Up until now, in my 2 prior articles, we seen how we can read a single property or get all an images properties:
Getting a Specific Image Property Using The GDI+ API
I thought I’d look at another approach to retrieving information about images. Previously, I demonstrated how one can get file properties (including images) by using plain VBA or PowerShell: Today, however, I thought I’d demonstrate using the GDI Plus API. This will be Part 1 in a series of posts on the GDI Plus…
Getting All of an Image's Properties Using The GDI+ API
Continuing on my multipart series on using the GDI+ APIs, after looking at how we can retrieve a single property as discussed in my previous article I thought I’d explore retrieving all of the available properties.
Today, I’m going to start showing you the real power of GDI+, we are going to examine deleting an image’s property.
The Code
The entire process revolves around the GdipRemovePropertyItem function. That said, once you alter the image, then you need to save it and to do so we use the GdipSaveImageToFile function. The issue here, complicating our life unnecessarily is the fact that GdipSaveImageToFile won’t allow overwriting/saving the currently open image file. So we have to create a temp image with the changes, close the image and then copy it over. Enough talk, here’s the code.
Option Explicit
'API Declarations, ENUMS, TYPES, Global Variables, ...
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Private Const GdiPlusVersion As Long = 1
Private Const ImageCodecBMP = "{557CF400-1A04-11D3-9A73-0000F81EF32E}"
Private Const ImageCodecGIF = "{557CF402-1A04-11D3-9A73-0000F81EF32E}"
Private Const ImageCodecJPG = "{557CF401-1A04-11D3-9A73-0000F81EF32E}"
Private Const ImageCodecPNG = "{557CF406-1A04-11D3-9A73-0000F81EF32E}"
Private Const ImageCodecTIF = "{557CF405-1A04-11D3-9A73-0000F81EF32E}"
Private Const EncoderQuality = "{1D5BE4B5-FA4A-452D-9CDD-5DB35105E7EB}"
Private Const EncoderCompression = "{E09D739D-CCD4-44EE-8EBA-3FBF8BE4FC58}"
Private Const TiffCompressionNone = 6
Private Const EncoderParameterValueTypeLong = 4
Private Type GUID
Data1 As Long
Data2 As Integer
Data3 As Integer
Data4(0 To 7) As Byte
End Type
Private Type GDIPlusStartupInput
GdiPlusVersion As Long
DebugEventCallback As Long
SuppressBackgroundThread As Long
SuppressExternalCodecs As Long
End Type
Private Type EncoderParameter
GUID As GUID
NumberOfValues As Long
type As Long
Value As Long
End Type
Private Type EncoderParameters
Count As Long
Parameter(15) As EncoderParameter
End Type
'GDI+ Status Constants
Private Enum Status
'https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/api/gdiplustypes/ne-gdiplustypes-status
OK = 0
GenericError = 1
InvalidParameter = 2
OutOfMemory = 3
ObjectBusy = 4
InsufficientBuffer = 5
NotImplemented = 6
Win32Error = 7
WrongState = 8
Aborted = 9
FileNotFound = 10
ValueOverflow = 11
AccessDenied = 12
UnknownImageFormat = 13
FontFamilyNotFound = 14
FontStyleNotFound = 15
NotTrueTypeFont = 16
UnsupportedGdiplusVersion = 17
GdiplusNotInitialized = 18
PropertyNotFound = 19
PropertyNotSupported = 20
ProfileNotFound = 21
End Enum
'Image Property Tag Constants
Public Enum PropertyTagId
'https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/gdiplus/-gdiplus-constant-property-tags-in-alphabetical-order
'https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/gdiplus/-gdiplus-constant-property-tags-in-numerical-order
' 0x0... => &H...
' https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/windows/win32/gdiplus/-gdiplus-constant-property-item-descriptions
GpsVer = 0 '&H0&
GpsLatitudeRef = 1 '&H1&
GpsLatitude = 2 '&H2&
GpsLongitudeRef = 3 '&H3&
GpsLongitude = 4 '&H4&
GpsAltitudeRef = 5 '&H5&
GpsAltitude = 6 '&H6&
GpsGpsTime = 7 '&H7&
GpsGpsSatellites = 8 '&H8&
GpsGpsStatus = 9 '&H9&
GpsGpsMeasureMode = 10 '&HA&
GpsGpsDop = 11 '&HB&
GpsSpeedRef = 12 '&HC&
GpsSpeed = 13 '&HD&
GpsTrackRef = 14 '&HE&
GpsTrack = 15 '&HF&
GpsImgDirRef = 16 '&H10&
GpsImgDir = 17 '&H11&
GpsMapDatum = 18 '&H12&
GpsDestLatRef = 19 '&H13&
GpsDestLat = 20 '&H14&
GpsDestLongRef = 21 '&H15&
GpsDestLong = 22 '&H16
GpsDestBearRef = 23 '&H17&
GpsDestBear = 24 '&H18&
GpsDestDistRef = 25 '&H19&
GpsDestDist = 26 '&H1A&
NewSubfileType = 254 '&HFE&
SubfileType = 255 '&HFF&
ImageWidth = 256 '&H100&
ImageHeight = 257 '&H101&
BitsPerSample = 258 '&H102&
Compression = 259 '&H103&
PhotometricInterp = 262 '&H106&
ThreshHolding = 263 '&H107&
CellWidth = 264 '&H108&
CellHeight = 265 '&H109&
FillOrder = 266 '&H10A&
DocumentName = 269 '&H10D&
ImageDescription = 270 '&H10E&
EquipMake = 271 '&H10F&
EquipModel = 272 '&H110&
StripOffsets = 273 '&H111&
Orientation = 274 '&H112&
SamplesPerPixel = 277 '&H115&
RowsPerStrip = 278 '&H116&
StripBytesCount = 279 '&H117&
MinSampleValue = 280 '&H118&
MaxSampleValue = 281 '&H119&
XResolution = 282 '&H11A&
YResolution = 283 '&H11B&
PlanarConfig = 284 '&H11C&
PageName = 285 '&H11D&
XPosition = 286 '&H11E&
YPosition = 287 '&H11F&
FreeOffset = 288 '&H120&
FreeByteCounts = 289 '&H121&
GrayResponseUnit = 290 '&H122&
GrayResponseCurve = 291 '&H123&
T4Option = 292 '&H124&
T6Option = 293 '&H125&
ResolutionUnit = 296 '&H128&
PageNumber = 297 '&H129&
TransferFunction = 301 '&H12D&
SoftwareUsed = 305 '&H131&
DateTime = 306 '&H132&
Artist = 315 '&H13B&
HostComputer = 316 '&H13C&
Predictor = 317 '&H13D&
WhitePoint = 318 '&H13E&
PrimaryChromaticities = 319 '&H13F&
ColorMap = 320 '&H140&
HalftoneHints = 321 '&H141&
TileWidth = 322 '&H142&
TileLength = 323 '&H143&
TileOffset = 324 '&H144&
TileByteCounts = 325 '&H145&
InkSet = 332 '&H14C&
InkNames = 333 '&H14D&
NumberOfInks = 334 '&H14E&
DotRange = 336 '&H150&
TargetPrinter = 337 '&H151&
ExtraSamples = 338 '&H152&
SampleFormat = 339 '&H153&
TransferRange = 342 '&H156&
JPEGProc = 512 '&H200&
JPEGInterFormat = 513 '&H201&
JPEGInterLength = 514 '&H202&
JPEGRestartInterval = 515 '&H203&
JPEGLosslessPredictors = 517 '&H205&
JPEGPointTransforms = 518 '&H206&
JPEGQTables = 519 '&H207&
JPEGDCTables = 520 '&H208&
JPEGACTables = 521 '&H209&
YCbCrCoefficients = 529 '&H211&
YCbCrSubsampling = 530 '&H212&
YCbCrPositioning = 531 '&H213&
REFBlackWhite = 532 '&H214&
Gamma = 769 '&H301&
ICCProfileDescriptor = 770 '&H302&
SRGBRenderingIntent = 771 '&H303&
ImageTitle = 800 '&H320&
ResolutionXUnit = 20481 '&H5001&
ResolutionYUnit = 20482 '&H5002&
ResolutionXLengthUnit = 20483 '&H5003&
ResolutionYLengthUnit = 20484 '&H5004&
PrintFlags = 20485 '&H5005&
PrintFlagsVersion = 20486 '&H5006&
PrintFlagsCrop = 20487 '&H5007&
PrintFlagsBleedWidth = 20488 '&H5008&
PrintFlagsBleedWidthScale = 20489 '&H5009&
HalftoneLPI = 20490 '&H500A&
HalftoneLPIUnit = 20491 '&H500B&
HalftoneDegree = 20492 '&H500C&
HalftoneShape = 20493 '&H500D&
HalftoneMisc = 20494 '&H500E&
HalftoneScreen = 20495 '&H500F&
JPEGQuality = 20496 '&H5010&
GridSize = 20497 '&H5011&
ThumbnailFormat = 20498 '&H5012&
ThumbnailWidth = 20499 '&H5013&
ThumbnailHeight = 20500 '&H5014&
ThumbnailColorDepth = 20501 '&H5015&
ThumbnailPlanes = 20502 '&H5016&
ThumbnailRawBytes = 20503 '&H5017&
ThumbnailSize = 20504 '&H5018&
ThumbnailCompressedSize = 20505 '&H5019&
ColorTransferFunction = 20506 '&H501A&
ThumbnailData = 20507 '&H501B&
ThumbnailImageWidth = 20512 '&H5020&
ThumbnailImageHeight = 20513 '&H5021&
ThumbnailBitsPerSample = 20514 '&H5022&
ThumbnailCompression = 20515 '&H5023&
ThumbnailPhotometricInterp = 20516 '&H5024&
ThumbnailImageDescription = 20517 '&H5025&
ThumbnailEquipMake = 20518 '&H5026&
ThumbnailEquipModel = 20519 '&H5027&
ThumbnailStripOffsets = 20520 '&H5028&
ThumbnailOrientation = 20521 '&H5029&
ThumbnailSamplesPerPixel = 20522 '&H502A&
ThumbnailRowsPerStrip = 20523 '&H502B&
ThumbnailStripBytesCount = 20524 '&H502C&
ThumbnailResolutionX = 20525 '&H502D&
ThumbnailResolutionY = 20526 '&H502E&
ThumbnailPlanarConfig = 20527 '&H502F&
ThumbnailResolutionUnit = 20528 '&H5030&
ThumbnailTransferFunction = 20529 '&H5031&
ThumbnailSoftwareUsed = 20530 '&H5032&
ThumbnailDateTime = 20531 '&H5033&
ThumbnailArtist = 20532 '&H5034&
ThumbnailWhitePoint = 20533 '&H5035&
ThumbnailPrimaryChromaticities = 20534 '&H5036&
ThumbnailYCbCrCoefficients = 20535 '&H5037&
ThumbnailYCbCrSubsampling = 20536 '&H5038&
ThumbnailYCbCrPositioning = 20537 '&H5039&
ThumbnailRefBlackWhite = 20538 '&H503A&
ThumbnailCopyRight = 20539 '&H503B&
LuminanceTable = 20624 '&H5090&
ChrominanceTable = 20625 '&H5091&
FrameDelay = 20736 '&H5100&
LoopCount = 20737 '&H5101&
GlobalPalette = 20738 '&H5102&
IndexBackground = 20739 '&H5103&
IndexTransparent = 20740 '&H5104&
PixelUnit = 20752 '&H5110&
PixelPerUnitX = 20753 '&H5111&
PixelPerUnitY = 20754 '&H5112&
PaletteHistogram = 20755 '&H5113&
Copyright = 33432 '&H8298&
ExifExposureTime = 33434 '&H829A&
ExifFNumber = 33437 '&H829D&
ExifIFD = 34665 '&H8769&
ICCProfile = 34675 '&H8773&
ExifExposureProg = 34850 '&H8822&
ExifSpectralSense = 34852 '&H8824&
GpsIFD = 34853 '&H8825&
ExifISOSpeed = 34855 '&H8827&
ExifOECF = 34856 '&H8828&
ExifVer = 36864 '&H9000&
ExifDTOrig = 36867 '&H9003&
ExifDTDigitized = 36868 '&H9004&
ExifCompConfig = 37121 '&H9101&
ExifCompBPP = 37122 '&H9102&
ExifShutterSpeed = 37377 '&H9201&
ExifAperture = 37378 '&H9202&
ExifBrightness = 37379 '&H9203&
ExifExposureBias = 37380 '&H9204&
ExifMaxAperture = 37381 '&H9205&
ExifSubjectDist = 37382 '&H9206&
ExifMeteringMode = 37383 '&H9207&
ExifLightSource = 37384 '&H9208&
ExifFlash = 37385 '&H9209&
ExifFocalLength = 37386 '&H920A&
ExifMakerNote = 37500 '&H927C&
ExifUserComment = 37510 '&H9286&
ExifDTSubsec = 37520 '&H9290&
ExifDTOrigSS = 37521 '&H9291&
ExifDTDigSS = 37522 '&H9292&
ExifFPXVer = 40960 '&HA000&
ExifColorSpace = 40961 '&HA001&
ExifPixXDim = 40962 '&HA002&
ExifPixYDim = 40963 '&HA003&
ExifRelatedWav = 40964 '&HA004&
ExifInterop = 40965 '&HA005&
ExifFlashEnergy = 41483 '&HA20B&
ExifSpatialFR = 41484 '&HA20C&
ExifFocalXRes = 41486 '&HA20E&
ExifFocalYRes = 41487 '&HA20F&
ExifFocalResUnit = 41488 '&HA210&
ExifSubjectLoc = 41492 '&HA214&
ExifExposureIndex = 41493 '&HA215&
ExifSensingMethod = 41495 '&HA217&
ExifFileSource = 41728 '&HA300&
ExifSceneType = 41729 '&HA301&
ExifCfaPattern = 41730 '&HA302&
End Enum
'GDI - General
Private Declare Function GdiplusStartup Lib "gdiplus" (ByRef token As Long, ByRef lpInput As GDIPlusStartupInput, Optional ByRef lpOutput As Any) As Status
Private Declare Function GdiplusShutdown Lib "gdiplus" (ByVal token As Long) As Status
Private Declare Function GdipCreateBitmapFromFile Lib "gdiplus" (ByVal FileName As Long, ByRef Bitmap As Long) As Status
Private Declare Function GdipDisposeImage Lib "gdiplus" (ByVal image As Long) As Status
'GDI - Image / Properties
Private Declare Function GdipGetPropertyItemSize Lib "gdiplus" (ByVal image As Long, ByVal propId As Long, ByRef Size As Long) As Status
Private Declare Function GdipRemovePropertyItem Lib "gdiplus" (ByVal image As Long, ByVal propId As Long) As Status
Private Declare Function GdipSaveImageToFile Lib "gdiplus" (ByVal image As Long, ByVal FileName As Long, clsidEncoder As GUID, encoderParams As Any) As Status
'Helper API Declarations
Private Declare Function CLSIDFromString Lib "ole32" (ByVal str As Long, id As GUID) As Long
Dim lGDIpToken As Long
Dim bGDIpInitialized As Boolean
Dim lBitmap As Long
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Private Function GDIErrorToString(ByVal lGDIError As Status) As String
Select Case lGDIError
Case GenericError
GDIErrorToString = "Generic Error."
Case InvalidParameter
GDIErrorToString = "Invalid Parameter."
Case OutOfMemory
GDIErrorToString = "Out Of Memory."
Case ObjectBusy
GDIErrorToString = "Object Busy."
Case InsufficientBuffer
GDIErrorToString = "Insufficient Buffer."
Case NotImplemented
GDIErrorToString = "Not Implemented."
Case Win32Error
GDIErrorToString = "Win32 Error."
Case WrongState
GDIErrorToString = "Wrong State."
Case Aborted
GDIErrorToString = "Aborted."
Case FileNotFound
GDIErrorToString = "File Not Found."
Case ValueOverflow
GDIErrorToString = "Value Overflow."
Case AccessDenied
GDIErrorToString = "Access Denied."
Case UnknownImageFormat
GDIErrorToString = "Unknown Image Format."
Case FontFamilyNotFound
GDIErrorToString = "FontFamily Not Found."
Case FontStyleNotFound
GDIErrorToString = "FontStyle Not Found."
Case NotTrueTypeFont
GDIErrorToString = "Not TrueType Font."
Case UnsupportedGdiplusVersion
GDIErrorToString = "Unsupported Gdiplus Version."
Case GdiplusNotInitialized
GDIErrorToString = "Gdiplus Not Initialized."
Case PropertyNotFound
GDIErrorToString = "Property Not Found."
Case PropertyNotSupported
GDIErrorToString = "Property Not Supported."
Case Else
GDIErrorToString = "Unknown Error."
End Select
End Function
'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
' Procedure : DeleteImageProperty
' Author : Daniel Pineault, CARDA Consultants Inc.
' Website : http://www.cardaconsultants.com
' Purpose : Delete the specified property for a given image file
' Copyright : The following is release as Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International
' (CC BY-SA 4.0) - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/
'
' Input Variables:
' ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
' sFile : Fully qualified path and filename of the image file to get info about
' lPropertyTagId : Property to delete
'
' Usage:
' ~~~~~~
' Call DeleteImageProperty("C:\Temp\IMG01 - Copy.jpg", EquipModel)
'
' Revision History:
' Rev Date(yyyy-mm-dd) Description
' **************************************************************************************
' 1 2022-01-08 Initial Blog Release
'---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Public Function DeleteImageProperty(ByVal sFile As String, ByVal lPropertyTagId As PropertyTagId) As Boolean
On Error GoTo Error_Handler
Dim GDIpStartupInput As GDIPlusStartupInput
Dim GDIStatus As Status
Dim tEncoder As GUID
Dim tParams As EncoderParameters
Dim sTmp As String
Dim sExt As String
Dim lPropertyItemSize As Long
'Start GDI
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If bGDIpInitialized = False Then
GDIpStartupInput.GdiPlusVersion = 1
GDIStatus = GdiplusStartup(lGDIpToken, GDIpStartupInput, ByVal 0)
If GDIStatus <> Status.OK Then
MsgBox "Unable to start the GDI+ API" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & GDIErrorToString(GDIStatus), vbCritical Or vbOKOnly, "Operation Aborted"
GoTo Error_Handler_Exit
Else
bGDIpInitialized = True
End If
End If
'Load our Image to work with
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
'In case we already have something in memory let's dispose of it properly
If lBitmap <> 0 Then
GDIStatus = GdipDisposeImage(lBitmap)
If GDIStatus <> Status.OK Then
MsgBox "Unable to dispose of the current image in memory" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & GDIErrorToString(GDIStatus), vbCritical Or vbOKOnly, "Operation Aborted"
GoTo Error_Handler_Exit
End If
End If
'Now let's proceed with loading the actual image we want to work with
GDIStatus = GdipCreateBitmapFromFile(StrPtr(sFile), lBitmap)
If GDIStatus <> Status.OK Then
MsgBox "Unable to load the specified image" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & GDIErrorToString(GDIStatus), vbCritical Or vbOKOnly, "Operation Aborted"
GoTo Error_Handler_Exit
End If
'Work with the image
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If lBitmap Then
'Let see if we even have a value for the property before attempting to delete it!
GDIStatus = GdipGetPropertyItemSize(lBitmap, lPropertyTagId, lPropertyItemSize)
If GDIStatus <> Status.OK Then
MsgBox "Unable to get the specified property size" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & GDIErrorToString(GDIStatus), vbCritical Or vbOKOnly, "Operation Aborted"
GoTo Error_Handler_Exit
End If
If (lPropertyItemSize > 0) Then
GDIStatus = GdipRemovePropertyItem(lBitmap, lPropertyTagId)
If GDIStatus <> Status.OK Then
MsgBox "Unable to delete the specified image property" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & GDIErrorToString(GDIStatus), vbCritical Or vbOKOnly, "Operation Aborted"
GoTo Error_Handler_Exit
End If
'Save the changes
' Cannot save over the file itself, so create a tmp file, release the current one then copy the image over
sExt = Mid(sFile, InStrRev(sFile, ".") + 1)
Select Case sExt
Case "bmp", "dib"
CLSIDFromString StrPtr(ImageCodecBMP), tEncoder
Case "gif"
CLSIDFromString StrPtr(ImageCodecGIF), tEncoder
Case "jpg", "jpeg", "jpe", "jfif"
CLSIDFromString StrPtr(ImageCodecJPG), tEncoder
With tParams
.Count = 1
.Parameter(0).NumberOfValues = 1
.Parameter(0).type = EncoderParameterValueTypeLong
.Parameter(0).Value = VarPtr(100) '100% Quality
CLSIDFromString StrPtr(EncoderQuality), .Parameter(0).GUID
End With
Case "png"
CLSIDFromString StrPtr(ImageCodecPNG), tEncoder
Case "tif", "tiff"
CLSIDFromString StrPtr(ImageCodecTIF), tEncoder
With tParams
.Count = 1
.Parameter(0).NumberOfValues = 1
.Parameter(0).type = EncoderParameterValueTypeLong
.Parameter(0).Value = VarPtr(TiffCompressionNone)
CLSIDFromString StrPtr(EncoderCompression), .Parameter(0).GUID
End With
Case Else
Exit Function
End Select
sTmp = Environ("Temp") & "\TempSave." & sExt
GDIStatus = GdipSaveImageToFile(lBitmap, StrPtr(sTmp), tEncoder, ByVal tParams)
If GDIStatus <> Status.OK Then
MsgBox "Unable to save the image" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & GDIErrorToString(GDIStatus), vbCritical Or vbOKOnly, "Operation Aborted"
Exit Function
End If
End If
End If
Error_Handler_Exit:
On Error Resume Next
'Shutdown GDI
'-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
If bGDIpInitialized = True Then
If lBitmap <> 0 Then
'Release the current file
GDIStatus = GdipDisposeImage(lBitmap)
If GDIStatus <> Status.OK Then
MsgBox "Unable to dispose of the processed image" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & GDIErrorToString(GDIStatus), vbCritical Or vbOKOnly, "Operation Aborted"
Exit Function
Else
lBitmap = 0
'Overwrite the file with our Temp File and Cleanup
If sTmp <> "" Then
Call FileCopy(sTmp, sFile)
If Len(Dir(sFile)) > 0 Then
DeleteImageProperty = True
Kill sTmp
End If
End If
End If
End If
GDIStatus = GdiplusShutdown(lGDIpToken)
If GDIStatus <> Status.OK Then
MsgBox "Unable to shutdown the GDI+ API" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & GDIErrorToString(GDIStatus), vbCritical Or vbOKOnly, "Operation Aborted"
Exit Function
Else
bGDIpInitialized = False
End If
End If
Exit Function
Error_Handler:
MsgBox "The following error has occured" & vbCrLf & vbCrLf & _
"Error Number: " & Err.Number & vbCrLf & _
"Error Source: DeleteImageProperty" & vbCrLf & _
"Error Description: " & Err.Description & _
Switch(Erl = 0, "", Erl <> 0, vbCrLf & "Line No: " & Erl) _
, vbOKOnly + vbCritical, "An Error has Occured!"
Resume Error_Handler_Exit
End Function
Now, with a single line of code you can delete a property from an image file.
If DeleteImageProperty("C:\Temp\IMG01 - Copy.jpg", EquipModel) = False Then
MsgBox "Unable to delete the specified property?"
Else
MsgBox "Property deleted."
End If
Stay tuned as there is more to come!
A Few Resources on the Subject
Status (gdiplustypes.h) - Win32 apps
The Status enumeration indicates the result of a Windows GDI+ method call.
Image Property Tag Type Constants (Gdiplusimaging.h) - Win32 apps
You can store and retrieve image metadata with the help of a PropertyItem object. The type data member of a PropertyItem object specifies the data type of the values stored in the value data member of that same PropertyItem object.
Property Tags in Numerical Order - Win32 apps
The following table lists the Windows GDI+ image property tags in numerical order.