Image not displaying at runtime C# WPF

Question

I have been trying to learn C# but I'm coming across a lot of problems. I am trying to display an image in WPF but for some reason, the image won't show! It appears on the Visual Studio editor but when I run the application it doesn't appear.

Here is some of my code:

This is how I'm trying to display the image:

<Image HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="100" Margin="273,147,0,0" 
       VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="100" Source="image.jpg"/>

I have also tried using this:

Source="pack://application:,,,/image.jpg"

Thanks for your help!

Have you tried searching SO? A quick search which may be of help reveals : http://stackoverflow.com/questions/11880946/how-to-load-image-to-wpf-in-runtime and http://stackoverflow.com/questions/15636047/image-in-wpf-button-not-visible-at-runtime — JARRRRG, Jun 05 '14 at 00:31
The trick is to add the image file to your Visual Studio project and set its Build Action to Resource (which it should be by default). — Clemens, Jun 05 '14 at 05:17

score 60 · Accepted Answer · edited Mar 10 '20 at 12:45

60

In your project:

Create a folder say "img", right click on it and select add existing item add image to folder
Go to properties of the added image, set Build Action as Resource and Copy To Output Directory as Copy if newer.

It worked for me.

In XAML

<Image HorizontalAlignment="Left"  Name="MyImg" Height="80" Margin="273,147,0,0" 
    VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="100" Source="/img/Desert.jpg"/>

edited Mar 10 '20 at 12:45

Eliahu Aaron

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answered Jun 05 '14 at 07:24

swapnil

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I had to set the Build Action to `Embedded Resource` – intrixius Mar 15 '19 at 10:51
1

I had to do several builds and rebuilds also cleaned up the `bin` and `obj` folder and finally checked the option "Copy always" for "Output Directory" to make it work eventually. And I can say the Image `Name`, `Width`, `Height`, etc. are not playing a role for displaying the image. What is essential here is to make the VS finally build the correct version with the image embedded in the executable. – Arsen Khachaturyan Mar 17 '20 at 15:39
For that Path you do not need to set to Resource, Content is enough. If you set it to Resource and 'Copy to output directory' true it will be compiled into the assembly and additionally copied to the output directory - so effectively shipped twice. – dsdel Jul 24 '20 at 06:53
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I also had to Build -> Clean Solution, Build Solution to make it work. – Upulie Han Aug 11 '20 at 06:01
Seems that someone at M$ still hasn't gotten the 'memo' - you MUST CLEAN and then RE-BUILD for the changes to take effect. Seems curiously odd, but this is what works. – Redgum Mar 04 '22 at 00:17

score 9 · Answer 2 · answered Jul 14 '21 at 09:41

9

If none of these work, try changing the Build Action to Content.

That's what worked for me after struggling for a long time with this.

answered Jul 14 '21 at 09:41

Scott Madeux

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Thanks. Tried `Resource` and `Embedded Resource` as suggested here and `Content` is the one that worked for me with .NET 6. – UchiTesting Mar 17 '22 at 16:40
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Content also works in VS 2022 with .NET 6. – Mike Upjohn Mar 17 '22 at 21:13
@MikeUpjohn Same for me. VS2022, tried most options and Content is the way to go. Maybe one time I will actually read up on what they mean :-)) – Xan-Kun Clark-Davis Apr 16 '22 at 20:27

score 8 · Answer 3 · answered Mar 28 '18 at 05:58

8

Go to the properties for the image in Visual Studio and change "Build Action" to "Resource" and "Copy to Output Directory" to "Copy if newer".

I had to do a rebuild, but then it worked. Cred to swapnil.

answered Mar 28 '18 at 05:58

Christoffer Eriksson

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score 2 · Answer 4 · answered Jun 05 '14 at 06:10

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please drag the image to a image source,it will be like this /img/image.jpg"/

<Image HorizontalAlignment="Left" Height="100" Margin="273,147,0,0" 
       VerticalAlignment="Top" Width="100" Source="/img/image.jpg"/>

answered Jun 05 '14 at 06:10

Harjeet Singh

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i did this bt it didn't work. syntax is correct but you nedd to change image properties. – swapnil Jun 05 '14 at 07:21

score 0 · Answer 5 · answered Apr 29 '22 at 02:45

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If none of the above works, try Rebuilding your application from the build menu. Not "Build", but "Rebuild"

answered Apr 29 '22 at 02:45

Tyler Pantuso

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score 0 · Answer 6 · answered May 28 '22 at 00:29

For example, this is your project structure

+ProjectName
+--+imagesFolder
|  +--amogus.png
|
+--App.xaml
+--MainWindow.xaml
+--etc.

and you want to access the to amogus.png in your xaml window, You have two ways:

note this way the imagesFolder will be visible in the release build to users

to set amogus.png Build Action to Content and Copy to Output Directory to Copy always more info, then rebuild from the build menu, then add this to the window xaml

    <Image Source="pack://siteoforigin:,,/imagesFolder/amogus.png" ></Image>

note this way the imagesFolder will be not visible in the release build to users

to set amogus.png Build Action to Resource and Copy to Output Directory to Do not copy or blank more info, then rebuild from the build menu, then add this to the window xaml

    <Image Source="/imagesFolder/amogus.png" ></Image>

more detail

Image not displaying at runtime C# WPF

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