If you decide to go for a minimal approach, without libpng/libjpeg dependencies, I suggest using stb_image and stb_image_write, found here.
It's as simple as it gets, you just need to place the header files stb_image.h and stb_image_write.h in your folder.
Here's the code that you need to read images:
#include <stdint.h>
#define STB_IMAGE_IMPLEMENTATION
#include "stb_image.h"
int main() {
int width, height, bpp;
uint8_t* rgb_image = stbi_load("image.png", &width, &height, &bpp, 3);
stbi_image_free(rgb_image);
return 0;
}
And here's the code to write an image:
#include <stdint.h>
#define STB_IMAGE_WRITE_IMPLEMENTATION
#include "stb_image_write.h"
#define CHANNEL_NUM 3
int main() {
int width = 800;
int height = 800;
uint8_t* rgb_image;
rgb_image = malloc(width*height*CHANNEL_NUM);
// Write your code to populate rgb_image here
stbi_write_png("image.png", width, height, CHANNEL_NUM, rgb_image, width*CHANNEL_NUM);
return 0;
}
You can compile without flags or dependencies:
g++ main.cpp
Other lightweight alternatives include:
- lodepng to read and write png files
- jpeg-compressor to read and write jpeg files
