--- title: "How to: Load a Picture Using the Designer" description: Learn how to use the Windows Forms PictureBox control to load and display a picture on a form at design time. ms.date: "03/30/2017" helpviewer_keywords: - "picture formats" - "images [Windows Forms], displaying on Windows Forms" - "pictures [Windows Forms], displaying" - "forms [Windows Forms], displaying images" - "PictureBox control [Windows Forms], adding pictures" ms.assetid: 4dc7b973-afb1-4276-8322-20825af96655 --- # How to: Load a Picture Using the Designer (Windows Forms) With the Windows Forms control, you can load and display a picture on a form at design time by setting the property to a valid picture. The following table shows the acceptable file types. |Type|File name extension| |---|---| |Bitmap|.bmp| |Icon|.ico| |GIF|.gif| |Metafile|.wmf| |JPEG|.jpg| ## To display a picture at design time 1. Draw a control on a form. 2. In the **Properties** window, select the property, then select the ellipsis button to display the **Open** dialog box. 3. If you're looking for a specific file type (for example, .gif files), select it in the **Files of type** box. 4. Select the file you want to display. ## To clear the picture at design time 1. In the **Properties** window, select the property. Right-click the small thumbnail image that appears to the left of the name of the image object, and then choose **Reset**. ## See also - - [PictureBox Control Overview](picturebox-control-overview-windows-forms.md) - [How to: Modify the Size or Placement of a Picture at Run Time](how-to-modify-the-size-or-placement-of-a-picture-at-run-time-windows-forms.md) - [How to: Set Pictures at Run Time](how-to-set-pictures-at-run-time-windows-forms.md) - [PictureBox Control](picturebox-control-windows-forms.md)