ImageEn offers two methods to add image, shape, line and text objects to an image that be moved, sized and rotated to generate a single merged image. There are the older TImageEnVect Objects and the newer TImageEnView Layers introduced in v7.0.0. Moving forward, our efforts will be going with the TIELayers, so if you have older code using TImageEnVect, you may want to transition it. This guide is to help you through the process.



TIELayers offer a number of improvements over the older TImageEnVect Objects:
◼Object oriented design: Each layer is a programming object (of type TIELayer) and a descendent class, e.g. TIEImageLayer for images layers, TIETextLayer for text ones, etc.
◼Improved quality and styling: All layers support conistent methods for borders, properties, gradients, etc, and use GDI+ for quality and performance
◼All layers types can be freely rotated in code or by user interaction
◼100 built-in vector shapes
◼Layers of an image can be previewed in a TImageEnLayerMView
◼Vector output to SVF and PDF files
◼Loading and saving from Photoshop PSD
◼Layer masking

At present, TIELayers do not include the following features available in TImageEnVect:
◼No curved text

Of course, because TIELayers use a much newer design, there will be a number of changes needed to your code if you are transitioning from TImageEnVect. The main difference is that TImageEnVect used properties to modify objects, whereas with TImageEnView, all layers are an object, e.g. TIEImageLayer or TIETextLayer (of an ancestor class TIELayer).

Demos

Some code comparison is given in the demo:
Demos\XLegacy_Demos\VectorEditor\ImageEnVect_vs_ImageEnView\VectvsView.dpr

Comparison

Compare these code blocks:

// TImageEnVect: Set the width of the object just inserted
idx := ImageEnVect1.GetObjFromID( IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT );
ImageEnVect1.ObjWidth[ idx ] := 100;

// TIELayers: Set the width of the layer just inserted
ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.Width := 100;


// TImageEnVect: Set the pen/border of the first object after the background
idx := ImageEnVect1.GetObjFromIndex( 0 );
ImageEnVect1.ObjPenColor[ idx ] := clGreen;

// TIELayers: Set the pen/border of the first layer after the background
// Note: The background is an image layer (layer 0), so the first layer after that would be 1
ImageEnView1.Layers[1].BorderColor := clGreen;


// TImageEnVect: Set the text of the first object (which is of type iekTEXT)
idx := ImageEnVect1.GetObjFromIndex( 0 );
ImageEnVect1.ObjText[ idx ] := 'ABC';

// TIELayers: Set the text of the first layer after the background
// Check type for safety
if ImageEnView1.Layers[1] is TIETextLayer then
  TIETextLayer( ImageEnView1.Layers[1]).Text := 'ABC';


// TImageEnVect: Set border color to Green for all selected objects
for i := 0 to ImageEnVect1.SelObjectsCount - 1 do
  ImageEnVect1.ObjPenColor[ ImageEnVect1.SelObjects[i] ] := clGreen;

// TIELayers: Set border color to Green for all selected layers
for i := 0 to ImageEnView1.LayersCount - 1 do
  if ImageEnView1.Layers[i].Selected then
    ImageEnView1.Layers[i].BorderColor := clGreen;
ImageEnView1.Update();

// Or you can just use ImageEnView1.LayersSetProperties( LYR_SELECTED_LAYERS, IELP_BorderColor, clGreen );


// TImageEnVect: Add a row of ten boxes
ImageEnVect1.RemoveAllObjects();
for i := 1 to 10 do
begin
  ImageEnVect1.ObjPenWidth[IEV_NEXT_INSERTED_OBJECT]]  := 2;
  ImageEnVect1.ObjBrushColor[IEV_NEXT_INSERTED_OBJECT] := clYellow;
  x := i * 100;
  y := 100;
  ImageEnVect1.AddNewObject( iekBOX, Rect( x, y, x + Box_Width, y + Box_Height), clRed );
end;

// TIELayer: Add a row of ten boxes
ImageEnView1.LayersClear( False );
for i := 1 to 10 do
begin
  x := i * 100;
  y := 100;
  ImageEnView1.LayersAdd( iesRectangle, Rect( x, y, x + Box_Width, y + Box_Height), clRed );
  // Newly added layer becomes "CurrentLayer"
  ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.BorderWidth = 2;
  ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.FillColor = clYellow;
end;
ImageEnView1.Update();


// TImageEnVect: Add a "Highlight" box
ImageEnVect1.ObjKind[-1]   := iekBOX;
ImageEnVect1.ObjLeft[-1]   := x;
ImageEnVect1.ObjTop[-1]    := y;
ImageEnVect1.ObjWidth[-1]  := width;
ImageEnVect1.ObjHeight[-1] := height;
ImageEnVect1.ObjBoxHighlight[-1] := true;
ImageEnVect1.ObjBrushColor[-1] := clYellow;
ImageEnVect1.AddNewObject();

