ImageEn supports over eighty image and video formats:

• Adobe PhotoShop
• Camera Raw Images
• DICOM
• GIF
• ImageEn Native Format
• JPEG
• JPEG 2000
• PCX/DCX
• PDF Files
• PNG
• PostScript
• SVG
• TIFF
• Windows Bitmap
• Windows Cursors
• Windows Icons
• Windows Metafiles
• Other Native Images
• WIC Image Formats
• Other Plug-In Formats
• AVI Videos
• Other Video Formats
• ZIP Archives

Format Summary

Adobe Photoshop Format

PSD is the native image format of Adobe Photoshop. It supports layers.

Notes
- ImageEn can load PSD files as a single image or as multiple layers (if PSD_LoadLayers is enabled)
- Some custom PSD layer formats may not be supported
- If you save to PSD from a TImageEnView containing multiple layers the created PSD file will have layers. To avoid this, merge the image before saving.

Demo
Demos\LayerEditing\Layers_AllTypes\Layers.dpr

Camera Raw Formats

ImageEn supports a wide variety of the native image formats of cameras, from Canon (*.cr2, *.cr3, *.crw), Kodak (*.dcr, *.kdc), Minolta (*.mrw), Nikon (*.nef), Olympus (*.orf), Pentax (*.pef), Fuji (*.raf), Leica (*.raw), Sony (*.srf, *.sr2, *.arw) and Sigma (*.x3f). RAW formats are full color images.

Notes
- Two imaging engines are available: DLL (based on LibRaw) and WIC
- You can speed up loading by retrieving a half size, embedded JPEG or thumbnail image
- RAW images generally needs to have their colors adjusted for display using options such as RAW_UseAutoWB, RAW_UseCameraWB and other parameters
- RAW images can be automatically rotated for display if relevant meta-data is available
- Saving is NOT supported

Demo
\Demos\InputOutput\CameraRaw\CameraRaw.dpr

Dicom Format

DICOM is a widely used image format in the medical community. It offers both lossy and lossless saving and supports many compression types and color formats.

Notes
- Specify which frame to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1), use a TImageEnMView to load and display all frames or enable Playing to animate the image
- There are many compression and other parameters that affect saving
- To update DICOM Tags without resaving the image use InjectDicomTags

Demo
\Demos\InputOutput\Dicom\Dicom.dpr

GIF Format

GIF is a popular web format. It is lossless (no image information lost on saving), but is limited to 256 colors. GIF files are often animated.

Notes
- Specify which frame to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1), use a TImageEnMView to load and display all frames
- Enable Playing in TImageEnView or TImageEnMView to animate the image
- There are few parameters that affect saving
- Enable GIF_FlagTranspColor and specify the key color to save a transparent GIF
- To manipulate multiframe GIFs in memory, use a TIEMultiBitmap or global methods

Demo
\Demos\ImageEditing\AnimatedGIF\GifDemo.dpr

ImageEn Format

IEN is a propietary image format of ImageEn. It is a compressed format with support for transparency, vectors, annotations and layers (images, text, shapes and lines).

Notes
- You can speed up loading by retrieving a thumbnail
- If you save to IEN from a TImageEnView containing multiple layers the created file will have layers
- To save layers as annotations only (i.e. not including the background image), disable IEN_StoreBackground
- Specify the compression and size of the thumbnail

Demo
Demos\LayerEditing\Layers_AllTypes\Layers.dpr

JPEG Format

JPEG is one of the most widely used image formats. It is lossy (discards some image information when saving) and offers good quality for a very small file size. It works best with photos.

Notes
- Three imaging engines are available: Native, DLL and WIC
- You can speed up loading by retrieving a scaled image or thumbnail
- Other parameters can be set to optimize I/O
- JPEG can be automatically rotated for display if relevant meta-data is available
- Specify the quality when saving to optimize image quality vs file size
- Quality is lost each time an image is saved as JPEG (lossy), but there are global methods to rotate, flip and crop images without quality loss (lossless)
- To update EXIF without resaving the image use InjectJpegEXIF
- To update IPTC without resaving the image use InjectJpegIPTC

JPEG 2000 Format

JPEG 2000 was created as a modern replacement for the JPEG format, but despite its many advantages it has not seen wide adoption. It offers both lossy and lossless saving and supports many compression types and color formats.

Notes
- Two imaging engines are available: Native and DLL
- You can speed up loading by retrieving a scaled image
- Specify the quality or rate to optimize image quality vs file size. Images can be saved losslessly (without quality loss) by setting rate to 1
- Other parameters can be set to optimize I/O when saving

PCX/DCX Format

PCX is a legacy image format that is now seldom used. DCX is a multi-page variant of PCX.

