ImageGear .NET v25.2 - Updated
Initializing Assemblies
Developer Guide > How to Work with... > Initializing Assemblies

ImageGear assemblies require explicit initialization at application startup.

Initialization Required Ordering

The order in which these assemblies are initialized is important, because it defines format detection priority. The following order is recommended when initializing the assemblies needed in your application startup to ensure proper detection:

Camera Raw formats should be initialized before Common formats, because many camera raw formats use custom versions of TIFF. If the application initializes Common formats before Camera Raw formats, ImageGear can incorrectly detect Camera Raw files as TIFF. Advanced formats will usually be initialized last, to allow for faster detection of Camera Raw and Common formats. Office formats and XPS format have similar signatures in the file's header. To ensure proper detection, Office formats should be initialized before XPS if you need to add support for both of them.

Camera Raw Formats

Assembly: ImageGear.Formats.CameraRaw.dll

Supported Formats: CR2CRWDNG, Hasselblad RAWHeaderless Imacon RawKodakRAWLeicaRAW, MEF, MOS, MRW, NEF, ORF, PEF, PhaseOneRaw, RAF, SonyRaw

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     ImGearCameraRawFormats.Initialize();
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ImGearCameraRawFormats.Initialize()
End Sub

Headerless Camera Raw format doesn't have a file header, which makes its detection less reliable. Detection of this format in ImageGear is enabled by default. It is recommended that you move them to the end of the global formats list by adding the following piece of code below the initialization line:

C#
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IImGearFormat headerlessRawFormat =ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Get(ImGearFormats.HeaderlessRaw);
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Remove(ImGearFormats.HeaderlessRaw);
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(headerlessRawFormat);
VB.NET
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Dim headerlessRawFormat As IImGearFormat = ImGearFileFormats.Filters.[Get](ImGearFormats.HeaderlessRaw)
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Remove(ImGearFormats.HeaderlessRaw)
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(headerlessRawFormat)

Common File Formats

Assembly: ImageGear.Formats.Common.dll

Supported Formats: BMPCLPCURDIBGIFICO, JFIF, JPEGPNGRAWTIFF

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize()
End Sub

The Common File Formats component additionally provides two alternative file format implementations for JPEG and PNG. These file filters are based on native binary code which is unlike the default filters implemented on .NET. The difference between default and native implementation of JPEG and PNG is discussed in Native JPEG & PNG Filters.

ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize() method initializes the file filter list with default JPEG and PNG filters. Update the filter list using ImGearFileFilters.Set(IImGearFormat format) method, which should be called after initialization to replace the default filters with native.

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.
 
     // Initialize filter list with default set of common file formats.
     ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();
   
    // Replace default (managed) JPEG and PNG file formats with native implementation.
    ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Set(ImGearCommonFormats.CreateJpegFormat());
    ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Set(ImGearCommonFormats.CreatePngFormat());
 
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats

Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
    ' License scope.

    ' Initialize filter list with default set of common file formats.
    ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize()

    ‘ Replace default (managed) JPEG and PNG file formats with native implementation.
    ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Set(ImGearCommonFormats.CreateJpegFormat())
    ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Set(ImGearCommonFormats.CreatePngFormat())

End Sub

Advanced File Formats

Assembly: ImageGear.Formats.Advanced.dll 

Supported Formats: BTRCAL, CR2, CRW, CUT, DCX, GEM, IFF, IMGIMR, IMTIOCA, KFX, LV, MODCA, MSP, NCR, PBMPCDPCXPGMPNMPPMPSB, PSDPTOCA, RAS, Scitex CT, SGI, TGA, WBMP, WPG, XBMXPMXWD

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     ImGearAdvancedFormats.Initialize();
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ImGearAdvancedFormats.Initialize()
End Sub

CUT format doesn't have a specific signature in the file's header, which makes its detection less reliable. Detection of this format in ImageGear is disabled by default. If you enable detection of this format, it is recommended that you move it to the end of the global formats list by adding the following piece of code below the initialization line:

C#
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IImGearFormat cutFormat =ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Get(ImGearFormats.CUT);
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Remove(ImGearFormats.CUT);
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(cutFormat);
VB.NET
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Dim cutFormat As IImGearFormat = ImGearFileFormats.Filters.[Get](ImGearFormats.CUT)
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Remove(ImGearFormats.CUT)
ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(cutFormat)

PDF and PS Formats

Assembly: ImageGear.Formats.Pdf.dll

This assembly requires both initialization and termination. Furthermore, the ImGearPDF.Initialize method does not add PDF and PostScript formats to the global format filter list. PDF and PostScript formats should be added explicitly before initialization, see PDF and PS in the "Additional Support" section, below.

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
using ImageGear.Formats.PDF;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     ImGearPDF.Initialize();
}

public void ApplicationEndPoint()
{
     // Terminate PDF Formats.
     ImGearPDF.Terminate();
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ImGearPDF.Initialize()
End Sub

Public Sub ApplicationEndPoint()
            ' Terminate PDF Formats.
            ImGearPDF.Terminate()
End Sub

Simplified Metadata

Assembly: ImageGear.Formats.SimplifiedMetadata.dll

Supported Metadata Structures: EXIF Metadata StructureIPTC Metadata StructureTIFF Metadata StructureXMP Metadata Structure

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     ImGearSimplifiedMetadata.Initialize();
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ImGearSimplifiedMetadata.Initialize()
End Sub

Additional Support

The following ImageGear components also need to be explicitly added at application startup if required. The goal is to load the ImageGear capabilities for working with a specific set of formats that your application aims to process and that are not included in the assemblies initialized.

Before adding any of these components, you need to have at least initialized Common Formats.

PDF and PS

Namespace: ImageGear.Formats.PDF

Supported Formats: PDFPS

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
using ImageGear.Formats.PDF;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     // Require at least Common Formats.
     ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();
     // Add support for PDF and PS
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearPDF.CreatePDFFormat());
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearPDF.CreatePSFormat());

     // Require PDF Formats.
     ImGearPDF.Initialize();
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Imports ImageGear.Formats.PDF
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ' Require at least Common Formats.
            ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize()

            ' Add support for PDF and PS
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearPDF.CreatePDFFormat())
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearPDF.CreatePSFormat())
 
            ' Require PDF Formats.
            ImGearPDF.Initialize()

End Sub

CAD/Vector Formats

Namespaces:

ImageGear.Formats.CAD

ImageGear.Formats.CGM

ImageGear.Formats.DWF

ImageGear.Formats.HPGL

ImageGear.Formats.SVG

ImageGear.Formats.U3D

Supported Formats: CGMDGN, DWFDWG, DXFHPGLSVG U3D

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
using ImageGear.Formats.CAD;
using ImageGear.Formats.DWF;
using ImageGear.Formats.SVG;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     // Require at least Common Formats.
     ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();

     // Add support for DWG, DWF and SVG.
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearCAD.CreateDWGFormat());
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearSVG.CreateSvgFormat());
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearDWF.CreateDWFFormat());
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Imports ImageGear.Formats.CAD
Imports ImageGear.Formats.DWF
Imports ImageGear.Formats.SVG
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ' Require at least Common Formats.
            ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize()

            ' Add support for DWG, DWF and SVG.
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearCAD.CreateDWGFormat())
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearSVG.CreateSvgFormat())
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearDWF.CreateDWFFormat())

End Sub

Medical (DICOM)

Namespace: ImageGear.Formats.DICOM

Supported Formats: DICOM 

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
using ImageGear.Formats.DICOM;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     // Require at least Common Formats.
     ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();

     // Add support for DICOM.
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearDICOM.CreateDICOMFormat());
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Imports ImageGear.Formats.DICOM
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ' Require at least Common Formats.
            ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize()

            ' Add support for DICOM.
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearDICOM.CreateDICOMFormat())

End Sub

Optimized JPEG and JPEG 2000

Namespace: ImageGear.Formats.JPEG2K

Supported Formats:  JPEGJPEG 2000 (Part-1 JP2, Part-2 JPX and Codestream J2K)

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
using ImageGear.Formats.JPEG2K;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     // Require at least Common Formats
     ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();

     // Replace default (managed) ImageGear JPEG filter with optimized (native) filter.
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Set(ImGearCommonFormats.CreateJpegFormat());

     // Add support for JP2 and JPX.
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearJPEG2K.CreateJP2Format());
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearJPEG2K.CreateJPXFormat());
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Imports ImageGear.Formats.JPEG2K
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ' Require at least Common Formats
            ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize()
                                   
