Display a Image in a console application

Question

I have a console application that manages images. Now i need something like a preview of the Images within the console application. Is there a way to display them in the console?

Here is a comparison of the current character based answers:

Input:

Output:

Answer 1

Though showing an image in a console is not the intended usage of the console, you can surely hack the things, as the console window is just a window, like any other windows.

Actually, once I have started to develop a text controls library for console applications with graphics support. I have never finished that, though I have a working proof-of-concept demo:

And if you obtain the console font size, you can place the image very precisely.

This is how you can do it:

static void Main(string[] args) {     Console.WriteLine("Graphics in console window!");      Point location = new Point(10, 10);     Size imageSize = new Size(20, 10); // desired image size in characters      // draw some placeholders     Console.SetCursorPosition(location.X - 1, location.Y);     Console.Write(">");     Console.SetCursorPosition(location.X + imageSize.Width, location.Y);     Console.Write("<");     Console.SetCursorPosition(location.X - 1, location.Y + imageSize.Height - 1);     Console.Write(">");     Console.SetCursorPosition(location.X + imageSize.Width, location.Y + imageSize.Height - 1);     Console.WriteLine("<");      string path = Path.Combine(Environment.GetFolderPath(Environment.SpecialFolder.CommonPictures), @"Sample Pictures\tulips.jpg");     using (Graphics g = Graphics.FromHwnd(GetConsoleWindow()))     {         using (Image image = Image.FromFile(path))         {             Size fontSize = GetConsoleFontSize();              // translating the character positions to pixels             Rectangle imageRect = new Rectangle(                 location.X * fontSize.Width,                 location.Y * fontSize.Height,                 imageSize.Width * fontSize.Width,                 imageSize.Height * fontSize.Height);             g.DrawImage(image, imageRect);         }     } } 

Here is how you can obtain the current console font size:

private static Size GetConsoleFontSize() {     // getting the console out buffer handle     IntPtr outHandle = CreateFile("CONOUT$", GENERIC_READ | GENERIC_WRITE,          FILE_SHARE_READ | FILE_SHARE_WRITE,         IntPtr.Zero,         OPEN_EXISTING,         0,         IntPtr.Zero);     int errorCode = Marshal.GetLastWin32Error();     if (outHandle.ToInt32() == INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE)     {         throw new IOException("Unable to open CONOUT$", errorCode);     }      ConsoleFontInfo cfi = new ConsoleFontInfo();     if (!GetCurrentConsoleFont(outHandle, false, cfi))     {         throw new InvalidOperationException("Unable to get font information.");     }      return new Size(cfi.dwFontSize.X, cfi.dwFontSize.Y);             } 

And the required additional WinApi calls, constants and types:

[DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)] private static extern IntPtr GetConsoleWindow();  [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)] private static extern IntPtr CreateFile(     string lpFileName,     int dwDesiredAccess,     int dwShareMode,     IntPtr lpSecurityAttributes,     int dwCreationDisposition,     int dwFlagsAndAttributes,     IntPtr hTemplateFile);  [DllImport("kernel32.dll", SetLastError = true)] private static extern bool GetCurrentConsoleFont(     IntPtr hConsoleOutput,     bool bMaximumWindow,     [Out][MarshalAs(UnmanagedType.LPStruct)]ConsoleFontInfo lpConsoleCurrentFont);  [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Sequential)] internal class ConsoleFontInfo {     internal int nFont;     internal Coord dwFontSize; }  [StructLayout(LayoutKind.Explicit)] internal struct Coord {     [FieldOffset(0)]     internal short X;     [FieldOffset(2)]     internal short Y; }  private const int GENERIC_READ = unchecked((int)0x80000000); private const int GENERIC_WRITE = 0x40000000; private const int FILE_SHARE_READ = 1; private const int FILE_SHARE_WRITE = 2; private const int INVALID_HANDLE_VALUE = -1; private const int OPEN_EXISTING = 3; 

And the result:

[