AnyBitmap to System.Drawing.Bitmap in .NET Framework

In a .NET Framework desktop app such as WinForms, assigning an IronBarcode AnyBitmap directly to a System.Drawing.Image or Bitmap fails at compile time. A common case is binding a generated barcode to a PictureBox, which only accepts System.Drawing.Image objects.

Cannot implicitly convert type 'IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap' to 'System.Drawing.Image'

The code below triggers the error:

var myBarcode = BarcodeWriter.CreateBarcode("12345", BarcodeWriterEncoding.EAN8);
// These lines cause compile-time errors
Image myBarcodeImage = myBarcode.Image;
Bitmap myBarcodeBitmap = myBarcode.ToBitmap();

var myBarcode = BarcodeWriter.CreateBarcode("12345", BarcodeWriterEncoding.EAN8);
// These lines cause compile-time errors
Image myBarcodeImage = myBarcode.Image;
Bitmap myBarcodeBitmap = myBarcode.ToBitmap();

Dim myBarcode = BarcodeWriter.CreateBarcode("12345", BarcodeWriterEncoding.EAN8)
' These lines cause compile-time errors
Dim myBarcodeImage As Image = myBarcode.Image
Dim myBarcodeBitmap As Bitmap = myBarcode.ToBitmap()

Both BarcodeWriter.Image and .ToBitmap() return an IronSoftware.Drawing.AnyBitmap. That type does support implicit conversion to System.Drawing.Bitmap or Image, but only on .NET 6, .NET 7, .NET 8, or higher. On .NET Framework the implicit operators and internal type bridging do not always resolve, especially when the types come from different libraries or compatibility layers.

dotnet add package System.Drawing.Common

dotnet add package System.Drawing.Common

Install-Package System.Drawing.Common

Install-Package System.Drawing.Common

<PackageReference Include="System.Drawing.Common" Version="8.0.0" />

<PackageReference Include="System.Drawing.Common" Version="8.0.0" />

var myBarcode = BarcodeWriter.CreateBarcode("12345", BarcodeWriterEncoding.EAN8);
myBarcode.ResizeTo(400, 100); // Optional resizing
using (var ms = myBarcode.ToWindowsBitmapStream())
{
    pictureBox1.Image = Image.FromStream(ms); // Works in .NET Framework
}

var myBarcode = BarcodeWriter.CreateBarcode("12345", BarcodeWriterEncoding.EAN8);
myBarcode.ResizeTo(400, 100); // Optional resizing
using (var ms = myBarcode.ToWindowsBitmapStream())
{
    pictureBox1.Image = Image.FromStream(ms); // Works in .NET Framework
}

Dim myBarcode = BarcodeWriter.CreateBarcode("12345", BarcodeWriterEncoding.EAN8)
myBarcode.ResizeTo(400, 100) ' Optional resizing
Using ms = myBarcode.ToWindowsBitmapStream()
    pictureBox1.Image = Image.FromStream(ms) ' Works in .NET Framework
End Using