BitBlt function (wingdi.h)

Article
10/13/2021

The BitBlt function performs a bit-block transfer of the color data corresponding to a rectangle of pixels from the specified source device context into a destination device context.

Syntax

BOOL BitBlt(
  [in] HDC   hdc,
  [in] int   x,
  [in] int   y,
  [in] int   cx,
  [in] int   cy,
  [in] HDC   hdcSrc,
  [in] int   x1,
  [in] int   y1,
  [in] DWORD rop
);

Parameters

[in] hdc

A handle to the destination device context.

[in] x

The x-coordinate, in logical units, of the upper-left corner of the destination rectangle.

[in] y

The y-coordinate, in logical units, of the upper-left corner of the destination rectangle.

[in] cx

The width, in logical units, of the source and destination rectangles.

[in] cy

The height, in logical units, of the source and the destination rectangles.

[in] hdcSrc

A handle to the source device context.

[in] x1

The x-coordinate, in logical units, of the upper-left corner of the source rectangle.

[in] y1

The y-coordinate, in logical units, of the upper-left corner of the source rectangle.

[in] rop

A raster-operation code. These codes define how the color data for the source rectangle is to be combined with the color data for the destination rectangle to achieve the final color.

The following list shows some common raster operation codes.

Value	Meaning
BLACKNESS	Fills the destination rectangle using the color associated with index 0 in the physical palette. (This color is black for the default physical palette.)
CAPTUREBLT	Includes any windows that are layered on top of your window in the resulting image. By default, the image only contains your window. Note that this generally cannot be used for printing device contexts.
DSTINVERT	Inverts the destination rectangle.
MERGECOPY	Merges the colors of the source rectangle with the brush currently selected in hdcDest, by using the Boolean AND operator.
MERGEPAINT	Merges the colors of the inverted source rectangle with the colors of the destination rectangle by using the Boolean OR operator.
NOMIRRORBITMAP	Prevents the bitmap from being mirrored.
NOTSRCCOPY	Copies the inverted source rectangle to the destination.
NOTSRCERASE	Combines the colors of the source and destination rectangles by using the Boolean OR operator and then inverts the resultant color.
PATCOPY	Copies the brush currently selected in hdcDest, into the destination bitmap.
PATINVERT	Combines the colors of the brush currently selected in hdcDest, with the colors of the destination rectangle by using the Boolean XOR operator.
PATPAINT	Combines the colors of the brush currently selected in hdcDest, with the colors of the inverted source rectangle by using the Boolean OR operator. The result of this operation is combined with the colors of the destination rectangle by using the Boolean OR operator.
SRCAND	Combines the colors of the source and destination rectangles by using the Boolean AND operator.
SRCCOPY	Copies the source rectangle directly to the destination rectangle.
SRCERASE	Combines the inverted colors of the destination rectangle with the colors of the source rectangle by using the Boolean AND operator.
SRCINVERT	Combines the colors of the source and destination rectangles by using the Boolean XOR operator.
SRCPAINT	Combines the colors of the source and destination rectangles by using the Boolean OR operator.
WHITENESS	Fills the destination rectangle using the color associated with index 1 in the physical palette. (This color is white for the default physical palette.)

Return value

If the function succeeds, the return value is nonzero.

If the function fails, the return value is zero. To get extended error information, call GetLastError.

Remarks

BitBlt only does clipping on the destination DC.

If a rotation or shear transformation is in effect in the source device context, BitBlt returns an error. If other transformations exist in the source device context (and a matching transformation is not in effect in the destination device context), the rectangle in the destination device context is stretched, compressed, or rotated, as necessary.

If the color formats of the source and destination device contexts do not match, the BitBlt function converts the source color format to match the destination format.

When an enhanced metafile is being recorded, an error occurs if the source device context identifies an enhanced-metafile device context.

Not all devices support the BitBlt function. For more information, see the RC_BITBLT raster capability entry in the GetDeviceCaps function as well as the following functions: MaskBlt, PlgBlt, and StretchBlt.

BitBlt returns an error if the source and destination device contexts represent different devices. To transfer data between DCs for different devices, convert the memory bitmap to a DIB by calling GetDIBits. To display the DIB to the second device, call SetDIBits or StretchDIBits.

ICM: No color management is performed when blits occur.

Examples

The following code example demonstrates the use of BitBlt.

if (!BitBlt(hdcMemDC,
    0, 0,
    rcClient.right - rcClient.left, rcClient.bottom - rcClient.top,
    hdcWindow,
    0, 0,
    SRCCOPY))
{
    MessageBox(hWnd, L"BitBlt has failed", L"Failed", MB_OK);
    goto done;
}

To see this example in context, see Capturing an Image.

Requirements

Requirement	Value
Minimum supported client	Windows 2000 Professional [desktop apps only]
Minimum supported server	Windows 2000 Server [desktop apps only]
Target Platform	Windows
Header	wingdi.h (include Windows.h)
Library	Gdi32.lib
DLL	Gdi32.dll