DART: PlatformFile Imagefile is not null but Imagefile.bytes is null. Unable to load image into pdf

Question

I'm trying to load an image which was selected using the filepicker from a previous function (_selectImage()) call into a pdf in the generatepdf function. Even though the variable imageFile is not null , imageFile.bytes is null which is causing an error and not allowing me to load the image into the pdf.(this is for a windows desktop app)

FilePickerResult? result;
  Future<void> _selectImage() async {
    result = await FilePicker.platform.pickFiles(
      type: FileType.image,
    );

    if (result != null) {
      setState(() {
        _selectedImage = File(result!.files.single.path!);
        _prediction = '';
        _confidence; // Clear any previous prediction.
      });
    }
  }

 Future<void> generatePDFWithContent(
      FilePickerResult? result1, String prediction, double confidence) async {
    final pdf = pw.Document();

   //pdf generation...
          // Insert the selected image into the PDF
          if (result1 != null && result1.files.isNotEmpty) {
            final imageFile = result1.files.first;

            final Uint8List imageData = imageFile.bytes!;  // this part returns the error
            content.add(pw.Image(pw.MemoryImage(imageData)));
          
          }

          // Create a column containing all the content.
          return pw.Column(
  // rest of code

Any help would be greatly appreciated.