Use .png as custom ribbon icon in Access 2007 - ms-access

Question

I'd like to use a .png as a custom icon in the Access 2007 ribbon.
Here's what I've tried so far:
I am able to load .bmp's and .jpg's as custom images without any problem. I can load .gif's, but it doesn't seem to preserve the transparency. I can't load .png's at all. I'd really like to use .png's to take advantage of the alpha-blending that is not available in the other formats.
I found a similar question on SO, but that just deals with loading custom icons of any kind. I am specifically interested in .png's. There is an answer from Albert Kallal to that question that links to a class module he had written that appears to do exactly what I want:
meRib("Button1").Picture = "HappyFace.png"
Unfortunately, the link in that answer is dead.
I also found this site which offers a download of a 460 line module full of dozens of API calls to get support for transparent icons. Before I go that route I wanted to ask the experts here if they know of a better way.
I know .png is pretty new-fangled and all, but I'm hoping the Office development folks slipped in some native support for the format.

Answer 1

Here is what I am currently using. Albert Kallal has a more full-fledged solution for Access 2007 ribbon programming that does a lot more than just load .png's. I am not using it yet, but it's worth checking out.
For those who are interested, here is the code that I am using. I believe this is pretty close to the minimum required for .png support. If there's anything extraneous here, let me know and I'll update my answer.
Add the following to a standard code module:
Option Compare Database
Option Explicit
'================================================================================
' Declarations required to load .png's in Ribbon
Private Type GUID
Data1 As Long
Data2 As Integer
Data3 As Integer
Data4(0 To 7) As Byte
End Type
Private Type PICTDESC
Size As Long
Type As Long
hPic As Long
hPal As Long
End Type
Private Type GdiplusStartupInput
GdiplusVersion As Long
DebugEventCallback As Long
SuppressBackgroundThread As Long
SuppressExternalCodecs As Long
End Type
Private Declare Function GdiplusStartup Lib "GDIPlus" (token As Long, _
inputbuf As GdiplusStartupInput, Optional ByVal outputbuf As Long = 0) As Long
Private Declare Function GdipCreateBitmapFromFile Lib "GDIPlus" (ByVal filename As Long, bitmap As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GdipCreateHBITMAPFromBitmap Lib "GDIPlus" (ByVal bitmap As Long, _
hbmReturn As Long, ByVal background As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GdipDisposeImage Lib "GDIPlus" (ByVal image As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function GdiplusShutdown Lib "GDIPlus" (ByVal token As Long) As Long
Private Declare Function OleCreatePictureIndirect Lib "olepro32.dll" (PicDesc As PICTDESC, _
RefIID As GUID, ByVal fPictureOwnsHandle As Long, IPic As IPicture) As Long
'================================================================================
Public Sub GetRibbonImage(ctl As IRibbonControl, ByRef image)
Dim Path As String
Path = Application.CurrentProject.Path & "\Icons\" & ctl.Tag
Set image = LoadImage(Path)
End Sub
Private Function LoadImage(ByVal strFName As String) As IPicture
Dim uGdiInput As GdiplusStartupInput
Dim hGdiPlus As Long
Dim hGdiImage As Long
Dim hBitmap As Long
uGdiInput.GdiplusVersion = 1
If GdiplusStartup(hGdiPlus, uGdiInput) = 0 Then
If GdipCreateBitmapFromFile(StrPtr(strFName), hGdiImage) = 0 Then
GdipCreateHBITMAPFromBitmap hGdiImage, hBitmap, 0
Set LoadImage = ConvertToIPicture(hBitmap)
GdipDisposeImage hGdiImage
End If
GdiplusShutdown hGdiPlus
End If
End Function
Private Function ConvertToIPicture(ByVal hPic As Long) As IPicture
Dim uPicInfo As PICTDESC
Dim IID_IDispatch As GUID
Dim IPic As IPicture
Const PICTYPE_BITMAP = 1
With IID_IDispatch
.Data1 = &H7BF80980
.Data2 = &HBF32
.Data3 = &H101A
.Data4(0) = &H8B
.Data4(1) = &HBB
.Data4(2) = &H0
.Data4(3) = &HAA
.Data4(4) = &H0
.Data4(5) = &H30
.Data4(6) = &HC
.Data4(7) = &HAB
End With
With uPicInfo
.Size = Len(uPicInfo)
.Type = PICTYPE_BITMAP
.hPic = hPic
.hPal = 0
End With
OleCreatePictureIndirect uPicInfo, IID_IDispatch, True, IPic
Set ConvertToIPicture = IPic
End Function
Then, if you don't already have one, add a table named USysRibbons. (NOTE: Access treats this table as a system table, so you'll have to show those in your nav pane by going to Access Options --> Current Database --> Navigation Options and make sure 'Show System Objects' is checked.) Then add these attributes to your control tag:
getImage="GetRibbonImage" tag="Acq.png"
For example:
<button id="MyButtonID" label="Do Something" enabled="true" size="large"
getImage="GetRibbonImage" tag="MyIcon.png" onAction="MyPublicSub"/>