Determine if Alpha Channel is Used in an Image

Question

As I\'m bringing in images into my program, I want to determine if:

1. they have an alpha-channel
2. if that alpha-channel is used

#1

Answer 1

Combining a bunch of methods for different types of images got me this final method, which seems to do a good job for any image you dump into it, be it a potentially transparent gif or a png containing an alpha channel. Thanks to Elmo's answer for the fast byte reading method.

Side note: do not use Image.IsAlphaPixelFormat(bitmap.PixelFormat)): it sees indexed (paletted) formats as non-alpha-capable, while such images can in fact possess alpha. Just, not per pixel, but per palette entry. Such alpha-enabled 8-bit images do have the HasAlpha flag enabled, though, so that's still a useful check.

[[Note: I have since vastly simplified this logic. See my other answer.]]

public static Boolean HasTransparency(Bitmap bitmap)
{
    // not an alpha-capable color format.
    if ((bitmap.Flags & (Int32)ImageFlags.HasAlpha) == 0)
        return false;
    // Indexed formats. Special case because one index on their palette is configured as THE transparent color.
    if (bitmap.PixelFormat == PixelFormat.Format8bppIndexed || bitmap.PixelFormat == PixelFormat.Format4bppIndexed)
    {
        ColorPalette pal = bitmap.Palette;
        // Find the transparent index on the palette.
        Int32 transCol = -1;
        for (int i = 0; i < pal.Entries.Length; i++)
        {
            Color col = pal.Entries[i];
            if (col.A != 255)
            {
                // Color palettes should only have one index acting as transparency. Not sure if there's a better way of getting it...
                transCol = i;
                break;
            }
        }
        // none of the entries in the palette have transparency information.
        if (transCol == -1)
            return false;
        // Check pixels for existence of the transparent index.
        Int32 colDepth = Image.GetPixelFormatSize(bitmap.PixelFormat);
        BitmapData data = bitmap.LockBits(new Rectangle(0, 0, bitmap.Width, bitmap.Height), ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, bitmap.PixelFormat);
        Int32 stride = data.Stride;
        Byte[] bytes = new Byte[bitmap.Height * stride];
        Marshal.Copy(data.Scan0, bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
        bitmap.UnlockBits(data);
        if (colDepth == 8)
        {
            // Last line index.
            Int32 lineMax = bitmap.Width - 1;
            for (Int32 i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i++)
            {
                // Last position to process.
                Int32 linepos = i % stride;
                // Passed last image byte of the line. Abort and go on with loop.
                if (linepos > lineMax)
                    continue;
                Byte b = bytes[i];
                if (b == transCol)
                    return true;
            }
        }
        else if (colDepth == 4)
        {
            // line size in bytes. 1-indexed for the moment.
            Int32 lineMax = bitmap.Width / 2;
            // Check if end of line ends on half a byte.
            Boolean halfByte = bitmap.Width % 2 != 0;
            // If it ends on half a byte, one more needs to be processed.
            // We subtract in the other case instead, to make it 0-indexed right away.
            if (!halfByte)
                lineMax--;
            for (Int32 i = 0; i < bytes.Length; i++)
            {
                // Last position to process.
                Int32 linepos = i % stride;
                // Passed last image byte of the line. Abort and go on with loop.
                if (linepos > lineMax)
                    continue;
                Byte b = bytes[i];
                if ((b & 0x0F) == transCol)
                    return true;
                if (halfByte && linepos == lineMax) // reached last byte of the line. If only half a byte to check on that, abort and go on with loop.
                    continue;
                if (((b & 0xF0) >> 4) == transCol)
                    return true;
            }
        }
        return false;
    }
    if (bitmap.PixelFormat == PixelFormat.Format32bppArgb || bitmap.PixelFormat == PixelFormat.Format32bppPArgb)
    {
        BitmapData data = bitmap.LockBits(new Rectangle(0, 0, bitmap.Width, bitmap.Height), ImageLockMode.ReadOnly, bitmap.PixelFormat);
        Byte[] bytes = new Byte[bitmap.Height * data.Stride];
        Marshal.Copy(data.Scan0, bytes, 0, bytes.Length);
        bitmap.UnlockBits(data);
        for (Int32 p = 3; p < bytes.Length; p += 4)
        {
            if (bytes[p] != 255)
                return true;
        }
        return false;
    }
    // Final "screw it all" method. This is pretty slow, but it won't ever be used, unless you
    // encounter some really esoteric types not handled above, like 16bppArgb1555 and 64bppArgb.
    for (Int32 i = 0; i < bitmap.Width; i++)
    {
        for (Int32 j = 0; j < bitmap.Height; j++)
        {
            if (bitmap.GetPixel(i, j).A != 255)
                return true;
        }
    }
    return false;
}