f.Length / FIX_SIZE_COEFICIENT;
g.FillEllipse(dotBrush, f.PosX - 1, f.PosY - 1, 3, 3);
g.FillEllipse(brush, (f.PosX - sizeOfFixation), (f.PosY - sizeOfFixation), sizeOfFixation * 2, sizeOfFixation * 2);
pictureBox.Image.Dispose(); // dispose old pictureBox image
pictureBox.Image = image; // set new image
imageOverlay = pictureBox.CreateGraphics(); // get transparent graphics overlay for pictureBox so we can draw anything else over picture (in my case highlighting rectangles over which I hover a mouse)
g.Dispose(); // dispose used graphics

Your best approach would be to use the OnPaint event handler for the PictureBox control and place all your drawing calls in there.
You can use the Graphics object passed to the event handler to get the surface you want to draw on (i.e. the Picture box) and then use the various methods to draw the shapes that you are after.
To draw a 'transparent' shape simply draw an outline rather than a filled shape.

Best way to make images scrollable that where painted on the control

I draw images (lets say 200x200) on control in C# depending on how many there are (could be over 100) they get drawn offscreen since they are stacked one above the other. What is the best way to make a dynamic scroll so that i can scroll to the ones that are offscreen.
I was thinking of using a Panel and painting them on there and then just place the Panel on the control. But with the panel being transparent and the control on which the panel is sitting is changing its image (its a map that you can move with draging) the panel lags behind when drawing and creates a ugly jitter effect.
So are there any good solutions where i wont need to implement the whole logic of a scroller myself for such a solution?

PictureBox is doublebuffered and will take care of the flicker.
For your case don't draw onto a control, no matter which, but instead draw into a PictureBox's Image.
Put the PictureBox inside an autoscroll panel and make it a large as the Size you need. No jitter, smooth scrolling..
Here is an example. It randomly draws around 200 small images into the Image of a PictureBox. I create the Image with a large size and I put the PB into a Panel:
Random R = new Random();
private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
{
panel1.AutoScroll = true;
pictureBox1.Parent = panel1;
pictureBox1.Location = Point.Empty;
pictureBox1.Image = new Bitmap(3000, 500);
pictureBox1.ClientSize = pictureBox1.Image.Size;
var imgFiles = Directory.GetFiles(#"D:\scrape\", "*.png");
foreach(string file in imgFiles)
{
using (Graphics G = Graphics.FromImage(pictureBox1.Image))
using (Bitmap bmp = new Bitmap(file))
{
if (bmp.Size.Width < 300)
{
for (int i = 0; i < 10; i++ )
G.DrawImage(bmp, R.Next(2500), R.Next(400));
}
}
}
}
You can easily adapt it to your own project, I'm sure..

How to get all the pixel values inside a rectangle in C#

I'm developing a program to get all the pixels inside a rectangle. There is an image control and the user can click on a part inside it. When the user clicks on a particular location, a rectangle is drawn. I would like to get all the pixels inside that rectangle. I'm getting to draw the rectangle now. But i'm not able to get all the pixel values. Please find the code snippet for drawing the rectangle below.
private void panel1_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
{
foreach (var rectKey in rectangles.Keys)
{
using (var pen = new Pen(rectKey)) //Create the pen used to draw the rectangle (using statement makes sure the pen is disposed)
{
//Draws all rectangles for the current color
//Note that we're using the Graphics object that is passed into the event handler.
e.Graphics.DrawRectangles(pen, rectangles[rectKey].ToArray());
}
}
}
private void panel1_MouseUp(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
{
if (e.Button == System.Windows.Forms.MouseButtons.Left)
{
Color c = System.Drawing.Color.GreenYellow ; //Gets a color for which to draw the rectangle
//Adds the rectangle using the color as the key for the dictionary
if (!rectangles.ContainsKey(c))
{
rectangles.Add(c, new List<Rectangle>());
}
rectangles[c].Add(new Rectangle(e.Location.X - 12, e.Location.Y - 12, 25, 25)); //Adds the rectangle to the collection
}
//Make the panel repaint itself.
panel1.Refresh();// Directs to panel1_Paint() event
rectangles.Clear();
}

You would have to work with the Bitmap not the graphics object in this case.
Bitmap has a method to get pixels at a position
Bitmap bmp = Bitmap.FromFile("");
// Get the color of a pixel within myBitmap.
Color pixelColor = bmp.GetPixel(50, 50);
To read all pixels within a rectangle you could use the bmp.LockBits method.