Windows Imaging Component

Supported Operating System

Windows Server 2003, Windows Server 2003 R2 Datacenter Edition (32-Bit x86), Windows Server 2003 R2 Enterprise Edition (32-Bit x86), Windows Server 2003 R2 Standard Edition (32-bit x86), Windows XP Service Pack 2 Windows XP SP2 or Windows Server 2003

The Windows Imaging Component (WIC) is a Component Object Model based imaging codec framework introduced in Windows Vista and Windows XP Service Pack 3 for working with and processing digital images and image metadata. It allows applications supporting the framework to automatically get support of installed codecs for graphics file formats.

It is similar to DirectShow, or ACM/VCM, in that it can be extended using image codecs and can support third-party graphics formats on a system-wide basis. Additionally, Windows Presentation Foundation applications also automatically support the installed image codecs. Codecs for RAW image formats used by high-end professional digital cameras are also supported in this manner.

WIC enables application developers to perform image processing operations on any image format through a single set of common APIs, without requiring prior knowledge of specific image formats. By writing a codec once for WIC, developers can get system-wide support for that graphics file format in all applications that use WIC, .NET 3.x or WPF.