Manual Installation

Under most circumstances you will want to install ImageGlue .NET using the standard installer.

If you are performing an unattended installation (msiexec /quiet, /passive, /qn or /qb) and you wish to change the identity of ABCImageMagick.dll or ABCQuickTime.dll (see below), then use the command line properties COMPLUS_USER and, if applicable, COMPLUS_PASSWORD:

msiexec /passive ImageGlue.msi COMPLUS_USER="NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService"

msiexec /passive ImageGlue.msi COMPLUS_USER="MyUser" COMPLUS_PASSWORD="MyPassword"

You do not need a password for the system accounts (Interactive User, Network Service or Local Service). The default account is Interactive User. The Local System account is not supported.

Occasionally you may wish to install ImageGlue manually. To do this you will need the files listed below.

File Name Notes
ImageGlue.dll The Assembly used by .NET 4.X. The installer places this Assembly in the GAC to allow global access from any .NET application. It installs a second reference copy at the following location: %ProgramFiles%\WebSupergoo\ImageGlue8\Common\. However if you are installing manually you can just place this file in the bin directory of your application.
ImageGlue.NET8.dll The Assembly used by .NET 8.0. The MSI installer places this Assembly at the following location: %ProgramFiles%\WebSupergoo\ImageGlue8\Common\. However, typically you will be using the DLL as provided by the ABCpdf NuGet package.
ImageGlue.NET7.dll The Assembly used by .NET 7.0. The MSI installer places this Assembly at the following location: %ProgramFiles%\WebSupergoo\ImageGlue8\Common\. However, typically you will be using the DLL as provided by the ABCpdf NuGet package.
ImageGlue.NET6.dll The Assembly used by .NET 6.0. The MSI installer places this Assembly at the following location: %ProgramFiles%\WebSupergoo\ImageGlue8\Common\. However, typically you will be using the DLL as provided by the ABCpdf NuGet package.
ImageGlue.NET5.dll The Assembly used by .NET 5.0. The MSI installer places this Assembly at the following location: %ProgramFiles%\WebSupergoo\ImageGlue8\Common\. However, typically you will be using the DLL as provided by the ABCpdf NuGet package.
ImageGlue8-32.dll The 32 bit ImageGlue Core Engine containing the core graphics engine. This DLL is typically placed in the system32 directory. On 64 bit systems it should be placed in the wow64 system32 directory. However if you are installing manually you can just place this file in the bin directory of your application.
ImageGlue8-64.dll The 64 bit ImageGlue Core Engine containing the core graphics engine. This DLL is typically placed in the system32 directory. However if you are installing manually you can just place this file in the bin directory of your application.
PrintHook32.dll This library intercepts the Microsoft XPS Document Writer. It enables ImageGlue to import an extended range of file types via XPS. This DLL is normally located in the same directory as the core engine. This DLL is required for 32-bit and 64-bit operating systems.
PrintHook64.dll This is the same as PrintHook32.dll but for 64-bit operating systems. This DLL is also located in the same directory as the core engine. Please note that PrintHook32.dll is also required for 32-bit processes under WOW64 on 64-bit operating systems.
ABCImageMagick.dll ImageGlue supports more image formats when this optional ABCImageMagick COM+ application is installed. For example it allows the export of Targa images.

You can install it manually using IGSettings.exe. From the command prompt type:

IGSettings.exe /Install

A window will appear. Click on the Install button to register the COM+ components selected with the checkboxes (ABCImageMagick.dll and ABCQuickTime.dll).

IGSettings.exe supports the following additional command line parameters:

  • /Location, the path to the folder containing the component DLLs: /Location="folder path". You don't need this parameter if the DLLs are located in the same folder as IGSettings.exe or in a sub-folder called Common. Note that if you are registering both ABCImageMagick and ABCQuickTime the DLLs must be located in the same folder.
  • /User, the running user identity of the component: /User="MyUser". To use the interactive user (the default) you should set the user to "Interactive User". To select Network Service or Local Service set the user to "NT AUTHORITY\NetworkService" or "NT AUTHORITY\LocalService" respectively.
  • /Password, the password for a non-system user: /Password="MyPassword". For system users (Interactive User, Network Service and Local Service) there is no need to set a password.
  • /UILevel. If you specify this parameter and set it to anything other than 5, no UI will be shown and installation will be performed using the command line or default user and password: /UILevel="0".

To uninstall ABCImageMagick:

IGSettings.exe /Uninstall

When IGSettings.exe is launched without any command line argument, it can be used normally, for setting system wide ImageGlue properties.
ABCQuickTime.dll This is an optional COM+ application that interfaces to QuickTime. You can only install it when QuickTime is installed. You must install it in order to be able to handle QuickTime images and movies. Like ABCImageMagick it can be manually installed via IGSettings.exe, refer to ABCImageMagick.dll for details.

Most calls to ImageGlue will result in a trial license being created and inserted if it is found that no such license has yet been inserted. At minimum all that is required is to query the value of XSettings.LicenseDescription.

[C#] 

using WebSupergoo.ImageGlue8;
MessageBox.Show("New License: " + XSettings.LicenseDescription);

You can use a full license key as provided to you when you purchase. To enter a license key, call XSettings.InstallLicense at application startup before any ImageGlue objects have been created. Alternatively if you have purchased a Redistribution license, you need to call XSettings.InstallRedistributionLicense . You only need to call these methods once, though calling them additional times will not cause problems. Any license will remain available to the process until it unloads.

[C#] 

using WebSupergoo.ImageGlue8;
if (XSettings.InstallLicense("change this text to your key"))
  MessageBox.Show("License Installed Successfully: " + XSettings.LicenseDescription);
else
  MessageBox.Show("License Installation Failed");

The ImageGlue installer performs checks at installation time in order to ensure that a trial license is inserted. However, inserting a license at other times can be problematic if your code is operating from a reduced permission account such as that associated with ASP.NET.

If this is the case you need to call XSettings.InstallTrialLicense at application startup before any ImageGlue objects have been created. You only need to call this method once, though calling it additional times will not cause problems. The license will remain available to the process until it unloads.

[C#] 

using WebSupergoo.ImageGlue8;
// here we use a trial license key as copied from the IGSettings application
if (XSettings.InstallTrialLicense("cd9b5c07db69df2bf57c0a04d9bca58b10c44889c9fb197984e592f49addfce5ec5fe85d7b9205bc"))
  MessageBox.Show("License Installed Successfully: " + XSettings.LicenseDescription);
else
  MessageBox.Show("License Installation Failed");

Shared Hosts. Most installations of ImageGlue on shared servers are seamless. However you need to be aware that you are a guest on the server and your host may have locked down permissions in ways which will make your life difficult. If this occurs there is typically little that either you or us can do about it.

This is why we recommend deployment on a dedicated server. Dedicated servers are cheaper than you might think and the level of control they allow is only one of the very significant advantages they afford. It is one of the best decisions you can make.

If you are intending to install on a shared server the essential thing to do is to deploy early and discover any issues before they become major problems.