Problem with CreateGraphics and drawing strings

Question

C# WinForms CreateGraphics Problem

The control below draws a string in a rectangle. On mouse move there is a hit test on the string rectangle, and the string is redrawn via CreateGraphics. The irritating problem is that the text is not drawn the same as in the Paint handler; it appears to be displaced by about 1 pixel, and the effect is like a bold font. How can I create a graphics object exactly like the one in the Paint handler so the text is drawn the same way? Ordinarily you would invalidate and redraw everything in the Paint event, but I have potentially hundreds of of other drawing items and only want to draw the string. Should I try to do any drawing outside of the Paint event or is this a mistake?

Example control:

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.Windows.Forms;

namespace Test.TestModes
{
    public partial class ExampleControl: UserControl
    {
        private const string testString = "0123456789";
        private RectangleF stringRect = new RectangleF(10, 10, 100, 20);

        public ExampleControl()
        {
            InitializeComponent();
        }

        private void ExampleControl_Paint(object sender, PaintEventArgs e)
        {
            Font font = new Font("Arial", 12, FontStyle.Regular);

            e.Graphics.DrawString(testString, font, Brushes.Black, stringRect);

            font.Dispose();
        }

        private void DrawString(bool hit)
        {
            Font font = new Font("Arial", 12, FontStyle.Regular);

            using(Graphics g = CreateGraphics())
            {
                g.SetClip(ClientRectangle);
                if(hit)
                    g.DrawString(testString, font, Brushes.Red, stringRect);
                else
                    g.DrawString(testString, font, Brushes.Black, stringRect);
            }

            font.Dispose();
        }

        private void ExampleControl_MouseMove(object sender, MouseEventArgs e)
        {
            if(stringRect.Contains(e.Location))
                DrawString(true);
            else
                DrawString(false);
        }

        private void button1_Click(object sender, EventArgs e)
        {
            Invalidate();
        }


    }
}

Answer 1

It is the CreateGraphics() call that is getting you in trouble, indirectly. The problem is anti-aliasing of the text. A normal painting cycle erases the background before drawing something on top. That doesn't happen in your case, your draw text on top of existing text. The side effect is that the pixels uses to create the aliasing get darker each time your draw. The end result is bold looking, and noticeably jagged text outlines.

The fix is easy: start with a clean slate before you draw:

    using (Graphics g = CreateGraphics()) {
        g.Clear(this.BackColor);                <=== added
        g.SetClip(ClientRectangle);
        // etc..
    }

You'll now also get to encounter a problem in drawing known as "flicker". It might not yet be that noticeable yet, but it will when you do more drawing. Flicker is suppressed with double-buffering. A feature supported by Windows Forms, but only if you use standard drawing techniques. In other words: no CreateGraphics().