1 libpng-manual.txt - A description on how to use and modify libpng
3 Copyright (c) 2018 Cosmin Truta
4 Copyright (c) 1998-2018 Glenn Randers-Pehrson
6 This document is released under the libpng license.
7 For conditions of distribution and use, see the disclaimer
12 libpng version 1.6.36 - December 1, 2018
13 Updated and distributed by Cosmin Truta
14 Copyright (c) 2018 Cosmin Truta
16 libpng versions 0.97, January 1998, through 1.6.35 - July 15, 2018
17 Updated and distributed by Glenn Randers-Pehrson
18 Copyright (c) 1998-2018 Glenn Randers-Pehrson
20 libpng 1.0 beta 6 - version 0.96 - May 28, 1997
21 Updated and distributed by Andreas Dilger
22 Copyright (c) 1996, 1997 Andreas Dilger
24 libpng 1.0 beta 2 - version 0.88 - January 26, 1996
25 For conditions of distribution and use, see copyright
26 notice in png.h. Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 Guy Eric
27 Schalnat, Group 42, Inc.
29 Updated/rewritten per request in the libpng FAQ
30 Copyright (c) 1995, 1996 Frank J. T. Wojcik
31 December 18, 1995 & January 20, 1996
40 VI. Modifying/Customizing libpng
42 VIII. Changes to Libpng from version 0.88
43 IX. Changes to Libpng from version 1.0.x to 1.2.x
44 X. Changes to Libpng from version 1.0.x/1.2.x to 1.4.x
45 XI. Changes to Libpng from version 1.4.x to 1.5.x
46 XII. Changes to Libpng from version 1.5.x to 1.6.x
47 XIII. Detecting libpng
48 XIV. Source code repository
53 This file describes how to use and modify the PNG reference library
54 (known as libpng) for your own use. In addition to this
55 file, example.c is a good starting point for using the library, as
56 it is heavily commented and should include everything most people
57 will need. We assume that libpng is already installed; see the
58 INSTALL file for instructions on how to configure and install libpng.
60 For examples of libpng usage, see the files "example.c", "pngtest.c",
61 and the files in the "contrib" directory, all of which are included in
62 the libpng distribution.
64 Libpng was written as a companion to the PNG specification, as a way
65 of reducing the amount of time and effort it takes to support the PNG
66 file format in application programs.
68 The PNG specification (second edition), November 2003, is available as
69 a W3C Recommendation and as an ISO Standard (ISO/IEC 15948:2004 (E)) at
70 <https://www.w3.org/TR/2003/REC-PNG-20031110/>.
71 The W3C and ISO documents have identical technical content.
73 The PNG-1.2 specification is available at
74 <https://png-mng.sourceforge.io/pub/png/spec/1.2/>.
75 It is technically equivalent
76 to the PNG specification (second edition) but has some additional material.
78 The PNG-1.0 specification is available as RFC 2083 at
79 <https://png-mng.sourceforge.io/pub/png/spec/1.0/> and as a
80 W3C Recommendation at <https://www.w3.org/TR/REC-png-961001>.
82 Some additional chunks are described in the special-purpose public chunks
83 documents at <http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/spec/register/>
86 about PNG, and the latest version of libpng, can be found at the PNG home
87 page, <http://www.libpng.org/pub/png/>.
89 Most users will not have to modify the library significantly; advanced
90 users may want to modify it more. All attempts were made to make it as
91 complete as possible, while keeping the code easy to understand.
92 Currently, this library only supports C. Support for other languages
95 Libpng has been designed to handle multiple sessions at one time,
96 to be easily modifiable, to be portable to the vast majority of
97 machines (ANSI, K&R, 16-, 32-, and 64-bit) available, and to be easy
98 to use. The ultimate goal of libpng is to promote the acceptance of
99 the PNG file format in whatever way possible. While there is still
100 work to be done (see the TODO file), libpng should cover the
101 majority of the needs of its users.
103 Libpng uses zlib for its compression and decompression of PNG files.
104 Further information about zlib, and the latest version of zlib, can
105 be found at the zlib home page, <https://zlib.net/>.
