Convert Opencv Mat to C# Bitmap

Conversion from Opencv Mat to C# bitmap isn't a difficult task. But this conversion needs to be done from the primitive level of both Opencv Mat and C# Bitmap. Simply all the images are created from set of bytes, therefore it is necessary to create System.Drawing.Bitmat from bytes of cv::Mat. Also you will need to do this conversion in a CLI project. Total instructions can be found in following 2 articles.

1. Call Opencv functions from C#
2. Call Opencv functions from C# with bitmap

This article describes how to convert C# Bitmap to Opencv Mat.
Convert C# Bitmap to Opencv Mat

If you already know how to create and configure CLI project in visual studio, simply use following function in CLI project to convert Opencv Mat to C# Bitmap.

System::Drawing::Bitmap^ MatToBitmap(Mat srcImg){
    int stride = srcImg.size().width * srcImg.channels();//calc the srtide
    int hDataCount = srcImg.size().height;
   
    System::Drawing::Bitmap^ retImg;
       
    System::IntPtr ptr(srcImg.data);
   
    //create a pointer with Stride
    if (stride % 4 != 0){//is not stride a multiple of 4?
        //make it a multiple of 4 by fiiling an offset to the end of each row

        //to hold processed data
        uchar *dataPro = new uchar[((srcImg.size().width * srcImg.channels() + 3) & -4) * hDataCount];

        uchar *data = srcImg.ptr();

        //current position on the data array
        int curPosition = 0;
        //current offset
        int curOffset = 0;

        int offsetCounter = 0;

        //itterate through all the bytes on the structure
        for (int r = 0; r < hDataCount; r++){
            //fill the data
            for (int c = 0; c < stride; c++){
                curPosition = (r * stride) + c;

                dataPro[curPosition + curOffset] = data[curPosition];
            }

            //reset offset counter
            offsetCounter = stride;

            //fill the offset
            do{
                curOffset += 1;
                dataPro[curPosition + curOffset] = 0;

                offsetCounter += 1;
            } while (offsetCounter % 4 != 0);
        }

        ptr = (System::IntPtr)dataPro;//set the data pointer to new/modified data array

        //calc the stride to nearest number which is a multiply of 4
        stride = (srcImg.size().width * srcImg.channels() + 3) & -4;

        retImg = gcnew System::Drawing::Bitmap(srcImg.size().width, srcImg.size().height,
            stride,
            System::Drawing::Imaging::PixelFormat::Format24bppRgb,
            ptr);
    }
    else{

        //no need to add a padding or recalculate the stride
        retImg = gcnew System::Drawing::Bitmap(srcImg.size().width, srcImg.size().height,
            stride,
            System::Drawing::Imaging::PixelFormat::Format24bppRgb,
            ptr);
    }
   
    array^ imageData;
    System::Drawing::Bitmap^ output;

    // Create the byte array.
    {
        System::IO::MemoryStream^ ms = gcnew System::IO::MemoryStream();
        retImg->Save(ms, System::Drawing::Imaging::ImageFormat::Png);
        imageData = ms->ToArray();
        delete ms;
    }

    // Convert back to bitmap
    {
        System::IO::MemoryStream^ ms = gcnew System::IO::MemoryStream(imageData);
        output = (System::Drawing::Bitmap^)System::Drawing::Bitmap::FromStream(ms);
    }

    return output;
}