// TIELayers: Add a "Highlight" box
ImageEnView1.LayersAdd( iesRectangle );
ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.PosX        := x;
ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.PosY        := y;
ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.Width       := width;
ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.Height      := height;
ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.BorderColor := clNone;
ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.FillColor   := clYellow;
ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer.Opacity     := 0.5;
ImageEnView1.Update();


// Add a red, borderless text box
hobj := ImageEnVect1.AddNewObject(iekMEMO, Rect(x, y, x+width, y+height), clWhite);
ImageEnVect1.ObjText[hobj]       := 'This is a test';
ImageEnVect1.ObjFontName[hobj]   := 'Tahoma';
ImageEnVect1.ObjFontHeight[hobj] := 12;
ImageEnVect1.ObjPenColor[hobj]   := clBlack;
ImageEnVect1.ObjBrushStyle[hobj] := bsSolid;
ImageEnVect1.ObjBrushColor[hobj] := clRed;
ImageEnVect1.ObjMemoCharsBrushStyle[hobj] := bsSolid;

// Add a red, borderless text box
ImageEnView1.LayersAdd( ielkText, Rect(x, y, x+width, y+height));
With TIETextLayer( ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer ) do
begin
  Text        := 'This is a test';
  Font.Name   := 'Tahoma';
  Font.Height := 12;
  Font.Color  := clBlack;
  BorderColor := clNone;
  FillColor   := clRed;
end;
ImageEnView1.Update();



// Add a line object to a TImageEnVect from x1,y1 to x2,y2
with ImageEnVect1 do
begin
  AddNewObject(); // first create the object, then set its properties
  ObjKind[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := iekLINE;
  ObjLeft[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := x1;
  ObjTop[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT]  := x2;
  ObjWidth[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := abs( x2 - x1);
  ObjHeight[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := abs( y2 - y1);
  ObjPenColor[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := clRed;
  ObjPenWidth[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := 3;
end;

// Add a line layer to a TImageEnView from x1,y1 to x2,y2
ImageEnView1.LayersAdd( ielkLine );
with TIELineLayer( ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer ) do
begin
  LinePoint1 := Point( x1, y1 );
  LinePoint2 := Point( x2, y2 );
  LineColor  := clRed;
  LineWidth  := 3;
end;
ImageEnView1.Update();


// Add an arrow to the current TImageEnVect line
ImageEnVect1.ObjBeginShape[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := iesOUTARROW;
ImageEnVect1.ObjBrushStyle[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := bsSolid;
ImageEnVect1.ObjBrushColor[IEV_PREVIOUS_INSERTED_OBJECT] := clWhite;

// Add an arrow to the current TImageEnView line layer
if ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer is TIELineLayer then
  TIELineLayer( ImageEnView1.CurrentLayer ).StartShape := ieesArrow;


// Three ways to mark an area of the image with a red box...

myRect := Rect( x, y, x + width, y + height );

// Draw onto bitmap
with ImageEnView1.IEBitmap.Canvas do
begin
  Pen.Color := clRed;
  Pen.Width := 4;
  Brush.Style := bsClear;
  Rectangle( myRect );
end;
ImageEnView1.Update();

// Use rectangle shape layer
ImageEnView1.LayersAdd( iesRectangle, myRect, clRed, 4 );

// Use TImageEnVect Box Object
ImageEnVect1.ObjPenWidth[-1] := 4;
ImageEnVect1.AddNewObject(iekBOX, myRect, clRed);

Transferring Object Data

TImageEnView can load IEV or ALL vector files using LayersImport:

// Import from an IEV file
ImageEnView1.LayersImport( 'C:\Vect.iev' );

// Import from an IEV stream
ImageEnView1.LayersImport( '', myStream );

The objects will be converted to compatible layer types. You can also copy objects from a TImageEnVect directly into a TImageEnView (converting them into layers) using CopyAllObjectsTo:

// Copy background image
ImageEnView1.IEBitmap.Assign( ImageEnVect1.Layers[0].Bitmap );

// Add objects as layers
ImageEnVect1.CopyAllObjectsTo( ImageEnView1 );

Transitioning your Code

As advised earlier, because TIELayers use a newer object oriented design, there will be a number of changes needed to your code if you are transitioning from TImageEnVect. The following tables outline the equivalent TIELayer code for all properties, methods and events of TImageEnVect, but please let us know on our forum if you are transitioning, and we will help you through the process.

Objects Types

Display

User Interaction

Accessing Objects

Editing Objects

Rendering and Copying

Input/Output

Clipboard

Object Properties

Measurement

Grips

Selection

Undo/Redo

Others

Events

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