106 The zlib compression utility is a general purpose utility that is
107 useful for more than PNG files, and can be used without libpng.
108 See the documentation delivered with zlib for more details.
109 You can usually find the source files for the zlib utility wherever you
110 find the libpng source files.
112 Libpng is thread safe, provided the threads are using different
113 instances of the structures. Each thread should have its own
114 png_struct and png_info instances, and thus its own image.
115 Libpng does not protect itself against two threads using the
116 same instance of a structure.
120 There are two main structures that are important to libpng, png_struct
121 and png_info. Both are internal structures that are no longer exposed
122 in the libpng interface (as of libpng 1.5.0).
124 The png_info structure is designed to provide information about the
125 PNG file. At one time, the fields of png_info were intended to be
126 directly accessible to the user. However, this tended to cause problems
127 with applications using dynamically loaded libraries, and as a result
128 a set of interface functions for png_info (the png_get_*() and png_set_*()
129 functions) was developed, and direct access to the png_info fields was
132 The png_struct structure is the object used by the library to decode a
133 single image. As of 1.5.0 this structure is also not exposed.
135 Almost all libpng APIs require a pointer to a png_struct as the first argument.
136 Many (in particular the png_set and png_get APIs) also require a pointer
137 to png_info as the second argument. Some application visible macros
138 defined in png.h designed for basic data access (reading and writing
139 integers in the PNG format) don't take a png_info pointer, but it's almost
140 always safe to assume that a (png_struct*) has to be passed to call an API
143 You can have more than one png_info structure associated with an image,
144 as illustrated in pngtest.c, one for information valid prior to the
145 IDAT chunks and another (called "end_info" below) for things after them.
147 The png.h header file is an invaluable reference for programming with libpng.
148 And while I'm on the topic, make sure you include the libpng header file:
152 and also (as of libpng-1.5.0) the zlib header file, if you need it:
158 The png.h header file defines a number of integral types used by the
159 APIs. Most of these are fairly obvious; for example types corresponding
160 to integers of particular sizes and types for passing color values.
162 One exception is how non-integral numbers are handled. For application
163 convenience most APIs that take such numbers have C (double) arguments;
164 however, internally PNG, and libpng, use 32 bit signed integers and encode
165 the value by multiplying by 100,000. As of libpng 1.5.0 a convenience
166 macro PNG_FP_1 is defined in png.h along with a type (png_fixed_point)
167 which is simply (png_int_32).
169 All APIs that take (double) arguments also have a matching API that
170 takes the corresponding fixed point integer arguments. The fixed point
171 API has the same name as the floating point one with "_fixed" appended.
172 The actual range of values permitted in the APIs is frequently less than
173 the full range of (png_fixed_point) (-21474 to +21474). When APIs require
174 a non-negative argument the type is recorded as png_uint_32 above. Consult
175 the header file and the text below for more information.
177 Special care must be take with sCAL chunk handling because the chunk itself
178 uses non-integral values encoded as strings containing decimal floating point
179 numbers. See the comments in the header file.
183 The main header file function declarations are frequently protected by C
184 preprocessing directives of the form:
186 #ifdef PNG_feature_SUPPORTED
190 #ifdef PNG_feature_SUPPORTED
194 The library can be built without support for these APIs, although a
195 standard build will have all implemented APIs. Application programs
196 should check the feature macros before using an API for maximum
197 portability. From libpng 1.5.0 the feature macros set during the build
198 of libpng are recorded in the header file "pnglibconf.h" and this file
199 is always included by png.h.
201 If you don't need to change the library configuration from the default, skip to
202 the next section ("Reading").
204 Notice that some of the makefiles in the 'scripts' directory and (in 1.5.0) all
205 of the build project files in the 'projects' directory simply copy
206 scripts/pnglibconf.h.prebuilt to pnglibconf.h. This means that these build
207 systems do not permit easy auto-configuration of the library - they only
208 support the default configuration.
