Create an image from a non-visible AWT Component?

Question

I\'m trying to create an image (screen-shot) of a non-visible AWT component. I can\'t use the Robot classes\' screen capture functionality because the component

Answer 1

Component has a method paintAll(Graphics) (as you already have found). That method will paint itself on the passed graphics. But we have to pre-configure the graphics before we call the paint method. That's what I found about the AWT Component rendering at java.sun.com:

When AWT invokes this method, the Graphics object parameter is pre-configured with the appropriate state for drawing on this particular component:

• The Graphics object's color is set to the component's foreground property.
• The Graphics object's font is set to the component's font property.
• The Graphics object's translation is set such that the coordinate (0,0) represents the upper left corner of the component.
• The Graphics object's clip rectangle is set to the area of the component that is in need of repainting.

So, this is our resulting method:

public static BufferedImage componentToImage(Component component, Rectangle region)
{
    BufferedImage img = new BufferedImage(component.getWidth(), component.getHeight(), BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_ARGB_PRE);
    Graphics g = img.getGraphics();
    g.setColor(component.getForeground());
    g.setFont(component.getFont());
    component.paintAll(g);
    g.dispose();
    if (region == null)
    {
        return img;
    }
    return img.getSubimage(region.x, region.y, region.width, region.height);
}

This is also the better way instead of using Robot for the visible components.

---

EDIT:

A long time ago I used the code I posted here above, and it worked, but now not. So I searched further. I have a tested, working way. It is dirty, but works. The Idea of it is making a JDialog, put it somewhere out of the Screen bounds, set it visible, and then draw it on the graphics.

Here is the code:

public static BufferedImage componentToImageWithSwing(Component component, Rectangle region) {
    BufferedImage img = new BufferedImage(component.getWidth(), component.getHeight(), BufferedImage.TYPE_INT_RGB);
    Graphics g = img.createGraphics();

    // Real render
    if (component.getPreferredSize().height == 0 && component.getPreferredSize().width == 0)
    {
        component.setPreferredSize(component.getSize());
    }

    JDialog f = new JDialog();
    JPanel p = new JPanel();
    p.add(component);
    f.add(p);
    f.pack();
    f.setLocation(-f.getWidth() - 10, -f.getHeight() -10);
    f.setVisible(true);
    p.paintAll(g);
    f.dispose();
    // ---

    g.dispose();
    if (region == null) {
        return img;
    }
    return img.getSubimage(region.x, region.y, region.width, region.height);
}

So, this will work also on Windows and Mac. The other answer was to draw it on a virtual screen. But this doesn't need it.