How to copy an image to the system clipboard?

Question

Hello, i am looking for a way to copy an image to the system clipboard in unity. I know that i can copy text with GUIUtility.systemCopyBuffer, but it only accepts strings. Is there a way to do this in unity?

Answer 1

Answer by neosca · Oct 04, 2017 at 06:46 AM

Try this to set the image to clipboard:

    Clipboard.SetImage(replacementImage);

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.clipboard.setimage(v=vs.110).aspx

And this to retreive the image from clipboard:

     returnImage = Clipboard.GetImage();

https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/system.windows.forms.clipboard.getimage(v=vs.110).aspx

Add comment · Show 4 · Share

Shinho · Oct 04, 2017 at 10:12 PM 0

Share

Thanks for your answer @neosca . I have tried using that approach, but I was checking for Clipboard.ContainsImage() which broke every clipboard behavior on the system. Your comment made me test for getting the image without testing if the clipboard contained an image, which result in some data, now i'm ready for the next step converting the bitmap to the texture2d. $$anonymous$$any thanks.

alelepd · Apr 26, 2018 at 03:57 AM 0

Share

Humm I wonder how do you make it work, unity doesn't have any Clipboard.GetImage(); support. Or maybe am I missing something?

It would be great if you could explain how is this working. Also, does this work on $$anonymous$$ac? (I guess no, but I am just curious).

Hellium alelepd · Apr 26, 2018 at 07:01 AM 0

Share

As indicated in the documentation page of Clipboard.SetImage, this function lies in the System.Windows.Forms namespace.

Thus, you will have to import it in your script, and add the appropriate dll in your Plugins folder. You can find the $$anonymous$$ono dll used by Unity in the following folder:

<path_to_Unity>\Editor\Data\$$anonymous$$ono\lib\mono\2.0

I don't know if you will be able to run it on $$anonymous$$ac.

alelepd Hellium · Apr 28, 2018 at 12:59 AM 0

Share

Thanks. I imported the System.Windows.Forms in my project (as well as System.Drawing). Still no luck running the code.

Answer 2

In order to complete @neosca 's answer, here is a complete step-by-step solution:

1. In your project, create a Plugins folder

2. Copy in this folder the following Mono dll:

- <path_to_Unity>\Editor\Data\Mono\lib\mono\2.0\System.Drawing.dll

- <path_to_Unity>\Editor\Data\Mono\lib\mono\2.0\System.Windows.Forms.dll

3. In your code, add the following function.

 private void CopyToClipboard( Texture2D texture )
 {
     System.IO.Stream s = new System.IO.MemoryStream(texture.width * texture.height);
     byte[] bits = texture.EncodeToJPG();
     s.Write(bits, 0, bits.Length);
     System.Drawing.Image image = System.Drawing.Image.FromStream(s);
     System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard.SetImage(image);
     s.Close();
     s.Dispose();
 }

4. If you want to test easily this function:

1. Create a new RenderTexture in your project (Create > Render texture)

2. Create a new camera in your scene, remove its audio listener, and provide the RenderTexture in the RenderTarget field

3. Create a new script called CopyTextureToClipboard and attach it to your camera / an empty, without forgetting to provide the same RenderTexture as the camera's, and press F12 to copy a screenshot into your clipboard:

 using System.Collections;
 using UnityEngine;
 using System.Windows.Forms;
 using System.Drawing;
 using System.IO;
 
 public class CopyTextureToClipboard : MonoBehaviour {
 
     public RenderTexture rendertexture;
     
     private Texture2D CaptureScreenshot()
     {
         Texture2D texture = new Texture2D(rendertexture.width, rendertexture.height);
         RenderTexture.active = rendertexture;
         texture.ReadPixels(new Rect(0, 0, rendertexture.width, rendertexture.height), 0, 0);
         texture.Apply();
         RenderTexture.active = null;
 
         return texture;
     }
 
     private void CopyToClipboard( Texture2D texture )
     {
         Stream s = new MemoryStream(texture.width * texture.height);
         byte[] bits = texture.EncodeToJPG();
         s.Write(bits, 0, bits.Length);
         Image image = Image.FromStream(s);
         Clipboard.SetImage(image);
         s.Close();
         s.Dispose();
     }
 
     // Update is called once per frame
     void Update ()
     {
         if( Input.GetKeyDown( KeyCode.F12 ))
         {
             CopyToClipboard(CaptureScreenshot());
         }
     }
 }

Answer 3

Answer by Shinho · Apr 26, 2018 at 07:54 AM

There's some relevant info here. https://stackoverflow.com/questions/46576473/c-sharp-clipboard-getimage-from-photoshop-region-returns-a-b-w-image I was able to copy the image but still has some artifacts, and its hard to retrieve which type of image is coming in data.

Add comment · Show 1 · Share

alelepd · Apr 28, 2018 at 01:01 AM 0

Share

I get this error anytime I try to do something (like running your code example) that uses System.Windows.Form: "EntryPointNotFoundException: InstallTrackingHandler System.Windows.Forms.CarbonInternal.Dnd..cctor ()"

I tried by changing the API Compatibility to "Net 2.0" (ins$$anonymous$$d of Net 2.0 Subset) but the code doesn't work either. I am not sure if this will ever work on $$anonymous$$ac.

Answer 4

Answer by dbdenny · May 26 at 08:34 AM

Thanks to @neosca 's answer, I know how to achieve the sysem's clipboard.

And I have another solution to make my code with System.Windows.Forms.Clipboard and System.Drawing.Image pass the compilation, without copying any dll plugins, that is, use a csc.rsp file in the Unity Project:

1) Find the location of .asmdef file

2) In that directory, create a csc.rsp file, and edit it with notepad or something else

3) Copy following lines to it.

-r:System.Windows.Forms.dll

-r:System.Drawing.dll

4) Back to Unity, refresh and recompile

Add comment · Share

How to copy an image to the system clipboard?

4 Replies

Your answer

Follow this Question

Related Questions