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The following WIC Tools are now available from the Microsoft Download Center... with source code!
- WICGrinder (updated!)
- WICExplorer
- Sample CODEC, metadata handler, pixel formats
Click here to download the code!
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Well, it's finally happened... we've created a WIC Forum on the MSDN Forums page. So, if you have any questions about WIC, please post them there. Enjoy!
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Many folks have tried to use the WPF Imaging InPlaceBitmapMetadataWriter class without much success. Unfortunately the SDK sample provided only shows how to use this with PNG files... and this is less than ideal since folks are mainly interested in metadata on their JPEGs and TIFFs. The InPlaceBitmapMetadataWriter is a way to invoke WIC's IWICFastMetadataEncoder, or as we call it "the FME". Basically this is a way to add metadata to a file very quickly without re-encoding the file. However, this only works if the file has metadata padding in it. Padding is extra space that the metadata handler sets aside in the file for writing out metadata in the future. Say I want to change an author form "Robert Wlodarczyk" to "Robert A. Wlodarczyk". Since the length of the new string is longer, without padding the metadata handler can't squish this data in to the file without moving what's after the metadata. As shipped in Windows Vista and WPF 3.0, padding is only supported in IFD, EXIF, and XMP metadata formats. Generally cameras do not produce files with padding in it, so this must be added initially. So, you need to re-encode the file initially. Luckily the WIC JPEG CODEC is able to do this in a manner which does not cause the image to lose any quality. Since IFD, EXIF, and XMP live only in TIFFs, JPEGs, and HD Photo (or at least as was shipped), should only use the InPlaceBitmapMetadataWriter with TIFFs, JPEGs, HD Photo. tExT is also supported by the InPlaceBitmapMetadataWriter... and this is for PNGs. Within the Windows Vista, the property dialog and Photo Gallery both use the FME to write out metadata quickly. Upon the first metadata edit, padding is added so that each subsequent metadata update is faster than the first. Note, the sample only covers JPEG, but it can easily be adapted to TIFF or HD Photo.
If you've struggled with the InPlaceBitmapMetadataWriter and want to get the sample... grab it from here.
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Last week was the Microsoft Pro Photo Summit. Below are links to some coverage from the event:
PopPhoto (1), (2)
Blurberati
Photo Business Forum
Dispatches (1), (2), (3), (4)
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At the recent Photo Metadata Conference, Josh Weisberg from Microsoft represented WIC there. Here's some coverage... and some more...
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It's great to see that now Wikipedia knows something about WIC. :)
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Have you been eye-ing the new HD Photo format? Are you an avid user of Adobe's Photoshop? Well, now you can give HD Photo a whirl in Photoshop CS2 (or the CS3 beta). Download the HD Photo Plugin for Adobe Photoshop.
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Just announced at MSR Techfest yesterday... Ever wonder how you view gigapixel images? Or how do you even go about creating gigapixel images using somewhat commodity equipment? MSR just released a tool that's built on the WIC APIs and uses HD Photo as its backing store. Check out their website.
Enjoy!
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For those of you using CMYK images in your workflow using WIC, you'll want to download the CMYK profile that was posted a few days ago. Enjoy.
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Some of you who know me better know that I'm a huge DJ Tiësto fan... even before he was vote #1 DJ in the world. Having been a bad fan lately and not checking out the fan website recently, I figured I'd check it today. To my surprise there's now a Windows Vista Sidebar gadget as well as a very cool application (which looks like it was developed in WPF!). The sidebar gadget tells you about upcoming events, some news, and lets you stream music from the website. The application lets you play some more music (streamed from the website), video some videos, and read more about Tiësto. If you're into Trance or just want to check out these apps, here's the direct link.
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Today the FAQ about PhotoInfo was posted. Check it out here. Of interest it talks about how to read the Maker Note data once a file was edited using WIC.
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If you're looking to add IPTC and other pieces of metadata from Windows Explorer, Microsoft PhotoInfo is the tool for you! Check it out.
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Many folks in the forums (most recent post) have been asking how to interop BitmapSources (from WPF) with the Bitmap object that was known in .NET 1.0, 1.1, and 2.0. Being that this has come up in the forums many times, I figured I'd put together a small sample. The sample a WinForm app utilizing the ElementHost from the WinFormsIntegration to host the WPF Image element.
I've put the code here. Enjoy!
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The WIC package installer is now available on MSDN:
x86: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=8E011506-6307-445B-B950-215DEF45DDD8&displaylang=en
x64: http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=F64654AC-6E26-41D9-A90A-0E7783B864EE&displaylang=en
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There's a tech preview of PhotoSynth available! Go check it out!
