Because Windows is a graphical user interface, it's important to have a way to display graphical images in your application's interface. Visual Basic includes four controls that make it easy to work with graphics: the picture box control, the image control, the shape control, and the line control.
The image, shape and line controls are sometimes referred to as "lightweight" graphical controls. They require less system resources and consequently display somewhat faster than the picture box control; they contain a subset of the properties, methods and events available in the picture box. Each is best suited for a particular purpose.
| To provide this feature | Use this control |
| A container for other controls. | Picture box |
| Printing or graphics methods. | Picture box |
| Displaying a picture. | Image control or picture box |
| Displaying a simple graphical element | Shape or line control |
Picture boxes, image controls, shape controls, and line controls are discussed in the following sections: