# ImageWriter

VTKExamples/Cxx/IO/ImageWriter

### Description

A generic function `WriteImage()` is provided that selects what image writer to use based on the file extenstion and then writes the render window to the file. The following formats are supported: BMP, JPEG, PNM, PNG, PostScript, TIFF.

If no file extension is specified, PNG is assumed.

Other Languages

See (Python)

### Code

ImageWriter.cxx

    #include <vtkActor.h>
    #include <vtkNamedColors.h>
    #include <vtkPolyDataMapper.h>
    #include <vtkProperty.h>
    #include <vtkRenderWindow.h>
    #include <vtkRenderWindowInteractor.h>
    #include <vtkRenderer.h>
    #include <vtkSmartPointer.h>
    #include <vtkSphereSource.h>

    #include <vtkBMPWriter.h>
    #include <vtkImageWriter.h>
    #include <vtkJPEGWriter.h>
    #include <vtkPNGWriter.h>
    #include <vtkPNMWriter.h>
    #include <vtkPostScriptWriter.h>
    #include <vtkTIFFWriter.h>
    #include <vtkWindowToImageFilter.h>

    #include <array>
    #include <locale>
    #include <string>

    namespace
    {

    /**
    *  Write the render window view to an image file.
    *
    *  Image types supported are:
    *    BMP, JPEG, PNM, PNG, PostScript, TIFF.
    *  The default parameters are used for all writers, change as needed.
    *
    *  @param fileName The file name, if no extension then PNG is assumed.
    *  @param renWin The render window.
    *  @param rgba Used to set the buffer type.
    *
    */
    void WriteImage(std::string const& fileName, vtkRenderWindow* renWin,
                    bool rgba = true);
    }

    int main(int, char* [])
    {

      vtkSmartPointer<vtkNamedColors> colors =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkNamedColors>::New();

      // Set the background color.
      std::array<unsigned char , 4> bkg{{26, 51, 102, 255}};
        colors->SetColor("BkgColor", bkg.data());

      // Create the rendering window, renderer, and interactive renderer.
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer> ren = vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderer>::New();
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow> renWin =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindow>::New();
      renWin->AddRenderer(ren);
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor> iren =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkRenderWindowInteractor>::New();
      iren->SetRenderWindow(renWin);

      // Create the source.
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkSphereSource> source =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkSphereSource>::New();
      source->SetCenter(0, 0, 0);
      source->SetRadius(5.0);

      // mapper
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper> mapper =
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkPolyDataMapper>::New();
      mapper->SetInputConnection(source->GetOutputPort());

      // actor
      vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor> actor = vtkSmartPointer<vtkActor>::New();
      actor->SetMapper(mapper);

      // color the actor
      actor->GetProperty()->SetColor(colors->GetColor3d("Yellow").GetData());

      // assign actor to the renderer
      ren->AddActor(actor);
      ren->SetBackground(colors->GetColor3d("BkgColor").GetData());

      renWin->Render();

      std::vector<std::string> ext = {{""},      {".png"}, {".jpg"}, {".ps"},
                                      {".tiff"}, {".bmp"}, {".pnm"}};
      std::vector<std::string> filenames;
      for (auto e : ext)
      {
        filenames.push_back("ImageWriter" + e);
      }
      filenames[0] = filenames[0] + '1';
      for (auto f : filenames)
      {
        WriteImage(f, renWin, false);
      }

      iren->Initialize();
      iren->Start();

      return EXIT_SUCCESS;
    }

    namespace
    {

    void WriteImage(std::string const& fileName, vtkRenderWindow* renWin, bool rgba)
    {
      if (!fileName.empty())
      {
        std::string fn = fileName;
        std::string path;
        std::string ext;
        std::size_t found = fn.find_last_of(".");
        if (found == std::string::npos)
        {
          path = fn;
          ext = ".png";
          fn += ext;
        }
        else
        {
          path = fileName.substr(0, found);
          ext = fileName.substr(found, fileName.size());
        }
        std::locale loc;
        std::transform(ext.begin(), ext.end(), ext.begin(),
                       [=](char const& c) { return std::tolower(c, loc); });
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkImageWriter> writer =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkImageWriter>::New();
        if (ext == ".bmp")
        {
          writer = vtkSmartPointer<vtkBMPWriter>::New();
        }
        else if (ext == ".jpg")
        {
          writer = vtkSmartPointer<vtkJPEGWriter>::New();
        }
        else if (ext == ".pnm")
        {
          writer = vtkSmartPointer<vtkPNMWriter>::New();
        }
        else if (ext == ".ps")
        {
          if (rgba)
          {
            rgba = false;
          }
          writer = vtkSmartPointer<vtkPostScriptWriter>::New();
        }
        else if (ext == ".tiff")
        {
          writer = vtkSmartPointer<vtkTIFFWriter>::New();
        }
        else
        {
          writer = vtkSmartPointer<vtkPNGWriter>::New();
        }
        vtkSmartPointer<vtkWindowToImageFilter> window_to_image_filter =
          vtkSmartPointer<vtkWindowToImageFilter>::New();
        window_to_image_filter->SetInput(renWin);
        window_to_image_filter->SetScale(1); // image quality
        if (rgba)
        {
          window_to_image_filter->SetInputBufferTypeToRGBA();
        }
        else
        {
          window_to_image_filter->SetInputBufferTypeToRGB();
        }
        // Read from the front buffer.
        window_to_image_filter->ReadFrontBufferOff();
        window_to_image_filter->Update();

        writer->SetFileName(fn.c_str());
        writer->SetInputConnection(window_to_image_filter->GetOutputPort());
        writer->Write();
      }
      else
      {
        std::cerr << "No filename provided." << std::endl;
      }

      return;
    }
    }

### CMakeLists.txt

    cmake_minimum_required(VERSION 2.8)

    PROJECT(ImageWriter)

    find_package(VTK REQUIRED)
    include(${VTK_USE_FILE})

    add_executable(ImageWriter MACOSX_BUNDLE ImageWriter.cxx )

    target_link_libraries(ImageWriter ${VTK_LIBRARIES})

### Download and Build ImageWriter

Click here to download ImageWriter and its CMakeLists.txt file. Once the tarball ImageWriter.tar has been downloaded and extracted,

    cd ImageWriter/build

If VTK is installed:

    cmake ..

If VTK is not installed but compiled on your system, you will need to specify the path to your VTK build:

    cmake -DVTK_DIR:PATH=/home/me/vtk_build ..

Build the project:

    make

and run it:

    ./ImageWriter

WINDOWS USERS

Be sure to add the VTK bin directory to your path. This will resolve the VTK dll's at run time.