Notes
- Specify which frame to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1) or use a TImageEnMView to load and display all frames of a DCX files
- Specify the compression when saving

PDF Files

Adobe PDF files are documents that are widely used in business.

Format Difficulties
ImageEn supports PDF files in four different ways, which are not necessily compatible:

PDFium
If you have installed the PDFium plug-in and enabled PdfViewer mode, then via TImageEnView (or directly using a TIEPdfViewerInteraction object) you can display and manipulate PDF files, including text searching and selection, form editing, and page importing, moving and deletion.
In this mode, LoadFromFilePDF and SaveToFilePDF will interact directly with the PdfViewer to load and save multipage PDF files.

PDF Loading
If you have installed a relevant plug-in (and NOT enabled PdfViewer mode), then ImageEn can import a rasterized bitmap of each page into a TImageEnView or rasterized version of a whole document into a TImageEnMView. You should not save the document to PDF if it was loaded in this way because it will be converted to an image-only PDF (e.g. text content cannot be selected or searched).

PDF Saving
Natively, ImageEn can save images to a PDF file. Also, if you have multiple layers the saved PDF file will be scalable and text will be selectable and searchable.

OCR Method
The IEVision Add-On also includes a method to convert text images to Searchable PDF files

Notes
- To load PDF files you must install a plug-in
- Specify which page to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1) or use a TImageEnMView to load and display all pages
- Pages can be loaded to a specific size using LoadFromFilePDF or by specifying auto-scaling properties
- Specify the compression and other parameters when saving
- The TIEPDFBuilder class can be used for more control over PDF generation

Demos
\Demos\InputOutput\PDFBuilder\PDFBuilder.dpr
\Demos\InputOutput\PDFBuilder2\PDFBuilder2.dpr
\Demos\Other\PdfViewer\PdfViewer.dpr
\Demos\Other\PdfViewerToolbar\PdfViewerToolbar.dpr
\Demos\Actions\Actions_PdfViewer\PdfViewerActions.dpr

PNG Format

PNG is a widely used image format. It is lossless (no image information lost on saving) and supports all color formats and transparency. It is one of the best formats to use when saving images for editing.

Notes
- Three imaging engines are available: Native, DLL and WIC
- When saving set the compression to reduce file size (it will not lower the quality of the image but will slow processing)

PostScript Files

Adobe PostScript (*.ps, *.eps) is an electronic publishing format.

Notes
- ImageEn cannot natively load PS files. If you have installed a relevant plug-in ImageEn can import a rasterized bitmap of each page
- Specify which page to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1) or use a TImageEnMView to load and display all pages
- ImageEn can export images to a PS file
- Specify the compression and other parameters when saving

SVG Format

SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) is a vector format supported by web browsers. SVG images can be scaled without losing quality.

Format Difficulties
ImageEn supports SVG files in two different ways, which are not compatible:

SVG Loading
If you have installed the ImageMagick Plug-In, SVG can be imported as a rasterized bitmap

SVG Saving
Natively, ImageEn can export multiple layers from TImageEnView as a scalable SVG file

Notes
- ImageEn does NOT support native loading of SVG. It requires a plug-in
- Specify the compression for saving of image layers

Demos
\Demos\LayerEditing\Layers_AllTypes\Layers.dpr
\Demos\InputOutput\ImageMagick\ImageMagick.dpr
\Demos\LayerEditing\SVGVectorLayers\SVGLayers.dpr

TIFF Format

TIFF is a popular document format. It is lossless (no image information lost on saving) and has many sub-formats (e.g. types of compression). It is often used with monochrome documents, such as Fax images.

Notes
- Specify which frame to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1) or use a TImageEnMView to load and display all frames
- TIFF supports various compression and other options when saving
- To manipulate multiframe TIFFs in memory, use a TIEMultiBitmap, TIETIFFHandler object or global methods
- To update EXIF without resaving the image use InjectTIFFEXIF

Demos
\Demos\Multi\MultiBitmap\MBitmap.dpr
\Demos\Multi\Multiview\Multi.dpr

Windows Bitmaps

BMP is a native Windows image format. It is lossless (no image information lost on saving), but offers only limited compression (very large files).

Notes
- Due to the lack of compression, loading and saving of BMP is very fast (good for temporary files)

Windows Cursors

Cursor files are used by Windows to store mouse pointers of varying sizes and resolutions.

Notes
- Specify which image to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1) or use a TImageEnMView to load and display all images
- When saving, specify the "hot spot" of the cursor

Windows Icons

Icon files are used by Windows to store images of varying sizes and resolutions for applications and documents.

Notes
- Specify which image to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1) or use a TImageEnMView to load and display all images
- When saving, ImageEn can automatically generate icons of different sizes and resolutions from a single image
- Specify the compression and other parameters

Demo
\Demos\ImageEditing\IconEditor\IconEditor.dpr

Meta Files

Metafiles are Windows vector images that are commonly used for clip-art. They can be scaled when loading without loss of quality.

