Newbie at Illustrator scripting needs help assigning image

Question

I am trying to copy a graphic stored in a vb.net picturebox.image into an activeLayer of an illustrator document. Can anyone supply me with code as to how to do it. Also is there a way to lookup a swatch by name and not have to rely on knowing it's index as in this line of code : pathRef.StrokeColor = docRef.Swatches(3).Color. I know the swatch's name is "CutContour" I would like to assign it by name. And lastly does anybody know any good books, links, etc.. that show you how to do this kind of stuff.
Thanks,
Bruce
Imports IDAutomation.Windows.Forms.LinearBarCode
Imports Illustrator
Public Class FormMain
    Dim barcode As IDAutomation.Windows.Forms.LinearBarCode.Barcode = New Barcode()
    Dim illustrator As Illustrator.Application = CreateObject("Illustrator.Application")
    Dim filePath As String = My.Application.Info.DirectoryPath
    Private Sub FormMain_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
        barcode.SymbologyID = barcode.Symbologies.Code39Ext
        barcode.BarHeightCM = 1
        barcode.XDimensionCM = 0.03
        barcode.NarrowToWideRatio = 2
        barcode.LeftMarginCM = 0.201
        barcode.TopMarginCM = 0.201
        barcode.TextMarginCM = 0.051
        barcode.ShowText = False
        barcode.CaptionBottomAlignment = StringAlignment.Center
        barcode.CaptionBottomSpace = 0.03
        Dim barcodeText As String = "CODE39UPC" 'hard code barcode content for this test
        barcode.DataToEncode = "*" + barcodeText + "*"
        barcode.CaptionBelow = barcodeText
        PictureBox1.Image = barcode.BMPPicture 'Display Barcode
        barcode.SaveImageAs(".\upc.png", System.Drawing.Imaging.ImageFormat.Png)
        Dim fileName As String = filePath + "\Roland VersaWorks.eps"
        Try
             illustrator.Open(fileName)
         Catch err As Exception
             MsgBox("Missing File: " + fileName)
             illustrator.Quit()
             Me.Close()
         End Try
        Dim docRef As Illustrator.Document = illustrator.ActiveDocument
        Dim pathRef As Illustrator.PathItem = docRef.ActiveLayer.PathItems.Rectangle(100, 0, 300, 100)
        pathRef.StrokeColor = docRef.Swatches(3).Color 'Set strokeColor to CutContour Swatch
        pathRef.Filled = False ' Don't Fill rectangle with anything
        docRef.ActiveLayer = docRef.Layers(2) 'Activate UPC Layer
        '############## I need to copy PictureBox1.image into this activeLayer! How do I do it? ###########
        Dim epsOptions As Illustrator.EPSSaveOptions = CreateObject("Illustrator.EPSSaveOptions")
        epsOptions.CMYKPostScript = True
        docRef.SaveAs(filePath + "\test.eps", epsOptions)
        illustrator.Quit()
        Me.Close()
    End Sub
End Class

Answer 1

Hi,
Hodge-Podge wrote:
Also is there a way to lookup a swatch by name and not have to rely on knowing it's index as in this line of code : pathRef.StrokeColor = docRef.Swatches(3).Color. I know the swatch's name is "CutContour" I would like to assign it by name.
I have no knowledge in VB, but in javascript
it should be called by:
var mySwatche=app.activeDocument.swatches.getByName("CutContour");
Regarding how to copy, i guess that you can load picture as raster / placed items or cut() & paste()... it's just ideas,
Sorry, art.chrome