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C# How to: Image Arithmetic

Article Purpose

The objective of this article is to illustrate Image Arithmetic being implemented when blending/combining two separate images into a single result image. The types of Image Arithmetic discussed are: Average, Add, SubtractLeft, SubtractRight, Difference, Multiply, Min, Max and Amplitude.

I created the following image by implementing Image Arithmetic using as input images a photo of a friend’s ear and a photograph taken at a live concert performance by The Red Hot Chili Peppers.

Sample source code

This article is accompanied by a sample source code Visual Studio project which is available for download here.

Using the Sample Application

The Sample source code accompanying this article includes a Sample Application developed on a Windows Forms platform. The Sample Application is indented to provide an implementation of the various types of Image Arithmetic explored in this article.

The Image Arithmetic sample application allows the user to select two source/input images from the local file system. The user interface defines a ComboBox dropdown populated with entries relating to types of Image Arithmetic.

The following image is a screenshot taken whilst creating the “Red Hot Chili Peppers Concert – Side profile Ear” blended image illustrated in the first image shown in this article. Notice the stark contrast when comparing the source/input preview images. Implementing Image Arithmetic allows us to create a smoothly blended result image:

Newly created images can be saved to the local file system by clicking the ‘Save Image’ button.

Image Arithmetic

In simple terms Image Arithmetic involves the process of performing calculations on two images’ corresponding pixel colour components. The values resulting from performing calculations represent a single image which is combination of the two original source/input images. The extent to which a source/input image will be represented in the resulting image is dependent on the type of Image Arithmetic employed.

The ArithmeticBlend Extension method

In this article Image Arithmetic has been implemented as a single extension method targeting the Bitmap class. The ArithmeticBlend extension method expects as parameters two source/input Bitmap objects and a enumeration value indicating the type of Image Arithmetic to perform.

The ColorCalculationType enum defines an enumeration value for each type of Image Arithmetic supported. The definition as follows:

public enum ColorCalculationType 
{ 
   Average, 
   Add, 
   SubtractLeft, 
   SubtractRight, 
   Difference, 
   Multiply, 
   Min, 
   Max, 
   Amplitude 
}

It is only within the ArithmeticBlend extension method that we perform Image Arithmetic. This method accesses the underlying pixel data of each sample image and creates copies stored in byte arrays. Each element within the byte array data buffer represents a single colour component, either Alpha, Red, Green or Blue.

The following code snippet details the implementation of the ArithmeticBlend extension method:

 public static Bitmap ArithmeticBlend(this Bitmap sourceBitmap, Bitmap blendBitmap,  
                                 ColorCalculator.ColorCalculationType calculationType) 
{ 
    BitmapData sourceData = sourceBitmap.LockBits(new Rectangle (0, 0, 
                            sourceBitmap.Width, sourceBitmap.Height), 
                            ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb); 

   
    byte[] pixelBuffer = new byte[sourceData.Stride * sourceData.Height]; 
    Marshal.Copy(sourceData.Scan0, pixelBuffer, 0, pixelBuffer.Length); 
    sourceBitmap.UnlockBits(sourceData); 

   
    BitmapData blendData = blendBitmap.LockBits(new Rectangle (0, 0, 
                           blendBitmap.Width, blendBitmap.Height), 
                           ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb); 

   
    byte[] blendBuffer = new byte [blendData.Stride * blendData.Height]; 
    Marshal.Copy(blendData.Scan0, blendBuffer, 0, blendBuffer.Length); 
    blendBitmap.UnlockBits(blendData); 

   
    for (int k = 0; (k + 4 < pixelBuffer.Length) && 
                    (k + 4 < blendBuffer.Length); k += 4) 
    { 
        pixelBuffer[k] = ColorCalculator.Calculate(pixelBuffer[k],  
                            blendBuffer[k], calculationType); 

   
        pixelBuffer[k + 1] = ColorCalculator.Calculate(pixelBuffer[k + 1],  
                                blendBuffer[k + 1], calculationType); 

   
        pixelBuffer[k + 2] = ColorCalculator.Calculate(pixelBuffer[k + 2],  
                                blendBuffer[k + 2], calculationType); 
    } 

   
    Bitmap resultBitmap = new Bitmap(sourceBitmap.Width, sourceBitmap.Height); 

   
    BitmapData resultData = resultBitmap.LockBits(new Rectangle (0, 0, 
                            resultBitmap.Width, resultBitmap.Height), 
                            ImageLockMode.WriteOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb); 

   
    Marshal.Copy(pixelBuffer, 0, resultData.Scan0, pixelBuffer.Length); 
    resultBitmap.UnlockBits(resultData); 

   
    return resultBitmap; 
}

We access and copy the underlying pixel data of each input bitmap by making use of the Bitmap.LockBits method and also the Marshal.Copy method.

The method iterates both byte array data buffers simultaneously, having set the for loop condition to regard the array size of both byte arrays. Scenarios where byte array data buffers will differ in size occurs when the source images specified are not equal in terms of size dimensions.

Notice how each iteration increments the loop counter by a factor of four allowing us to treat each iteration as a complete pixel value. Remember that each data buffer element represents an individual colour component. Every four elements represents a single pixel consisting of the components: Alpha, Red, Green and Blue.

Take Note: The ordering of colour components are the exact opposite of the expected order. Each pixel’s colour components are ordered: Blue, Green, Red, Alpha. Since we are iterating an entire pixel with each iteration the for loop counter value will always equate to an element index representing the Blue colour component. In order to access the Red and Green colour components we simply add the values one and two respectively to the for loop counter value, depending on whether accessing the Green or Red colour components.

The task of performing the actual arithmetic has been encapsulated within the static Calculate method, a public member of the static class ColorCalculator. The Calculate method is more detail in the following section of this article.

The final task performed by the ArithmeticBlend method involves creating a new instance of the Bitmap class which is then updated/populated using the resulting byte array data buffer previously modified.

The ColorCalculator.Calculate method

The algorithms implemented in Image Arithmetic are encapsulated within the ColorCalculator.Calculate method. When implementing this method no knowledge of the technical implementation details are required. The parameters required are two byte values each representing a single colour component, one from each source image. The only other required parameter is an enum value of type ColorCalculationType which will indicate which type of Image Arithmetic should be implemented using the byte parameters as operands.

The following code snippet details the full implementation of the ColorCalculator.Calculate method:

 public static byte Calculate(byte color1, byte color2, 
                   ColorCalculationType calculationType) 
{ 
    byte resultValue = 0; 
    int intResult = 0; 

  
    if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Add) 
    { 
        intResult = color1 + color2; 
    } 
    else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Average) 
    { 
        intResult = (color1 + color2) / 2; 
    }
    else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.SubtractLeft) 
    {
        intResult = color1 - color2; 
    } 
    else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.SubtractRight) 
    { 
        intResult = color2 - color1; 
    }
    else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Difference) 
    { 
        intResult = Math.Abs(color1 - color2); 
    }
    else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Multiply) 
    {
        intResult = (int)((color1 / 255.0 * color2 / 255.0) * 255.0); 
    }
    else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Min) 
    {
        intResult = (color1 < color2 ? color1 : color2); 
    } 
    else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Max) 
    {
        intResult = (color1 > color2 ? color1 : color2); 
    }
    else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Amplitude) 
    {
        intResult = (int)(Math.Sqrt(color1 * color1 + color2 * color2) 
                                                    / Math .Sqrt(2.0)); 
    } 

  
    if (intResult < 0) 
    {
        resultValue = 0; 
    } 
    else if (intResult > 255) 
    {
         resultValue = 255; 
    } 
    else 
    { 
        resultValue = (byte)intResult; 
    }

  
    return resultValue; 
}

The bulk of the ColorCalculator.Calculate method’s implementation is set around a series of if/else if statements evaluating the enum method parameter passed when the method had been invoked.

Colour component values can only range from 0 to 255 inclusive. Calculations performed might result in values which do not fall within the valid range of values. Calculated values less than zero are set to zero and values exceeding 255 are set to 255, sometimes this is referred to clamping.

The following sections of this article provides an explanation of each type of Image Arithmetic implemented.

