Tinting Image in Java improvement

Question

I looked for an easy way to tint an image in Java but I found nothing that suited my needs. I went to the following solution:

First create a new Image that serves as

Answer 1

Essentially, you need to use a little black magic and it wouldn't hurt to have a sacrifice or two on hand...

public class TestTint {

    public static void main(String[] args) {
        new TestTint();
    }

    public TestTint() {
        EventQueue.invokeLater(new Runnable() {
            @Override
            public void run() {
                try {
                    UIManager.setLookAndFeel(UIManager.getSystemLookAndFeelClassName());
                } catch (Exception ex) {
                }

                JFrame frame = new JFrame("Testing");
                frame.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
                frame.setLayout(new BorderLayout());
                frame.add(new TestPane());
                frame.pack();
                frame.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
                frame.setVisible(true);
            }
        });
    }

    public static GraphicsConfiguration getGraphicsConfiguration() {
        return GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment().getDefaultScreenDevice().getDefaultConfiguration();
    }

    public static BufferedImage createCompatibleImage(int width, int height, int transparency) {
        BufferedImage image = getGraphicsConfiguration().createCompatibleImage(width, height, transparency);
        image.coerceData(true);
        return image;
    }

    public static void applyQualityRenderingHints(Graphics2D g2d) {
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ALPHA_INTERPOLATION, RenderingHints.VALUE_ALPHA_INTERPOLATION_QUALITY);
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_ANTIALIASING, RenderingHints.VALUE_ANTIALIAS_ON);
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_COLOR_RENDERING, RenderingHints.VALUE_COLOR_RENDER_QUALITY);
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_DITHERING, RenderingHints.VALUE_DITHER_ENABLE);
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_FRACTIONALMETRICS, RenderingHints.VALUE_FRACTIONALMETRICS_ON);
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_INTERPOLATION, RenderingHints.VALUE_INTERPOLATION_BILINEAR);
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_RENDERING, RenderingHints.VALUE_RENDER_QUALITY);
        g2d.setRenderingHint(RenderingHints.KEY_STROKE_CONTROL, RenderingHints.VALUE_STROKE_PURE);
    }

    public static BufferedImage generateMask(BufferedImage imgSource, Color color, float alpha) {
        int imgWidth = imgSource.getWidth();
        int imgHeight = imgSource.getHeight();

        BufferedImage imgMask = createCompatibleImage(imgWidth, imgHeight, Transparency.TRANSLUCENT);
        Graphics2D g2 = imgMask.createGraphics();
        applyQualityRenderingHints(g2);

        g2.drawImage(imgSource, 0, 0, null);
        g2.setComposite(AlphaComposite.getInstance(AlphaComposite.SRC_IN, alpha));
        g2.setColor(color);

        g2.fillRect(0, 0, imgSource.getWidth(), imgSource.getHeight());
        g2.dispose();

        return imgMask;
    }

    public BufferedImage tint(BufferedImage master, BufferedImage tint) {
        int imgWidth = master.getWidth();
        int imgHeight = master.getHeight();

        BufferedImage tinted = createCompatibleImage(imgWidth, imgHeight, Transparency.TRANSLUCENT);
        Graphics2D g2 = tinted.createGraphics();
        applyQualityRenderingHints(g2);
        g2.drawImage(master, 0, 0, null);
        g2.drawImage(tint, 0, 0, null);
        g2.dispose();

        return tinted;
    }

    public class TestPane extends JPanel {

        private BufferedImage master;
        private BufferedImage mask;
        private BufferedImage tinted;

        public TestPane() {
            try {
                master = ImageIO.read(new File("C:/Users/swhitehead/Documents/My Dropbox/MegaTokyo/Miho_Small.png"));
                mask = generateMask(master, Color.RED, 0.5f);
                tinted = tint(master, mask);
            } catch (IOException exp) {
                exp.printStackTrace();
            }
        }

        @Override
        public Dimension getPreferredSize() {
            Dimension size = super.getPreferredSize();
            if (master != null && mask != null) {
                size = new Dimension(master.getWidth() + mask.getWidth() + tinted.getWidth(), Math.max(Math.max(master.getHeight(), mask.getHeight()), tinted.getHeight()));
            }
            return size;
        }

        @Override
        protected void paintComponent(Graphics g) {
            super.paintComponent(g);
            int x = (getWidth() - (master.getWidth() + mask.getWidth() + tinted.getWidth())) / 2;
            int y = (getHeight() - master.getHeight()) / 2;
            g.drawImage(master, x, y, this);

            x += mask.getWidth();
            y = (getHeight() - mask.getHeight()) / 2;
            g.drawImage(mask, x, y, this);

            x += tinted.getWidth();
            y = (getHeight() - tinted.getHeight()) / 2;
            g.drawImage(tinted, x, y, this);
        }

    }

}

The general idea behind this technique is to generate a "mask" of the image, I take no credit of this idea, I stole it of the web, if I can find where, I'll post a link.

Once you have the mask, you can then render the two images together. Because I've already applied a alpha level to the mask, I don't need to reapply a alpha composite once I'm done.

PS - I create a compatible image for this example. I do this simply because it will render faster on the graphics device, this is not a requirement, it is simply the code I have on hand ;)