RandomAccessFile and BufferedImage

Question

Is it possible to put lots of BufferedImage inside a File Using RandomAccessFile?
If yes, how can i do this? How will be the file, and how to read the file?
thanks... This is urgent! Please!

Answer 1

Some formats, like jpeg and especially tiff allow for a series of images in a single file,
but I don't think that's the case with png. Must your file format be png? If your source images
are pngs it doesn't necessarily imply that you can't write them out in a different format,
although there are always potential issues there (transparency, etc...).
For example, here is a demo that reads four seperate images, writes them to a single file
and reads them back from that file to display the result.
import java.awt.*;
import java.awt.image.*;
import java.io.*;
import java.net.*;
import java.util.*;
import javax.imageio.*;
import javax.imageio.stream.*;
import javax.swing.*;
public class IOExample {
    public static void main(String[] args) throws IOException {
        String urlPrefix = "http://www3.us.porsche.com/english/usa/carreragt/modelinformation/experience/desktop/bilder/icon";
        String urlSuffix = "_800x600.jpg";
        int SIZE = 4;
        BufferedImage[] images = new BufferedImage[SIZE];
        for(int i=1; i<=SIZE; ++i)
            images[i-1] = ImageIO.read(new URL(urlPrefix + i + urlSuffix));
        File file = new File("test.jpeg");
        file.delete();
        int count = writeImages(images, file);
        if (count < SIZE)
            throw new IOException("Only " + count + " images written");
        images = null;
        images = readImages(file);
        if (images.length < SIZE)
            throw new IOException("Only " + images.length + " images read");
        display(images);
    public static void display(BufferedImage[] images) {
        JFrame f = new JFrame("IOExample");
        f.setDefaultCloseOperation(JFrame.EXIT_ON_CLOSE);
        JPanel p = new JPanel(new GridLayout(0,1));
        for(int j=0; j<images.length; ++j) {
            JLabel label = new JLabel(new ImageIcon(images[j]));
            label.setBorder(BorderFactory.createEtchedBorder());
            p.add(label);
        f.getContentPane().add(new JScrollPane(p));
        f.setSize(400,300);
        f.setLocationRelativeTo(null);
        f.setVisible(true);
    //suffix is "jpeg", "gif", "png", etc... according to your service providers
    public static ImageWriter getWriter(String suffix) throws IOException {
        Iterator writers = ImageIO.getImageWritersBySuffix(suffix);
        if (!writers.hasNext())
            throw new IOException("no writers for suffix " + suffix);
        return (ImageWriter) writers.next();
    public static ImageReader getReader(String suffix) throws IOException {
        Iterator readers = ImageIO.getImageReadersBySuffix(suffix);
        if (!readers.hasNext())
            throw new IOException("no reader for suffix " + suffix);
        return (ImageReader) readers.next();
    public static int writeImages(BufferedImage[] sources, File destination) throws IOException {
        if (sources.length == 0) {
            System.out.println("Sources is empty!");
            return 0;
        } else {
            ImageWriter writer = getWriter(getSuffix(destination));
            ImageOutputStream out = ImageIO.createImageOutputStream(destination);
            writer.setOutput(out);
            System.out.println("can write sequence = " + writer.canWriteSequence());
            writer.prepareWriteSequence(null);
            for(int i=0; i<sources.length; ++i)
                writer.writeToSequence(new IIOImage(sources, null, null), null);
writer.endWriteSequence();
return sources.length;
public static BufferedImage[] readImages(File source) throws IOException {
ImageReader reader = getReader(getSuffix(source));
ImageInputStream in = ImageIO.createImageInputStream(source);
reader.setInput(in);
ArrayList images = new ArrayList();
GraphicsConfiguration gc = getDefaultConfiguration();
try {
for(int j=0; true; ++j)
images.add(toCompatibleImage(reader.read(j), gc));
} catch(IndexOutOfBoundsException e) {
return (BufferedImage[]) images.toArray(new BufferedImage[images.size()]);
public static String getSuffix(File file) throws IOException {
String filename = file.getName();
int index = filename.lastIndexOf('.');
if (index == -1)
throw new IOException("No suffix given for file " + file);
return filename.substring(1+index);
//make compatible with gc for faster rendering
public static BufferedImage toCompatibleImage(BufferedImage image, GraphicsConfiguration gc) {
int w = image.getWidth(), h = image.getHeight();
int transparency = image.getColorModel().getTransparency();
BufferedImage result = gc.createCompatibleImage(w, h, transparency);
Graphics2D g = result.createGraphics();
g.drawRenderedImage(image, null);
g.dispose();
return result;
public static GraphicsConfiguration getDefaultConfiguration() {
GraphicsEnvironment ge = GraphicsEnvironment.getLocalGraphicsEnvironment();
GraphicsDevice gd = ge.getDefaultScreenDevice();
return gd.getDefaultConfiguration();
Another option that always works is to use zip format on your file, and put whatever you want
into it. The classes in package java.util.zip make this straightforward.