DarkMode UDF for AutoIt's Win32GUIs

[argumentum]

4 hours ago, WildByDesign said:

I would like to switch to using Base64 for these same PNG images so that we can have maximum sharpness

23 hours ago, argumentum said:

Base64:
"Base64 encoding works by converting binary data (like images, files) into a text format using 64 printable ASCII characters, allowing it to be safely sent over text-based systems (email, HTTP). It groups input data into 24-bit blocks (three 8-bit bytes), splits these into four 6-bit chunks, and maps each 6-bit value to a character from its 64-character set (A-Z, a-z, 0-9, +, /), adding padding ( == or = ) for incomplete blocks. "

Image with transparency:
"While standard RGB images use three channels (red, green, and blue) to display color, images with transparency add this fourth alpha channel that controls opacity. Each pixel in the alpha channel contains a value that determines how transparent that pixel should be, from completely invisible to fully opaque."

What is base64 to you ?

[WildByDesign]

5 minutes ago, argumentum said:

What is base64 to you ?

To be completely honest, I don’t know much at all about Base64 and have zero experience with it.

I know that you quoted details about it, but even then I still don’t really understand it well.

Does that mean that I would lose any transparency?

[SOLVE-SMART]

Hi @WildByDesign,

base64 is a encoding schema which converts binary data to a readable string. It's encoding, not encryption.
Base64 doesn't effect the transparancy feature of a PNG image. So you basically create a "sharp" PNG file (which is stored as binary) and convert it to a string which can be processed in AutoIt for example.

So in case your source (origin) file is sharper as PNG, use it like you would use it as an ICO.
I didn't read the whole thread, so maybe I missed something, but as far as I could see, you're looking for a way to load the PNG file by GDIPlus? If so, you will find several examples in the forum 👍 .

Best regards
Sven