delphi - How do I make a PNG resource?

Question

I've got a form with a large TImage on it as a background. Problem is, this is stored directly in the DFM as a bitmap, which takes up about 3 MB. The original PNG file is ~250K. I'd like to try to reduce bloat by embedding the PNG in a resource, and then having the form load it during OnCreate. I can do that now that Delphi 2009 includes PNG support, except I don't quite know how to build a resource file with a PNG in it. Anyone know how that's done?

question from:https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1153394/how-do-i-make-a-png-resource

Answer 1

Example text file (named myres.rc):

MYPNG RCDATA mypng.png

Added to project:

{$R 'myres.res' 'myres.rc'}

Example of loading at runtime:

uses
  PngImage;

var
  Png: TPngImage;
begin
  Png := TPngImage.Create;
  try
    Png.LoadFromResourceName(HInstance, 'MYPNG');
    Image1.Picture.Graphic := Png; // Image1: TImage on the form
  finally
    Png.Free;
  end;
end;