.NET/C# Quickstart

This guide walks you through correcting your first image using the Perfectly Clear SDK. This is a very simple example - it AI Scene Detection with the default Universal model. See the Sample projects section later in this guide for more complex examples, including using single presets, re-processing the same image with different correction parameters, and different I/O methods.

Prerequisites

Before you begin, ensure that you have:

Windows operating system (x64)
.NET 8 SDK installed on your PC.

Verify your installation by running dotnet --version in your terminal.

Project structure

Set up your project directory with the SDK extracted alongside your source files:

my-project/
├── Program.cs
├── sample.jpg
├── my-preset.preset
├── quick-dotnet.csproj
└── perfectly-clear-sdk/
    ├── Win/
    │   └── bin/
    │       └── x64/
    │           ├── PerfectlyClearAdapter.dll
    │           ├── PerfectlyClearPro.dll
    │           ├── PFCImageFile.dll
    │           ├── exiv2.dll
    │           └── v3.looks
    └── sdk_license/
        └── (license files)

Activate the SDK license

Create a PerfectlyClear instance with the path to your license files. The constructor activates the license automatically.

using PerfectlyClearAdapter;

string exePath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
string licensePath = Path.Combine(exePath, "sdk_license");

PerfectlyClear pfc = new PerfectlyClear(licensePath);
if (pfc == null)
{
    Console.WriteLine("License activation failed");
    return;
}
Console.WriteLine("SDK license activated successfully");

The license files are copied to the output directory during build, so use AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory to locate them relative to the executable.

Load an image

Use standard .NET file I/O to read an image from disk.

Bitmap bm = new Bitmap(inputFile);
// Check if image opened successfully.
if (bm == null)
{
  Console.WriteLine("Unable to open image.");
  return;
}

Apply auto-correction with Universal AI Model

Create an engine and call PFC_AutoCorrect().

// Load AI engine (assuming all dlls and models are in exe folder):
string execPath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
Pfc.LoadAiEngine(PFCAIFEATURE.AI_SCENE_DETECTION | PFCAIFEATURE.AI_CORRECTIONS | PFCAIFEATURE.AI_COLOR | PFCAIFEATURE.AI_FACEMESH, execPath);

// then apply auto correction, including loading and applying the default Universal model:
Pfc.AutoCorrect(ref bm);

Save output

Save the corrected image using .NET file I/O.

bm.Save("output.jpg");

Complete example

Create Program.cs:

using System;
using System.Drawing;
using System.IO;
using PerfectlyClearAdapter;

class Program
{
    static void Main(string[] args)
    {
        if (args.Length < 2)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("Usage: quick-dotnet <input.jpg> <output.jpg>");
            return;
        }

        string inputFile = args[0];
        string outputFile = args[1];

        string exePath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
        string licensePath = Path.Combine(exePath, "sdk_license");

        PerfectlyClear pfc = new PerfectlyClear(licensePath);
        if (pfc == null)
        {
            Console.WriteLine("License activation failed");
            return;
        }
        Console.WriteLine("SDK license activated successfully");

        Bitmap bm = new Bitmap(inputFile);
        // Check if image opened successfully.
        if (bm == null)
        {
          Console.WriteLine("Unable to open image.");
          return;
        }

          // Load AI engine (assuming all dlls and models are in exe folder):
          string execPath = AppDomain.CurrentDomain.BaseDirectory;
          Pfc.LoadAiEngine(PFCAIFEATURE.AI_SCENE_DETECTION | PFCAIFEATURE.AI_CORRECTIONS | PFCAIFEATURE.AI_COLOR | PFCAIFEATURE.AI_FACEMESH, execPath);

          // then apply auto correction, including loading and applying the default Universal model:
          int aret = Pfc.AutoCorrect(ref bm);
          				// Check if there's any warning
          if (aret > 0)
          {
            // In case of warnings, query LastStatus for individual return code
            Console.WriteLine("Noise removal return code: " + Pfc.LastStatus.NR_Status.ToString());
            Console.WriteLine("Perfectly Clear core return code: " + Pfc.LastStatus.CORE_Status.ToString());
            Console.WriteLine("Face beautification return code: " + Pfc.LastStatus.FB_Status.ToString());
            Console.WriteLine("Red eye removal return code: " + Pfc.LastStatus.RE_Status.ToString());
          }
          else if (aret < 0)
          {
            // In case of general process error (negative return code)
            Console.WriteLine("Perfectly Clear return code: " + aret.ToString());
          }
          // Save processed image.
			    bm.Save(outputFile);
    }
}

Create quick-dotnet.csproj:

<Project Sdk="Microsoft.NET.Sdk">

  <PropertyGroup>
    <OutputType>Exe</OutputType>
    <TargetFramework>net8.0</TargetFramework>
    <Platform>x64</Platform>
    <ImplicitUsings>disable</ImplicitUsings>
    <Nullable>disable</Nullable>
    <AllowUnsafeBlocks>true</AllowUnsafeBlocks>
    <EnableDefaultCompileItems>false</EnableDefaultCompileItems>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <PropertyGroup>
    <SdkPath>.\perfectly-clear-sdk</SdkPath>
  </PropertyGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Compile Include="Program.cs" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <ItemGroup>
    <Reference Include="PerfectlyClearAdapter">
      <HintPath>$(SdkPath)\Win\bin\x64\PerfectlyClearAdapter.dll</HintPath>
    </Reference>
    <PackageReference Include="System.Drawing.Common" Version="8.0.0" />
  </ItemGroup>

  <Target Name="CopyDependencies" BeforeTargets="Build">
    <Copy SourceFiles="$(SdkPath)\Win\bin\x64\PerfectlyClearPro.dll" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" />
    <Copy SourceFiles="$(SdkPath)\Win\bin\x64\PerfectlyClearAdapter.dll" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" />
    <Copy SourceFiles="$(SdkPath)\Win\bin\x64\PFCImageFile.dll" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" />
    <Copy SourceFiles="$(SdkPath)\Win\bin\x64\exiv2.dll" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" />
    <Copy SourceFiles="$(SdkPath)\Win\bin\x64\v3.looks" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)" />
  </Target>

  <Target Name="CopyLicense" AfterTargets="Build">
    <ItemGroup>
      <LicenseFiles Include="$(SdkPath)\sdk_license\**\*" />
    </ItemGroup>
    <Copy SourceFiles="@(LicenseFiles)" DestinationFolder="$(OutputPath)\sdk_license\%(RecursiveDir)" />
  </Target>

</Project>

Build and run:

dotnet build
dotnet run -- input.jpg output.jpg

Expected output:

SDK license activated successfully
Image corrected successfully
Saved to: output.jpg

PFC-SDK Version 10.7.3.1317 built from df9dbc8727c92fb9b1d2c68b21e60ea9c7229e1a on 03-23-2026.