Outline text with System.Drawing?

Question

I have the following code. Is there an easy way to put an outline on the text I am writing?

 var imageEncoder = Encoder.Quality;
 var imageEncoderParameters = new EncoderParameters(1);
 imageEncoderParameters.Param[0] = new EncoderParameter(imageEncoder, 100L);

 var productImage = GetImageFromByteArray(myViewModel.ProductImage.DatabaseFile.FileContents);
 var graphics = Graphics.FromImage(productImage);

 var font = new Font("Segoe Script", 24);
 var brush = Brushes.Orange;

 var container = new Rectangle(myViewModel.ContainerX, myViewModel.ContainerY,                                      myViewModel.ContainerWidth,                                              myViewModel.ContainerHeight);

 var stringFormat = new StringFormat {Alignment = StringAlignment.Center, LineAlignment = StringAlignment.Center};

 graphics.DrawString(customizationText, font, brush, container, stringFormat);

Answer 1

Yes. Instead of DrawString, use the following sequence of calls:

• new GraphicsPath (creates an empty GraphicsPath)
• GraphicsPath.AddString (the GraphicsPath object now represents the outline of the text)
• Graphics.DrawPath (draws the outline in any Pen you want)

If you need to use GraphicsPath.AddString alongside Graphics.DrawString, you need to convert the font sizes, because Graphics.DrawString expects “point size” while GraphicsPath.AddString expects “em size”. The conversion formula is simply emSize = g.DpiY * pointSize / 72.

Here's a code example:

// assuming g is the Graphics object on which you want to draw the text
GraphicsPath p = new GraphicsPath(); 
p.AddString(
    "My Text String",             // text to draw
    FontFamily.GenericSansSerif,  // or any other font family
    (int) FontStyle.Regular,      // font style (bold, italic, etc.)
    g.DpiY * fontSize / 72,       // em size
    new Point(0, 0),              // location where to draw text
    new StringFormat());          // set options here (e.g. center alignment)
g.DrawPath(Pens.Black, p);
// + g.FillPath if you want it filled as well