Image Arithmetic: Add

if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Add)
{
    intResult = color1 + color2;
}

The Add algorithm is straightforward, simply adding together the two colour component values. In other words the resulting colour component will be set to equal the sum of both source colour component, provided the total does not exceed 255.

Sample Image

Image Arithmetic: Average

if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Average)
{
    intResult = (color1 + color2) / 2;
}

The Average algorithm calculates a simple average by adding together the two colour components and then dividing the result by two.

Sample Image

Image Arithmetic: SubtractLeft

if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.SubtractLeft)
{
    intResult = color1 - color2;
}

The SubtractLeft algorithm subtracts the value of the second colour component parameter from the first colour component parameter.

Sample Image

Image Arithmetic: SubtractRight

if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.SubtractRight)
{
    intResult = color2 - color1;
}

The SubtractRight algorithm, in contrast to SubtractLeft, subtracts the value of the first colour component parameter from the second colour component parameter.

Sample Image

Image Arithmetic: Difference

if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Difference)
{
    intResult = Math.Abs(color1 - color2);
}

The Difference algorithm subtracts the value of the second colour component parameter from the first colour component parameter. By passing the result of the subtraction as a parameter to the Math.Abs method the algorithm ensures only calculating absolute/positive values. In other words calculating the difference in value between colour component parameters.

Sample Image

Image Arithmetic: Multiply

if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Multiply)
{
    intResult = (int)((color1 / 255.0 * color2 / 255.0) * 255.0);
}

The Multiply algorithm divides each colour component parameter by a value of 255 and the proceeds to multiply the results of the division, the result is then further multiplied by a value of 255.

Sample Image

Image Arithmetic: Min

if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Min)
{
    intResult = (color1 < color2 ? color1 : color2);
}

The Min algorithm simply compares the two colour component parameters and returns the smallest value of the two.

Sample Image

Image Arithmetic: Max

if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Max)
{
    intResult = (color1 > color2 ? color1 : color2);
}

The Max algorithm, as can be expected, will produce the exact opposite result when compared to the Min algorithm. This algorithm compares the two colour component parameters and returns the larger value of the two.

Sample Image

Image Arithmetic: Amplitude

 else if (calculationType == ColorCalculationType.Amplitude) 
{ 
         intResult = (int)(Math.Sqrt(color1 * color1 +
                                     color2 * color2) /
                                     Math.Sqrt(2.0)); 
}

The Amplitude algorithm calculates the amplitude of the two colour component parameters by multiplying each colour component by itself and then sums the results. The last step divides the result thus far by the square root of two.

Sample Image

C# How to: Bitmap Colour Substitution implementing thresholds

Published March 16, 2013 Augmented Reality , C# , Code Samples , Extension Methods , Graphic Filters , Graphics , How to , Image Arithmetic , Image Filters , Image Processing , Learn Everyday , Microsoft , New Version , Opensource , Tip 41 Comments
Tags: 32Bit Argb, Alpha Red Green Blue, ARGB, ARGB Blending, Bitmap Filters, Bitmap.LockBits, BitmapData, C#, C# GDI, Code Sample, Color Filters, Color Substitution, Computer vision, Extension Methods, GDI, Graphic Filters, How to, Image Add, Image Algorithms, Image Filters, Image Manipulation, Image Transform, Machine vision, Open source, Pixel Manipulation, System.Drawing, System.Drawing.Bitmap

Article Purpose

This article is aimed at detailing how to implement the process of substituting the colour values that form part of a Bitmap image. Colour substitution is implemented by means of a threshold value. By implementing a threshold a range of similar colours can be substituted.

Sample source code

This article is accompanied by a sample source code Visual Studio project which is available for download here.

Using the sample Application

The provided sample source code builds a Windows Forms application which can be used to test/implement the concepts described in this article. The sample application enables the user to load an image file from the file system, the user can then specify the colour to replace, the replacement colour and the threshold to apply. The following image is a screenshot of the sample application in action.

The scenario detailed in the above screenshot shows the sample application being used to create an image where the sky has more of a bluish hue when compared to the original image.

Notice how replacement colour does not simply appear as a solid colour applied throughout. The replacement colour gets implemented matching the intensity of the colour being substituted.

The colour filter options:

The colour to replace was taken from the original image, the replacement colour is specified through a colour picker dialog. When a user clicks on either image displayed, the colour of the image pixel clicked on sets the value of the replacement colour. By adjusting the threshold value the user can specify how wide or narrow the range of colours to replace should be. The higher the threshold value, the wider the range of colours that will be replaced.

The resulting image can be saved by clicking the “Save Result” button. In order to apply another colour substitution on the resulting image click the button labelled “Set Result as Source”.

Colour Substitution Filter Data

The sample source code provides the definition for the ColorSubstitutionFilter class. The purpose of this class is to contain data required when applying colour substitution. The ColorSubstitutionFilter class is defined as follows:

public class ColorSubstitutionFilter
{
    private int thresholdValue = 10;
    public int ThresholdValue
    {
        get { return thresholdValue; }
        set { thresholdValue = value; }
    }

 
    private Color sourceColor = Color.White;
    public Color SourceColor
    {
        get { return sourceColor; }
        set { sourceColor = value; }
    }

 
    private Color newColor = Color.White;
    public Color NewColor
    {
        get { return newColor; }
        set { newColor = value; }
    }
}

To implement a colour substitution filter we first have to create an object instance of type ColorSubstitutionFilter. A colour substitution requires specifying a SourceColor, which is the colour to replace/substitute and a NewColour, which defines the colour that will replace the SourceColour. Also required is a ThresholdValue, which determines a range of colours based on the SourceColor.

Colour Substitution implemented as an Extension method

The sample source code defines the ColorSubstitution extension method which targets the Bitmap class. Invoking the ColorSubstitution extension method requires passing a parameter of type ColorSubstitutionFilter, which defines how colour substitution is to be implemented. The following code snippet contains the definition of the ColorSubstitution method.

public static Bitmap ColorSubstitution(this Bitmap sourceBitmap, ColorSubstitutionFilter filterData)
{
    Bitmap resultBitmap = new Bitmap(sourceBitmap.Width, sourceBitmap.Height, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

 
    BitmapData sourceData = sourceBitmap.LockBits(new Rectangle(0, 0, sourceBitmap.Width, sourceBitmap.Height),
                                                  ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);
    BitmapData resultData = resultBitmap.LockBits(new Rectangle(0, 0, resultBitmap.Width, resultBitmap.Height),
                                                  ImageLockMode.WriteOnly, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

 
    byte[] resultBuffer = new byte[resultData.Stride * resultData.Height];
    Marshal.Copy(sourceData.Scan0, resultBuffer, 0, resultBuffer.Length);

 
    sourceBitmap.UnlockBits(sourceData);

 
    byte sourceRed = 0, sourceGreen = 0, sourceBlue = 0, sourceAlpha = 0;
    int resultRed = 0, resultGreen = 0, resultBlue = 0;

 
    byte newRedValue = filterData.NewColor.R;
    byte newGreenValue = filterData.NewColor.G;
    byte newBlueValue = filterData.NewColor.B;

 
    byte redFilter = filterData.SourceColor.R;
    byte greenFilter = filterData.SourceColor.G;
    byte blueFilter = filterData.SourceColor.B;

 
    byte minValue = 0;
    byte maxValue = 255;

 
    for (int k = 0; k < resultBuffer.Length; k += 4)
   {
        sourceAlpha = resultBuffer[k + 3];

 
        if (sourceAlpha != 0)
       {
            sourceBlue = resultBuffer[k];
            sourceGreen = resultBuffer[k + 1];
            sourceRed = resultBuffer[k + 2];

 
            if ((sourceBlue < blueFilter + filterData.ThresholdValue &&
                    sourceBlue > blueFilter - filterData.ThresholdValue) &&

 
                (sourceGreen < greenFilter + filterData.ThresholdValue &&
                    sourceGreen > greenFilter - filterData.ThresholdValue) &&

