How to save the image in clipboard in variable and restore it to clipboard later?

Christian Ehrlicher

Is still don't see a point on what you're trying to do - do you want to put something into the clipboard ord do you want to read from? Currently you read data from the clipboard, modify it in a strange way and later set it back - what's the reason for this?

yetanotherqtfan

I just want to save the clipboard, then restore it later in case its content is changed.

Christian Ehrlicher

Then don't modify the mime-data and simply copy it over.

yetanotherqtfan

Simply copying it over does not help. I think qt should return the format like application/x-qt-image;value="image/bmp", so my code will change the format to "image/bmp" before setting it back to clipboard. But it only returns "application/x-qt-image", which is not a standard mime type, and my code does not change the format actually. I'm on Windows. Don't know if it is the case on Linux. I think it should be bug of Qt.

Christian Ehrlicher

application/x-qt-image is only a qt-internal format, when you iterate over the available formats you will also find the others - there is absolutely no need to modify them and I still don't understand why you want to restore the clipboard.

yetanotherqtfan

"application/x-qt-image" is the only format when I press the Print-Screen key to take a screenshot. This problem seems related to the bug:https://bugreports.qt.io/browse/QTBUG-4110. Qt Experts, can you confirm it?

VRonin

You can use auto image = qvariant_cast<QImage>(m->imageData()); to get a QImage from an application/x-qt-image mime and you can do whatever you want with that.
For example you can use:

QByteArray imageData;
QBuffer imageBuffer(&imageData);
imageBuffer.open(QIODevice::WriteOnly);
if(image->save(&imageBuffer,"PNG")){
    mime = new QMimeData;
    mime->setData(QStringLiteral("image/png"),imageData);
    QApplication::clipboard()->setMimeData(mime);
}

yetanotherqtfan

I've tried your code, unfortunately, it does not work. After I press the Print-Screen key and go to MS Paint, the "Paste“ button is enabled, which means there is something in the clipboard that can be pasted. After I run your code and go to Paint again, the "Paste" button is disabled. So the data in clipboard is corrupted.

VRonin

Actually, it's much easier than I was thinking, you can load images in the clipboard just by using QApplication::clipboard()->setPixmap or QApplication::clipboard()->setImage.
For example:

#include <QApplication>
#include <QPushButton>
#include <QClipboard>
#include <QPixmap>
int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QApplication app(argc,argv);
    QPushButton quitButton(QStringLiteral("SaveImage"));
    QObject::connect(&quitButton,&QPushButton::clicked,[&quitButton](){
        QApplication::clipboard()->setPixmap(quitButton.grab());
    });
    quitButton.show();
    return app.exec();
}

yetanotherqtfan

Yes, it has no problem to set a QImage or QPixmap to clipboard. But it has problem getting the image from clipboard and setting it back to clipboard. And I want to restore every component in the clipboard not just image, which means I must copy the mimedata.

VRonin

@yetanotherqtfan said in How to save the image in clipboard in variable and restore it to clipboard later?:

And I want to restore every component in the clipboard not just image

"application/x-qt-image" is the only format when I press the Print-Screen key to take a screenshot.

I don't think I follow

yetanotherqtfan

For the print-screen case, there is only one format "application/x-qt-image". But in most cases,e.g., copying images and text in a word document, there would be more components in the clipboard. In the print-screen case, you can copy the clipboard image to a QImage object then set it to clipboard later. But for other cases, you may get a null image. Even you get a valid QImage, setting it back to clipboard will destroy other components in it. So the general method would be copying the mimedata object, and this would fail even for the print-screen case.

VRonin

Something like this?

bool skipOne = false;
    QObject::connect(app.clipboard(),&QClipboard::dataChanged,[&skipOne](){
        if(skipOne){
            skipOne=false;
            return;
        }
        const QMimeData* mime = QApplication::clipboard()->mimeData();
        const QStringList formats = mime->formats();
        const int imageIdx = formats.indexOf(QLatin1String("application/x-qt-image"));
        if(imageIdx<0)
            return;
        const QImage image = qvariant_cast<QImage>(mime->imageData());
        if(image.isNull())
            return;
        QMimeData* adjMime = new QMimeData;
        adjMime->setImageData(image);
        for(int i=0;i<formats.size();++i){
            if(i==imageIdx)
                continue;
            adjMime->setData(formats.at(i),mime->data(formats.at(i)));
        }
        skipOne=true;
        QApplication::clipboard()->setMimeData(adjMime);
    });

yetanotherqtfan

@VRonin said in How to save the image in clipboard in variable and restore it to clipboard later?:

dat

I will try your latest code. But all my attempts in setting the QMimeData failed.