            ' Replace default (managed) ImageGear JPEG filter with optimized (native) filter.
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Set(ImGearCommonFormats.CreateJpegFormat())

            ' Add support for JP2 and JPX.
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearJPEG2K.CreateJP2Format())
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearJPEG2K.CreateJPXFormat())

End Sub

Office

Namespace: ImageGear.Formats.Office

Supported Formats: DOCXDOC, PPTXPPT, XLSXXLS

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
using ImageGear.Formats.Office;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     // Require at least Common Formats.
     ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();

     // Add support for Office documents DOCX/DOC, PPTX/PPT and XLSX/XLS.
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearOffice.CreateWordFormat());
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearOffice.CreatePowerPointFormat());
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearOffice.CreateExcelFormat());
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Imports ImageGear.Formats.Office
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ' Require at least Common Formats.
            ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize()

            ' Add support for Office documents DOCX/DOC, PPTX/PPT and XLSX/XLS.
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearOffice.CreateWordFormat())
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearOffice.CreatePowerPointFormat())
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearOffice.CreateExcelFormat())

End Sub

XPS

Assembly: ImageGear.Wpf.dll

Namespace: ImageGear.WPF.XPS

Supported Formats: XPS

C#
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using ImageGear.Core;
using ImageGear.Formats;
using ImageGear.WPF.XPS;
public void ApplicationStartupMethod()
{
     // License scope.

     // Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
     // Require at least Common Formats.
     ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize();

     // Add support for XPS.
     ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearXPS.CreateXPSFormat());
}
VB.NET
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Imports ImageGear.Core
Imports ImageGear.Formats
Imports ImageGear.Formats.XPS
Public Sub ApplicationStartupMethod()
            ' License scope.

            ' Initialize assemblies following the order recommended.
            ' Require at least Common Formats.
            ImGearCommonFormats.Initialize()

            ' Add support for XPS.
            ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Add(ImGearXPS.CreateXPSFormat())

End Sub

Office formats and XPS format have similar signatures in the file's header. To ensure proper detection, Office formats should be initialized before XPS if you need to add support for both of them. To use XPS, you need to add the assembly ImageGear.Wpf.dll.

Global and Local Initialization

After initializing ImageGear format filters, we can specify filter control parameters. Many format filters in ImageGear have control parameters that affect filter operations, such as image reading and writing. Those parameters may be declared by the format specification, or they may be specific to the format implementation by ImageGear. There are two ways to specify filter control parameters:

Specify Parameters Globally

This affects all format reading and writing operations, and threads in the process. Use the Filters static property of the ImGearFileFormats class to set parameters globally:

C#
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IImGearFormat jpgFormat = ImGearFileFormats.Filters.Get(ImGearFormats.JPG);
ImGearControlParameter Param = jpgFormat.Parameters.GetByName("SaveType");
// Lossless.
Param.Value = 1;
VB.NET
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Dim jpgFormat As IImGearFormat = ImGearFileFormats.Filters.[Get](ImGearFormats.JPG)
Dim Param As ImGearControlParameter = jpgFormat.Parameters.GetByName("SaveType")
' Lossless.
Param.Value = 1

Specify Parameters Locally

This affects only one reading or writing operation, and thus can be used for setting different parameters in different threads. To specify local parameters, create an instance of ImGearFileFilters class, assign it to ImGearLoadOptions.Filters property or ImGearSaveOptions.Filters property, and pass the Load or Save options object to the reading or writing method, correspondingly:

C#
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ImGearFileFilters localFilters = new ImGearFileFilters();
IImGearFormat jpgFormat = localFilters.Get(ImGearFormats.JPG);
ImGearControlParameter controlParam = jpgFormat.Parameters.GetByName("SaveType");
// Lossless.
controlParam .Value = 1;
ImGearSaveOptions SaveOptions = new ImGearSaveOptions();
SaveOptions.Filters = localFilters;
VB.NET
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Dim localFilters As New ImGearFileFilters()
Dim jpgFormat As IImGearFormat = localFilters.[Get](ImGearFormats.JPG)
Dim controlParam As ImGearControlParameter = jpgFormat.Parameters.GetByName("SaveType")
' Lossless.
controlParam.Value = 1
Dim SaveOptions As New ImGearSaveOptions()
SaveOptions.Filters = localFilters
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