 
                (sourceRed < redFilter + filterData.ThresholdValue &&
                    sourceRed > redFilter - filterData.ThresholdValue))
           {
                resultBlue = blueFilter - sourceBlue + newBlueValue;

 
                if (resultBlue > maxValue)
               { resultBlue = maxValue;}
                else if (resultBlue < minValue)
               { resultBlue = minValue;}

 
                resultGreen = greenFilter - sourceGreen + newGreenValue;

 
                if (resultGreen > maxValue)
               { resultGreen = maxValue;}
                else if (resultGreen < minValue)
               { resultGreen = minValue;}

 
                resultRed = redFilter - sourceRed + newRedValue;

 
                if (resultRed > maxValue)
               { resultRed = maxValue;}
                else if (resultRed < minValue)
               { resultRed = minValue;}

 
                resultBuffer[k] = (byte)resultBlue;
                resultBuffer[k + 1] = (byte)resultGreen;
                resultBuffer[k + 2] = (byte)resultRed;
                resultBuffer[k + 3] = sourceAlpha;
           }
       }
   }

 
    Marshal.Copy(resultBuffer, 0, resultData.Scan0, resultBuffer.Length);
    resultBitmap.UnlockBits(resultData);

 
    return resultBitmap;
}

The ColorSubstitution method can be labelled as immutable due to its implementation. Being immutable implies that the source/input data will not be modified, instead a new instance will be created reflecting the source data as modified by the operations performed in the particular method.

The first statement defined in the ColorSubstitution method body instantiates an instance of a new Bitmap, matching the size dimensions of the source Bitmap object. Next the method invokes the Bitmap.LockBits method on the source and result Bitmap instances. When invoking Bitmap.LockBits the underlying data representing a Bitmap will be locked in memory. Being locked in memory can also be described as signalling/preventing the Garbage Collector to not move around in memory the data being locked. Invoking Bitmap.UnlockBits results in the Garbage Collector functioning as per normal, moving data in memory and updating the relevant memory references when required.

The source code continues by copying all the bytes representing the source Bitmap to an array of bytes that represents the resulting Bitmap. At this stage the source and result Bitmaps are exactly identical and as yet unmodified. In order to determine which pixels based on colour should be modified the source code iterates through the byte array associated with the result Bitmap.

Notice how the for loop increments by 4 with each loop. The underlying data represents a 32 Bits per pixel Argb image, which equates to 8 bits/1 byte representing an individual colour component, either Alpha, Red, Green or Blue. Defining the for loop to increment by 4 results in each loop iterating 4 bytes or 32 bits, in essence 1 pixel.

Within the for loop we determine if the colour expressed by the current pixel adjusted by the threshold value forms part of the colour range that should be updated. It is important to remember that an individual colour component is a byte value and can only be set to a value between 0 and 255 inclusive.

The Implementation

The ColorSubstitution method is implemented by the sample source code through a Windows Forms application. The ColorSubstitution method requires that the source Bitmap specified must be formatted as a 32 Bpp Argb image. When the user loads a source image from the file system the sample application attempts to convert the selected image file by invoking the extension method Format32bppArgbCopy which targets the Bitmap class. The definition is as follows:

public static Bitmap Format32bppArgbCopy(this Bitmap sourceBitmap)
{
    Bitmap copyBitmap = new Bitmap(sourceBitmap.Width, sourceBitmap.Height, PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb);

             
    using (Graphics graphicsObject = Graphics.FromImage(copyBitmap))
    {
        graphicsObject.CompositingQuality = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.CompositingQuality.HighQuality;
        graphicsObject.InterpolationMode = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.InterpolationMode.HighQualityBicubic;
        graphicsObject.PixelOffsetMode = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.PixelOffsetMode.HighQuality;
        graphicsObject.SmoothingMode = System.Drawing.Drawing2D.SmoothingMode.HighQuality;

                 
        graphicsObject.DrawImage(sourceBitmap, new Rectangle(0, 0, sourceBitmap.Width, sourceBitmap.Height),
         new Rectangle(0, 0, sourceBitmap.Width, sourceBitmap.Height), GraphicsUnit.Pixel);
    }

 
    return copyBitmap;
}

Colour Substitution Examples

The following section illustrates a few examples of colour substitution result images. The source image features Bellis perennis also known as the common European Daisy (see Wikipedia). The image file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.5 Generic license. The original image can be downloaded here. The following image is a scaled down version of the original: