GDI+ 1.1 Extensions
Version 1.1 of
GDI+ adds some extra functionality to the original
GDI+ version, most notably the addition of bitmap effects. Unfortunately,
GDI+ 1.1 is only available on Windows Vista and later, or on computers with a certain version of Office (like Office 2007). Furthermore, the 1.1 version is not redistributable, so you are not allowed to deploy it with your application. However, you are free to use it if it is installed on a computer.
For these reasons, the
GDI+ 1.1 extensions are disabled by default. To enable the functionality, you need to do the following in you Delphi application:
* Declare the conditional define 'GDIP_0110' (Project Options | Delphi Compiler | Conditional defines). This way, you don't accidentally use
GDI+ 1.1 functionality in an application that must run on older versions of Windows.
* Disable runtime themes (Project Options | Application, uncheck 'Enable runtime themes'). This will not actually disable runtime themes, because the 'GDIP_0110' define causes the inclusion of different manifest file that enables both runtime themes and
GDI+ 1.1.
These steps are required because the
GDI+ 1.1 functionality can only be enabled by adding a side-by-side execution entry to you application manifest file. It is not sufficient to add the
GDI+ 1.1
DLL to you application directory. When 'GDIP_0110' is defined, a different manifest is compiled into your application (see the GdiPlus11.manifest file for the details). This manifest enables both runtime themes (by using the Common Controls version 6) and
GDI+ 1.1 (by using the 1.1 version of the
GDI+
DLL).
Note however, that once you use this conditional define, that your application will not run on computers that do not have
GDI+ 1.1 installed.
The GdiPlus11 sample application shows the additional functionality of
GDI+ 1.1: