Question

Does anyone know a method to insert a image in background into a ListBox in WinForms C#?

Answer 1

Well, you’ll have to inherit a new control from ListBox. To to that, create a new project in your solution, of the type ‘Windows Control Library’, and use the code below in the file control’s source code file:

public partial class ListBoxWithBg : ListBox {    Image image;    Brush brush, selectedBrush;     public ListBoxWithBg()    {        InitializeComponent();         this.DrawMode = DrawMode.OwnerDrawVariable;        this.DrawItem += new DrawItemEventHandler(ListBoxWithBg_DrawItem);        this.image = Image.FromFile('C:\\some-image.bmp');        this.brush = new SolidBrush(Color.Black);        this.selectedBrush = new SolidBrush(Color.White);    }     void ListBoxWithBg_DrawItem(object sender, DrawItemEventArgs e)    {        e.DrawBackground();        e.DrawFocusRectangle();        /* HACK WARNING: draw the last item with the entire image at (0,0)          * to fill the whole ListBox. Really, there's many better ways to do this,         * just none quite so brief */        if (e.Index == this.Items.Count - 1)        {            e.Graphics.DrawImage(this.image, new Point(0, 0));        }        else        {            e.Graphics.DrawImage(this.image, e.Bounds, e.Bounds, GraphicsUnit.Pixel);        }        Brush drawBrush =             ((e.State & DrawItemState.Selected) == DrawItemState.Selected)             ? this.selectedBrush : this.brush;        e.Graphics.DrawString(this.Items[e.Index].ToString(), this.Font, drawBrush, e.Bounds);    } } 

I omitted all the designer code and such for brevity, but you’ll have to remember to Dispose of the Image and the Brushes in the Dispose method of the control.