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ImageSearchDLL - Ultra-Fast Image Search Library ImageSearchDLL is a high-performance image recognition library designed for Windows automation. Built with C++17 and optimized with SIMD instructions (AVX512/AVX2/SSE2), it provides lightning-fast image searching capabilities for screen automation, computer vision, and testing applications. Author: Dao Van Trong - TRONG.PRO DLL Version: v3.3 License: MIT 🚀 Key Features ⚡ Ultra-Fast Performance - SIMD optimizations (AVX512/AVX2/SSE2) with automatic CPU detection 🎯 Multi-Scale Search - Find images at different sizes with configurable scale ranges 🔍 Flexible Tolerance - Adjustable color matching tolerance (0-255) 🖼️ Transparent Images - Full alpha channel support for PNG images 🔄 Smart Caching - Two-tier caching system (memory + disk) for repeated searches 🖥️ Multi-Monitor Support - Native support for multi-monitor setups 🧵 Multi-Threading - Automatic parallel processing for large images 📍 Multiple Results - Find single or all occurrences of target images 🎮 Mouse Automation - Built-in mouse click and movement functions 🔧 Image-in-Image Search - Search within image files without screen capture 📦 DLL Files The library includes multiple build variants: File Architecture Runtime OS Support ImageSearchDLL_x64.dll x64 Dynamic Windows 7 SP1+ ImageSearchDLL_x86.dll x86 Dynamic Windows 7 SP1 + ImageSearchDLL_XP_x64.dll x64 Dynamic Windows XP SP2+ ImageSearchDLL_XP_x86.dll x86 Dynamic Windows XP SP2+ Not required, as the DLL is already embedded in the UDF! Recommended: Use ImageSearchDLL_x64.dll or ImageSearchDLL_x86.dll for modern Windows systems. 🔌 API Reference Core Search Functions ImageSearch Search for image(s) on the screen with multi-scale support. C++ Signature: const wchar_t* WINAPI ImageSearch( const wchar_t* sImageFile, // Pipe-separated image paths: "img1.png|img2.png" int iLeft = 0, // Search region left coordinate int iTop = 0, // Search region top coordinate int iRight = 0, // Search region right coordinate (0 = screen width) int iBottom = 0, // Search region bottom coordinate (0 = screen height) int iScreen = 0, // Monitor index (0 = primary, -1 = virtual desktop) int iTolerance = 10, // Color tolerance 0-255 (10 recommended) int iResults = 1, // Max results (1 = first match, >=2 = all matches) int iCenterPOS = 1, // 1 = return center coordinates, 0 = top-left float fMinScale = 1.0f, // Minimum scale factor (0.1-5.0) float fMaxScale = 1.0f, // Maximum scale factor (0.1-5.0) float fScaleStep = 0.1f, // Scale increment (0.01-1.0) int iReturnDebug = 0, // Return debug information (0 = off, 1 = on) int iUseCache = 0 // Enable caching (0 = off, 1 = on) ); Return Format: Success: {count}[x|y|w|h|scale|source, ...]<debug_info> Error: {error_code}[]<error_message> Examples: {1}[100|200|50|30] // Single match at (100,200) {3}[100|200|50|30, 300|400|50|30, ...] // Multiple matches {-1}[]<Invalid path or image format> // Error ImageSearch_InImage Search for image(s) within another image file (no screen capture). C++ Signature: const wchar_t* WINAPI ImageSearch_InImage( const wchar_t* sSourceImageFile, // Source image file path const wchar_t* sTargetImageFile, // Pipe-separated target image paths int iTolerance = 10, int iResults = 1, int iCenterPOS = 1, float fMinScale = 1.0f, float fMaxScale = 1.0f, float fScaleStep = 0.1f, int iReturnDebug = 0, int iUseCache = 0 ); Use Cases: Offline image analysis Batch processing of screenshots Testing without screen dependency ImageSearch_hBitmap Search using HBITMAP handles (for advanced scenarios). C++ Signature: const wchar_t* WINAPI ImageSearch_hBitmap( HBITMAP hBitmapSource, // Source bitmap handle HBITMAP hBitmapTarget, // Target bitmap handle int iTolerance, int iCenterPOS, float fMinScale, float fMaxScale, float fScaleStep ); Utility Functions ImageSearch_CaptureScreen Capture a screen region as HBITMAP. C++ Signature: HBITMAP WINAPI ImageSearch_CaptureScreen( int iLeft = 0, int iTop = 0, int iRight = 0, // 0 = full screen width int iBottom = 0, // 0 = full screen height int iScreen = 0 // Monitor index ); ImageSearch_hBitmapLoad Load image file as HBITMAP with transparent color support. C++ Signature: HBITMAP WINAPI ImageSearch_hBitmapLoad( const wchar_t* sImageFile, int iAlpha = 0, // Alpha transparency (0-255, 0 = no transparency) int iRed = 0, // Transparent color RGB components int iGreen = 0, int iBlue = 0 ); ImageSearch_MouseClick Perform mouse click with smooth movement. C++ Signature: int WINAPI ImageSearch_MouseClick( const wchar_t* sButton, // "left", "right", "middle" int iX, // X coordinate (-1 = current position) int iY, // Y coordinate (-1 = current position) int iClicks, // Number of clicks (1, 2, ...) int iSpeed, // Movement speed 0-100 (0 = instant) int iScreen // Monitor index ); ImageSearch_MouseMove Move mouse cursor with smooth animation. C++ Signature: int WINAPI ImageSearch_MouseMove( int iX, int iY, int iSpeed, // 0-100 (0 = instant) int iScreen // Monitor index ); ImageSearch_MouseClickWin Click inside a specific window (by title/text). C++ Signature: int WINAPI ImageSearch_MouseClickWin( const wchar_t* sTitle, // Window title const wchar_t* sText, // Window text int iX, int iY, const wchar_t* sButton, int iClicks, int iSpeed ); ImageSearch_ClearCache Clear all cached search results and bitmaps. C++ Signature: void WINAPI ImageSearch_ClearCache(); ImageSearch_GetVersion Get DLL version string. C++ Signature: const wchar_t* WINAPI ImageSearch_GetVersion(); Returns: "ImageSearchDLL v3.3 [x64] 2025.10.15 :: Dao Van Trong - TRONG.PRO" ImageSearch_GetSysInfo Get system information (CPU features, memory, etc.). C++ Signature: const wchar_t* WINAPI ImageSearch_GetSysInfo(); 📝 AutoIt Examples Basic Usage Example 1: Simple Image Search #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" ; Initialize the library _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Search for a single image on the screen Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("target.png") If @error Then ConsoleWrite("Error: " & @error & @CRLF) Else ; Parse result Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then ConsoleWrite("Found at: X=" & $aResult[1] & " Y=" & $aResult[2] & @CRLF) Else ConsoleWrite("Image not found" & @CRLF) EndIf EndIf ; Cleanup _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 2: Search with Tolerance #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Search with 20% color tolerance Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("button.png", 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 20) Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then ConsoleWrite("Button found at: " & $aResult[1] & ", " & $aResult[2] & @CRLF) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 3: Multi-Scale Search #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Search for image scaled from 80% to 120% with 10% increments Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("icon.png", _ 0, 0, 0, 0, _ ; Full screen 0, _ ; Primary monitor 10, _ ; Tolerance 1, _ ; First match only 1, _ ; Return center coordinates 0.8, 1.2, 0.1) ; Scale: min=0.8, max=1.2, step=0.1 Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then ConsoleWrite("Found at scale: " & $aResult[5] & @CRLF) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 4: Find All Matches #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Find all occurrences of an image Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("icon.png", 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 100) Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) ConsoleWrite("Found " & $aResult[0] & " matches" & @CRLF) ; Loop through all matches For $i = 1 To $aResult[0] Local $iX = $aResult[$i * 6 - 5] Local $iY = $aResult[$i * 6 - 4] ConsoleWrite("Match " & $i & ": (" & $iX & ", " & $iY & ")" & @CRLF) Next _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 5: Search in Specific Region #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Search only in the top-left quadrant of the screen Local $iLeft = 0 Local $iTop = 0 Local $iRight = @DesktopWidth / 2 Local $iBottom = @DesktopHeight / 2 Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("target.png", $iLeft, $iTop, $iRight, $iBottom) Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then ConsoleWrite("Found in region!" & @CRLF) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 6: Click on Found Image #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Search for button and click it Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("button.png") Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then Local $iX = $aResult[1] Local $iY = $aResult[2] ; Click at the center of found image with smooth movement _ImageSearch_MouseClick("left", $iX, $iY, 1, 50) ConsoleWrite("Clicked button at: " & $iX & ", " & $iY & @CRLF) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 7: Wait for Image to Appear #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Wait up to 10 seconds for image to appear Local $iTimeout = 10000 ; milliseconds Local $iStartTime = TimerInit() Local $bFound = False While TimerDiff($iStartTime) < $iTimeout Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("loading_complete.png") Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then $bFound = True ConsoleWrite("Image appeared after " & TimerDiff($iStartTime) & " ms" & @CRLF) ExitLoop EndIf Sleep(100) ; Check every 100ms WEnd If Not $bFound Then ConsoleWrite("Timeout: Image did not appear" & @CRLF) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 8: Search Multiple Images #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Search for multiple images (whichever appears first) Local $sImageList = "button1.png|button2.png|button3.png" Local $sResult = _ImageSearch($sImageList) Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then Local $sFoundImage = $aResult[6] ; Source image that was found ConsoleWrite("Found: " & $sFoundImage & @CRLF) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 9: Image-in-Image Search #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Search for pattern within a saved screenshot Local $sResult = _ImageSearch_InImage("screenshot.png", "target.png") Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then ConsoleWrite("Found at relative position: " & $aResult[1] & ", " & $aResult[2] & @CRLF) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 10: Using Cache for Performance #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Enable caching for repeated searches Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("icon.png", 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 1, 1, 1.0, 1.0, 0.1, 0, 1) ; Subsequent searches will be faster For $i = 1 To 100 $sResult = _ImageSearch("icon.png", 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 1, 1, 1.0, 1.0, 0.1, 0, 1) Sleep(100) Next ; Clear cache when done _ImageSearch_ClearCache() _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 11: Multi-Monitor Support #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Search on second monitor only Local $iMonitor = 2 Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("target.png", 0, 0, 0, 0, $iMonitor) Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] > 0 Then ; Click on found image (coordinates are absolute) _ImageSearch_MouseClick("left", $aResult[1], $aResult[2], 1, 50, 0) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 12: Screen Capture #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Capture specific region Local $hBitmap = _ImageSearch_CaptureScreen(100, 100, 500, 400) If $hBitmap Then ; Save captured bitmap to file _GDIPlus_Startup() Local $hImage = _GDIPlus_BitmapCreateFromHBITMAP($hBitmap) _GDIPlus_ImageSaveToFile($hImage, @ScriptDir & "\captured.png") _GDIPlus_ImageDispose($hImage) _GDIPlus_Shutdown() _WinAPI_DeleteObject($hBitmap) ConsoleWrite("Screen captured successfully" & @CRLF) EndIf _ImageSearch_Shutdown() Example 13: Get System Information #include "ImageSearchDLL_UDF.au3" _ImageSearch_Startup() ; Display DLL version and system info Local $sVersion = _ImageSearch_GetVersion() Local $sSysInfo = _ImageSearch_GetSysInfo() ConsoleWrite("Version: " & $sVersion & @CRLF) ConsoleWrite("System: " & $sSysInfo & @CRLF) _ImageSearch_Shutdown() ⚙️ Performance Optimization SIMD Acceleration The DLL automatically detects and uses the best available SIMD instruction set: AVX512 - 512-bit vectors (Intel Skylake-X+) AVX2 - 256-bit vectors (Intel Haswell+, AMD Ryzen+) SSE2 - 128-bit vectors (All modern CPUs) Caching System Two-tier caching dramatically improves performance for repeated searches: Memory Cache - LRU cache with 100 bitmap slots Disk Cache - Persistent cache in %TEMP% directory Cache Key Format: normalized_path|tolerance|transparent|scale Enable caching for best performance: Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("icon.png", 0, 0, 0, 0, 0, 10, 1, 1, 1.0, 1.0, 0.1, 0, 1) 🔧 Error Handling Error Codes Code Constant Description -1 IMGSE_INVALID_PATH Invalid path or image format -2 IMGSE_FAILED_TO_LOAD_IMAGE Failed to load image from file -3 IMGSE_FAILED_TO_GET_SCREEN_DC Failed to get screen device context -4 IMGSE_INVALID_SEARCH_REGION Invalid search region specified -5 IMGSE_INVALID_PARAMETERS Invalid parameters provided -6 IMGSE_INVALID_SOURCE_BITMAP Invalid source bitmap -7 IMGSE_INVALID_TARGET_BITMAP Invalid target bitmap -9 IMGSE_RESULT_TOO_LARGE Result string too large -10 IMGSE_INVALID_MONITOR Invalid monitor index Error Handling Example Local $sResult = _ImageSearch("nonexistent.png") Local $aResult = _ImageSearch_ParseResult($sResult) If $aResult[0] < 0 Then Switch $aResult[0] Case -1 ConsoleWrite("Error: Invalid image file" & @CRLF) Case -2 ConsoleWrite("Error: Failed to load image" & @CRLF) Case Else ConsoleWrite("Error code: " & $aResult[0] & @CRLF) EndSwitch EndIf 🌟 Acknowledgments GDI+ for image processing Intel Intrinsics Guide for SIMD optimizations AutoIt community for testing and feedback ☕ Support My Work Enjoy my work? Buy me a 🍻 or tip via ❤️ PayPal Your support helps me continue developing and maintaining this library for the community! 🙏 Happy Automating! 🚀 ___________________________ 👉 Download AutoIt UDF: 👉 Download DLL Source: .