embed ttf as embeded resource: can't reference it

Question

I've just added a ttf file to the project (c# 2008 express) as "file" and build option to embedded resource.

I'm having problems when trying to set this font like this: (I know the next line is wrong...)

this.label1.Font = AlarmWatch.Properties.Resources.Baby_Universe;

Error 1 Cannot implicitly convert type 'byte[]' to 'System.Drawing.Font' C:\Users\hongo\Documents\Visual Studio 2008\Projects\AlarmWatch\AlarmWatch\Form1.Designer.cs 57 32 AlarmWatch

I know it is byte[] cause I've set the option build as embedded resource, but comparing with this line that is correct:

this.label1.Font = new System.Drawing.Font("OCR A Extended",
                           24F, System.Drawing.FontStyle.Regular,
                           System.Drawing.GraphicsUnit.Point, ((byte)(0)));

How can I set this.label1 to use the new font?

Answer 1

There is a AddMemoryFont method in the System.Drawing.Text namespace, which loads a font from a memory (it takes a pointer to the memory block, so you'll need to do some unsafe operation to get pointer to your byte array - I found an example here). More about the method on MSDN.

There is also a related StackOverflow question showing how to import Win API function to load the font directly (in case the above .NET method doesn't work).

EDIT A translation of the key part from Visual Basic might look like this (haven't checked it though):

// This should be probably a field of some class
PrivateFontCollection pfc = new PrivateFontCollection();

// allocate memory and copy byte[] to the location
IntPtr data = Marshal.AllocCoTaskMem(yourByteArray.Length);
Marshal.Copy(yourFontArray, 0, data, yourFontArray.Length);

// pass the font to the font collection
pfc.AddMemoryFont(data, fontStream.Length)

// Free the unsafe memory
Marshal.FreeCoTaskMem(data)

Once you have this, you should be able to refer to the font using its usual name.

Answer 2

I solved the problem by reading this previous answer at http://stackoverflow.com/questions/1955629/c-using-an-embedded-font-on-a-textbox

thanks Tomas for the link.