The Java Developers Almanac 1.4

Home > List of Packages > java.awt.image [21 examples] > Buffered Images [7 examples]

e667. Creating a Buffered Image from an Image

An Image object cannot be converted to a BufferedImage object. The closest equivalent is to create a buffered image and then draw the image on the buffered image. This example defines a method that does this.

    // This method returns a buffered image with the contents of an image
    public static BufferedImage toBufferedImage(Image image) {
        if (image instanceof BufferedImage) {
            return (BufferedImage)image;
        }
    
        // This code ensures that all the pixels in the image are loaded
        image = new ImageIcon(image).getImage();
    
        // Determine if the image has transparent pixels; for this method's
        // implementation, see e661 Determining If an Image Has Transparent Pixels
        boolean hasAlpha = hasAlpha(image);
    
        // Create a buffered image with a format that's compatible with the screen
        BufferedImage bimage = null;
        GraphicsEnvironment ge = GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
        try {
            // Determine the type of transparency of the new buffered image
            int transparency = Transparency.OPAQUE;
            if (hasAlpha) {
                transparency = Transparency.BITMASK;
            }
    
            // Create the buffered image
            GraphicsDevice gs = ge.getDefaultScreenDevice();
            GraphicsConfiguration gc = gs.getDefaultConfiguration();
            bimage = gc.createCompatibleImage(
                image.getWidth(null), image.getHeight(null), transparency);
        } catch (HeadlessException e) {
            // The system does not have a screen
        }
    
        if (bimage == null) {
            // Create a buffered image using the default color model
            int type = BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB;
            if (hasAlpha) {
                type = BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB;
            }
            bimage = new BufferedImage(image.getWidth(null), image.getHeight(null), type);
        }
    
        // Copy image to buffered image
        Graphics g = bimage.createGraphics();
    
        // Paint the image onto the buffered image
        g.drawImage(image, 0, 0, null);
        g.dispose();
    
        return bimage;
    }