Java - get pixel array from image

Question

I\'m looking for the fastest way to get pixel data (int the form int[][]) from a BufferedImage. My goal is to be able to address pixel (x, y) from

Answer 1

Mota's answer is great unless your BufferedImage came from a Monochrome Bitmap. A Monochrome Bitmap has only 2 possible values for its pixels (for example 0 = black and 1 = white). When a Monochrome Bitmap is used then the

final byte[] pixels = ((DataBufferByte) image.getRaster().getDataBuffer()).getData();

call returns the raw Pixel Array data in such a fashion that each byte contains more than one pixel.

So when you use a Monochrome Bitmap image to create your BufferedImage object then this is the algorithm you want to use:

/**
 * This returns a true bitmap where each element in the grid is either a 0
 * or a 1. A 1 means the pixel is white and a 0 means the pixel is black.
 * 
 * If the incoming image doesn't have any pixels in it then this method
 * returns null;
 * 
 * @param image
 * @return
 */
public static int[][] convertToArray(BufferedImage image)
{

    if (image == null || image.getWidth() == 0 || image.getHeight() == 0)
        return null;

    // This returns bytes of data starting from the top left of the bitmap
    // image and goes down.
    // Top to bottom. Left to right.
    final byte[] pixels = ((DataBufferByte) image.getRaster()
            .getDataBuffer()).getData();

    final int width = image.getWidth();
    final int height = image.getHeight();

    int[][] result = new int[height][width];

    boolean done = false;
    boolean alreadyWentToNextByte = false;
    int byteIndex = 0;
    int row = 0;
    int col = 0;
    int numBits = 0;
    byte currentByte = pixels[byteIndex];
    while (!done)
    {
        alreadyWentToNextByte = false;

        result[row][col] = (currentByte & 0x80) >> 7;
        currentByte = (byte) (((int) currentByte) << 1);
        numBits++;

        if ((row == height - 1) && (col == width - 1))
        {
            done = true;
        }
        else
        {
            col++;

            if (numBits == 8)
            {
                currentByte = pixels[++byteIndex];
                numBits = 0;
                alreadyWentToNextByte = true;
            }

            if (col == width)
            {
                row++;
                col = 0;

                if (!alreadyWentToNextByte)
                {
                    currentByte = pixels[++byteIndex];
                    numBits = 0;
                }
            }
        }
    }

    return result;
}