The Graphics class provides methods for drawing objects to the display device. A Graphics is associated with a specific device context.

You can obtain a Graphics object by calling the ControlCreateGraphics method on an object that inherits from System.Windows.FormsControl, or by handling a control's ControlPaint event and accessing the Graphics property of the System.Windows.FormsPaintEventArgs class. You can also create a Graphics object from an image by using the FromImage method. For more information about creating a Graphics object, see How to: Create Graphics Objects for Drawing.

You can draw many different shapes and lines by using a Graphics object. For more information about how to draw lines and shapes, see the specific DrawGraphicalElement method for the line or shape you want to draw. These methods include DrawLine, DrawArc, DrawClosedCurve, DrawPolygon, and DrawRectangle. For more information about how to draw lines and shapes, see Using a Pen to Draw Lines and Shapes and Using a Brush to Fill Shapes.

You can also draw images and icons by using the DrawImage and DrawIcon methods, respectively. To perform a bit-block transfer of color data from the screen to the drawing surface of the Graphics object, see CopyFromScreen. For more information about how to draw images with a Graphics object, see Working with Images, Bitmaps, Icons, and Metafiles.

In addition, you can manipulate the coordinate system used by the Graphics object. For more information on the coordinate system and how to manipulate it, see Coordinate Systems and Transformations.

The following code example is designed for use with Windows Forms and requires a PaintEventArgs object. The PaintEventArgs object is named e and is a parameter of the Paint event handler. The code performs the following actions:

• Creates an image from a JPEG file. The file is named SampImag.jpg and is located in the folder of the example.

• Creates a point at which to draw the upper-left corner of the image.

• Draws the unscaled image to the screen by using a Graphics object.

Private Sub DrawImagePointF(ByVal e As PaintEventArgs)

    ' Create image. 
    Dim newImage As Image = Image.FromFile("SampImag.jpg")

    ' Create point for upper-left corner of image. 
    Dim ulCorner As New PointF(100.0F, 100.0F)

    ' Draw image to screen.
    e.Graphics.DrawImage(newImage, ulCorner)
End Sub

private void DrawImagePointF(PaintEventArgs e)
{

    // Create image.
    Image newImage = Image.FromFile("SampImag.jpg");

    // Create point for upper-left corner of image.
    PointF ulCorner = new PointF(100.0F, 100.0F);

    // Draw image to screen.
    e.Graphics.DrawImage(newImage, ulCorner);
}

private:
   void DrawImagePointF( PaintEventArgs^ e )
   {
      // Create image.
      Image^ newImage = Image::FromFile( "SampImag.jpg" );

      // Create point for upper-left corner of image.
      PointF ulCorner = PointF(100.0F,100.0F);

      // Draw image to screen.
      e->Graphics->DrawImage( newImage, ulCorner );
   }

.NET Framework

.NET Framework Client Profile

Windows 8, Windows Server 2012, Windows 7, Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 (Server Core Role not supported), Windows Server 2008 R2 (Server Core Role supported with SP1 or later; Itanium not supported)

The .NET Framework does not support all versions of every platform. For a list of the supported versions, see .NET Framework System Requirements.

Reference

Other Resources