How do I make a PNG resource?

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?

Solution 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;

Solution 2:

For those who use C++ Builder this code works for me :

In the ResourceTest.rc file

IMG_BMP BITMAP "Ressources\\myimage.bmp";
IMG_PNG RCDATA "Ressources\\myimage.png";

In the ResourceTest.rh file

#ifndef ResourceTestRH
#define ResourceTestRH

#define IMG_BMP "IMG_BMP"
#define IMG_PNG "IMG_PNG"

#endif

In the ResourceTest.cpp file

#include "pngimage.hpp"

// Loading bmp image from resource
Graphics::TBitmap *bmpImage = new Graphics::TBitmap();
bmpImage->LoadFromResourceName((int)HInstance, IMG_BMP);

// Loading png image from resource
TPngImage *pngImage = new TPngImage();
pngImage->LoadFromResourceName((int)HInstance, IMG_PNG);