docs-desktop/dotnet-desktop-guide/net/winforms/controls/how-to-add-a-picture-to-a-control.md

title, description, ms.date, dev_langs, helpviewer_keywords

title	description	ms.date	dev_langs	helpviewer_keywords
Display an image on a control	Learn how to display an image on a Windows Form control. Many controls, such as the PictureBox, can display an image.	10/26/2020	csharp vb	Button control [Windows Forms], images Windows Forms controls, images controls [Windows Forms], images images [Windows Forms], Windows Forms contr ols examples [Windows Forms], controls

How to display an image on a control (Windows Forms .NET)

Several Windows Forms controls can display images. These images can be icons that clarify the purpose of the control, such as a diskette icon on a button denoting the Save command. Alternatively, the icons can be background images to give the control the appearance and behavior you want.

[!INCLUDE desktop guide under construction]

Designer

In the Properties window of Visual Studio, select the Image or BackgroundImage property of the control, and then select the ellipsis () to display the Select Resource dialog box and then select the image you want to display.

:::image type="content" source="media/how-to-add-a-picture-to-a-control/properties-image.png" alt-text="Properties dialog with image property selected":::

Programmatic

Set the control's Image or BackgroundImage property to an object of type xref:System.Drawing.Image. Generally, you'll be loading the image from a file by using the xref:System.Drawing.Image.FromFile%2A method.

In the following code example, the path set for the location of the image is the My Pictures folder. Most computers running the Windows operating system include this directory. This also enables users with minimal system access levels to run the application safely. The following code example requires that you already have a form with a xref:System.Windows.Forms.PictureBox control added.

// Replace the image named below with your own icon.
// Note the escape character used (@) when specifying the path.
pictureBox1.Image = Image.FromFile
   (System.Environment.GetFolderPath
   (System.Environment.SpecialFolder.MyPictures)
   + @"\Image.gif");

' Replace the image named below with your own icon.
PictureBox1.Image = Image.FromFile _
   (System.Environment.GetFolderPath _
   (System.Environment.SpecialFolder.MyPictures) _
   & "\Image.gif")

See also

• xref:System.Drawing.Image.FromFile%2A?displayProperty=fullName
• xref:System.Drawing.Image?displayProperty=fullName
• xref:System.Windows.Forms.Control.BackgroundImage%2A?displayProperty=fullName