Christian Ehrlicher

@VRonin said in How to save the image in clipboard in variable and restore it to clipboard later?:

"application/x-qt-image" is the only format when I press the Print-Screen key to take a screenshot.

I don't think I follow

The problem is that @yetanotherqtfan does not understand that this is the one and only format you will get from Qt since when the data is retrieved from the native clipboard and there is image data it will be converted to this internal mime-format. And the other way round so there is absolutely no need to replace the mime-type (it's even counter-productive - see https://code.woboq.org/qt5/qtbase/src/plugins/platforms/windows/qwindowsmime.cpp.html#1140 )

derekleesoft

@Christian-Ehrlicher I have one question. I tried to save the transparent image to clipboard but it's not working on windows but on ubuntu. I am not sure why. When I used setImage or setPixmap, the image was always opaque even it has transparency. How can I fix this?

SilentSight

I'm having a similar issue to the original poster (Qt5 for Python), and I think I can clarify what they're trying to say.

So when copying from the Clipboard, many programs add additional MimeType metadata. For example, GIMP's XCF when copying images will include XCF metadata, plus several different variations of the image's binary data.

For example:

['TIMESTAMP', 'TARGETS', 'MULTIPLE', 'SAVE_TARGETS', 'image/x-xcf', 'image/png', 'image/bmp', 'image/x-bmp', 'image/x-MS-bmp', 'image/x-icon', 'image/x-ico', 'image/x-win-bitmap', 'image/vnd.microsoft.icon', 'application/ico', 'image/ico', 'image/icon', 'text/ico', 'image/tiff', 'image/jpeg', 'application/x-qt-image']

However, Qt does not allow one to faithfully recreate said mimeType metadata. If one tries to use 'setImage', for example, Qt forces their proprietary format:

application/x-qt-image

This is not a valid image mimetype for image data (which must start with "image/" and should be a common recognised format, E.G. png), which means applications like GIMP will not recognise the image data as valid.

There's little point using Qt-specific tags in a global clipboard meant to be used/referenced by external programs.

Trying to use the Qt5 ecosystem, it feels very much like one is coerced into using 'Q-types' even if they might not be suitable nor desirable for third party application specific purposes.

Even if one tries to set a custom mimetype via 'setMimeData', and specifies explicitly what the raw binary data is (E.G. 'image/png'), third party applications still do not recognise it as valid PNG data - even if it is a verbatim cloned copy of the raw image/png data straight from Qt!

Even if this was to work, any subsequent calls to 'setMimeData' overwrites the last set format (so if I try to also set 'image/jpeg' trying to recreate XCF's metadata, it will just replace 'image/png'). There's presently no way to set multiple types of mimetype metadata at once.

ChrisW67

@SilentSight said in How to save the image in clipboard in variable and restore it to clipboard later?:

However, Qt does not allow one to faithfully recreate said mimeType metadata.

My test program begs to differ:

#include <QApplication>
#include <QCryptographicHash>
#include <QClipboard>
#include <QMimeData>
#include <QDebug>

void dumpCB(const QMimeData *m) {
    foreach (const QString &format, m->formats() ) {
        const QByteArray data = m->data(format);
        qDebug() << format << data.size() << "bytes" << QCryptographicHash::hash(data, QCryptographicHash::Md5).toHex();
    }
}

int main(int argc, char *argv[])
{
    QApplication a(argc, argv);

    QClipboard *clipboard = QGuiApplication::clipboard();

    // Dump current clipboard content
    qDebug() << "Starting clipboard content:";
    dumpCB(clipboard->mimeData());

    // Save current clipboard content
    QMimeData *mdSave = new QMimeData();
    const QMimeData *m = clipboard->mimeData();
    foreach (const QString &format, m->formats() ) {
        mdSave->setData(format, m->data(format));
    }

    qDebug() << "Saved clipboard content:";
    dumpCB(mdSave);

    // Clear the clipboard
    clipboard->clear();

    // Dump current clipboard content
    qDebug() << "Cleared clipboard content:";
    dumpCB(clipboard->mimeData());

    // Restore the clipboard
    clipboard->setMimeData(mdSave);

    // Dump current clipboard content
    qDebug() << "Restored clipboard content:";
    dumpCB(clipboard->mimeData());

    return 0;
}

Output when starting clipboard contains small image copied from Firefox:

Starting clipboard content:
"TIMESTAMP" 4 bytes "f11b876fb69d51c23c88f4dc549d7b54"
"TARGETS" 84 bytes "97eb07e16cdb61c9a15427e618004c07"
"MULTIPLE" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"SAVE_TARGETS" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"text/html" 343 bytes "430ff9e5ce38b44605b33f421df1d84a"
"text/_moz_htmlinfo" 6 bytes "00f8c2ad49f4f1df4476b93a9470d69d"
"text/_moz_htmlcontext" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"image/png" 27304 bytes "7eed20e7396dc51d57ddd421168733b9"
"image/jpeg" 3578 bytes "c80bcacb87f3c25dae2aa357050ed508"
"image/bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-MS-bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/x-ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/x-win-bitmap" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/vnd.microsoft.icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"application/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"text/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/tiff" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"application/x-qt-image" 27304 bytes "7eed20e7396dc51d57ddd421168733b9"

Saved clipboard content:
"TIMESTAMP" 4 bytes "f11b876fb69d51c23c88f4dc549d7b54"
"TARGETS" 84 bytes "97eb07e16cdb61c9a15427e618004c07"
"MULTIPLE" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"SAVE_TARGETS" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"text/html" 343 bytes "430ff9e5ce38b44605b33f421df1d84a"
"text/_moz_htmlinfo" 6 bytes "00f8c2ad49f4f1df4476b93a9470d69d"
"text/_moz_htmlcontext" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"image/png" 27304 bytes "7eed20e7396dc51d57ddd421168733b9"
"image/jpeg" 3578 bytes "c80bcacb87f3c25dae2aa357050ed508"
"image/bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-MS-bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/x-ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/x-win-bitmap" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/vnd.microsoft.icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"application/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"text/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/tiff" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"application/x-qt-image" 27304 bytes "7eed20e7396dc51d57ddd421168733b9"

Cleared clipboard content:

Restored clipboard content:
"TIMESTAMP" 4 bytes "f11b876fb69d51c23c88f4dc549d7b54"
"TARGETS" 84 bytes "97eb07e16cdb61c9a15427e618004c07"
"MULTIPLE" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"SAVE_TARGETS" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"text/html" 343 bytes "430ff9e5ce38b44605b33f421df1d84a"
"text/_moz_htmlinfo" 6 bytes "00f8c2ad49f4f1df4476b93a9470d69d"
"text/_moz_htmlcontext" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"image/png" 27304 bytes "7eed20e7396dc51d57ddd421168733b9"
"image/jpeg" 3578 bytes "c80bcacb87f3c25dae2aa357050ed508"
"image/bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-MS-bmp" 49206 bytes "d5a381d0c4f2d730430e88ce8c58920d"
"image/x-icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/x-ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/x-win-bitmap" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/vnd.microsoft.icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"application/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/icon" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"text/ico" 67646 bytes "b6bf4a8d2474fc089606659729f96bb0"
"image/tiff" 0 bytes "d41d8cd98f00b204e9800998ecf8427e"
"application/x-qt-image" 27304 bytes "7eed20e7396dc51d57ddd421168733b9"

You will note that Qt presents an "image/png" format and an "application/x-qt-image" format (even though the source is not a Qt executable) and that they are identical data:

"image/png"              27304 bytes "7eed20e7396dc51d57ddd421168733b9"
"application/x-qt-image" 27304 bytes "7eed20e7396dc51d57ddd421168733b9"

This is virtual mapping and I assume that internally they are the same buffer. You will see that Firefox (not Qt) has similar shared arrangement for other "non-standard" types e.g., "image/bmp", "image/x-bmp", and "image/x-MS-bmp", and many more for various icon forms.

The save/restore approach in the example is possibly not efficient because it may cause several copies of identical data where the source was shared. Without inspecting the Qt source I cannot say if there is a better way.

There's presently no way to set multiple types of mimetype metadata at once.

Sure there is. Put several different types into a QMimeData and call QClipboard::setMimeData().

I do, however, see that the restored clipboard is not recognised by some other programs. Gimp does not but Libreoffice Draw does. I do not have the time to debug that.

OtterNonsense

@ChrisW67 said in How to save the image in clipboard in variable and restore it to clipboard later?:

I do, however, see that the restored clipboard is not recognised by some other programs. Gimp does not but Libreoffice Draw does. I do not have the time to debug that.

It looks like GIMP doesn't recognise the "image/png" MIME type - adding the same data under the name "PNG" works.

def copy_image_data_to_clipboard(image: QImage):
    """ Copy QImage to system clipboard """
    if image and not image.isNull():
        clipboard = QGuiApplication.clipboard()
        mime_data = QMimeData()
        mime_data.setImageData(image)
        png_byte_array = QByteArray()
        buffer = QBuffer(png_byte_array)
        buffer.open(QIODevice.OpenModeFlag.WriteOnly)
        image.save(buffer, "PNG")
        buffer.close()
        mime_data.setData("PNG", png_byte_array)
        clipboard.setMimeData(mime_data)

(I appreciate this is an old post, but it's the most relevant Google search result I found, so thought I would leave this for anyone else with the same problem...)