Notes
- You can also specify a default background color
- Meta-files can be loaded to a specific size using ImportMetafile or by specifying auto-scaling properties
- You can also specify a maximum loading size
- Saving is NOT supported

Demo
\Demos\LayerEditing\SVGVectorLayers\SVGLayers.dpr

Other Native Formats

ImageEn provides native support for some other formats: Targa (*.tga), PXM and Wireless BMP (*.wbmp). It also provides BmpRaw, a true "raw" bitmap format.

Notes
- Loading and saving is supported for all formats
- TGA supports compression
- Specify parameters when saving BmpRaw

Demo
\Demos\InputOutput\RealRAW\RealRAW.dpr

WIC Formats

WIC (Windows Imaging Component) is a Windows API that provides access to fast Windows methods for loading and saving images.
WIC is used by ImageEn to support HDP, DDS, HEIF/HEIC, AVIF and WebP. It can optionally be used to load other formats such as JPEG, PNG, GIF, etc.
To support some WIC formats (such as HEIF, AVIF and WebP) you will need to install a codec from the Microsoft Store

Notes
- For multi-frame images, specify which image to load using ImageIndex (between 0 and ImageCount-1) or use a TImageEnMView to load and display all images
- WIC can optionally be used for loading JPEG, PNG, JPEG 2000 and Camera Raw images
- Saving is supported for DDS and HDP. Saving is NOT supported for HEIF, AVIF and WebP. Other formats will depend on the codec
- Specify the quality when saving HDP (optionally making it lossless)
- You can optionally use the TIEWICReader and TIEWICWriter classes directly

Other Plug-In Formats

ImageEn supports many other image formats via external plug-ins:
Adobe PDF (*.pdf, *.epdf), PostScript (*.ps, *.eps), Scalable Vector Graphics (*.svg, *.svgz), High Efficiency Image File (*.heic, *.heif, *.avif), WebP image (*.webp), JPEG XL Image (*.jxl), GIMP (*.xcf), TrueType Fonts (*.ttf, *.otf), Kodak Photo-CD (*.pcd, *.pcds), Apple Pict (*.pict), CALS Image (*.cals, *.cal), Flexible Image Transport System (*.fits), HP PCL Printer Image (*.pcl), Kodak Cineon (*.cin), Embrid Embroidery Format (*.pes), SMPTE (*.dpx), Magick (*.miff, *.mvg), Matlab (*.mat), JPEG Network Graphics (*.jng), Multiple-Image Network Graphics (*.mng), High Dynamic Range File (*.exr), Microsoft XML Page (*.xps), MPEG (*.mp4, *.mpeg, *.mpg*.mov; *.m2v; *.m4v)

Notes
- Loading is supported for all formats
- You can load images at a specific size using the auto-scaling properties (works best with vector formats, such as SVG)
- Saving is NOT supported for these formats: *.heic, *.heif, *.avif, *.ttf, *.otf, *.pfa, *.pfb, *.ttc, *.dfont, *.pes, *.cals, *.cal, *.xcf

Demos
\Demos\InputOutput\ImageMagick\ImageMagick.dpr
\Demos\LayerEditing\SVGVectorLayers\SVGLayers.dpr

AVI Videos

AVI is a Windows video file format.

Notes
- Use a TImageEnMView to load and display all video frames, or load specific frames into a TImageEnView
- Enable Playing in TImageEnView or TImageEnMView to animate the video frames (without audio)
- Use DirectShow for native Windows playback and capture
- ImageEn can save silent AVI files or capture using DirectShow
- Specify the frame interval to control playback speed

Demo
\Demos\Multi\Multiview\Multi.dpr
\Demos\VideoCapture\ImagesToAvi\ImagesToAvi.dpr
\Demos\Display\VideoPlayer\VideoPlayer.dpr

Other Video Formats

ImageEn supports other video formats (MPEG, WMV, etc) via the DirectShow or MMF APIs

Notes
- Use a TImageEnMView to load and display all video frames, or load specific frames into a TImageEnView
- Use DirectShow for native Windows playback and capture
- ImageEn can capture using DirectShow
- Specify the frame interval to control playback speed

Demo
\Demos\Display\VideoPlayer\VideoPlayer.dpr

ZIP Archives

ZIP is an archive format that compresses and stores files (with optional encryption).

Notes
- Requires the 7z plug-in from: www.imageen.com/download/
- Use a TImageEnMView to load and display all files, or load specific files into a TImageEnView

Demo
\Demos\Other\ZipBrowser\ZipBrowser.dpr
\Demos\Multi\FolderMView\FolderMView.dpr

See Also

- TIOFileType
- FileFormats
- RegisterPlugIns

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