210 The easiest way to make minor changes to the libpng configuration when
211 auto-configuration is supported is to add definitions to the command line
212 using (typically) CPPFLAGS. For example:
214 CPPFLAGS=-DPNG_NO_FLOATING_ARITHMETIC
216 will change the internal libpng math implementation for gamma correction and
217 other arithmetic calculations to fixed point, avoiding the need for fast
218 floating point support. The result can be seen in the generated pnglibconf.h -
219 make sure it contains the changed feature macro setting.
221 If you need to make more extensive configuration changes - more than one or two
222 feature macro settings - you can either add -DPNG_USER_CONFIG to the build
223 command line and put a list of feature macro settings in pngusr.h or you can set
224 DFA_XTRA (a makefile variable) to a file containing the same information in the
225 form of 'option' settings.
227 A. Changing pnglibconf.h
229 A variety of methods exist to build libpng. Not all of these support
230 reconfiguration of pnglibconf.h. To reconfigure pnglibconf.h it must either be
231 rebuilt from scripts/pnglibconf.dfa using awk or it must be edited by hand.
233 Hand editing is achieved by copying scripts/pnglibconf.h.prebuilt to
234 pnglibconf.h and changing the lines defining the supported features, paying
235 very close attention to the 'option' information in scripts/pnglibconf.dfa
236 that describes those features and their requirements. This is easy to get
239 B. Configuration using DFA_XTRA
241 Rebuilding from pnglibconf.dfa is easy if a functioning 'awk', or a later
242 variant such as 'nawk' or 'gawk', is available. The configure build will
243 automatically find an appropriate awk and build pnglibconf.h.
244 The scripts/pnglibconf.mak file contains a set of make rules for doing the
245 same thing if configure is not used, and many of the makefiles in the scripts
246 directory use this approach.
248 When rebuilding simply write a new file containing changed options and set
249 DFA_XTRA to the name of this file. This causes the build to append the new file
250 to the end of scripts/pnglibconf.dfa. The pngusr.dfa file should contain lines
251 of the following forms:
255 This turns all optional features off. Include it at the start of pngusr.dfa to
256 make it easier to build a minimal configuration. You will need to turn at least
257 some features on afterward to enable either reading or writing code, or both.
262 Enable or disable a single feature. This will automatically enable other
263 features required by a feature that is turned on or disable other features that
264 require a feature which is turned off. Conflicting settings will cause an error
265 message to be emitted by awk.
267 setting feature default value
269 Changes the default value of setting 'feature' to 'value'. There are a small
270 number of settings listed at the top of pnglibconf.h, they are documented in the
271 source code. Most of these values have performance implications for the library
272 but most of them have no visible effect on the API. Some can also be overridden
275 This method of building a customized pnglibconf.h is illustrated in
276 contrib/pngminim/*. See the "$(PNGCONF):" target in the makefile and
277 pngusr.dfa in these directories.
279 C. Configuration using PNG_USER_CONFIG
281 If -DPNG_USER_CONFIG is added to the CPPFLAGS when pnglibconf.h is built,
282 the file pngusr.h will automatically be included before the options in
283 scripts/pnglibconf.dfa are processed. Your pngusr.h file should contain only
284 macro definitions turning features on or off or setting settings.
286 Apart from the global setting "everything = off" all the options listed above
287 can be set using macros in pngusr.h:
289 #define PNG_feature_SUPPORTED
295 #define PNG_NO_feature
301 #define PNG_feature value
305 setting feature default value
307 Notice that in both cases, pngusr.dfa and pngusr.h, the contents of the
308 pngusr file you supply override the contents of scripts/pnglibconf.dfa
310 If confusing or incomprehensible behavior results it is possible to
311 examine the intermediate file pnglibconf.dfn to find the full set of
312 dependency information for each setting and option. Simply locate the
313 feature in the file and read the C comments that precede it.
315 This method is also illustrated in the contrib/pngminim/* makefiles and
320 We'll now walk you through the possible functions to call when reading
321 in a PNG file sequentially, briefly explaining the syntax and purpose
322 of each one. See example.c and png.h for more detail. While
323 progressive reading is covered in the next section, you will still
324 need some of the functions discussed in this section to read a PNG
329 You will want to do the I/O initialization(*) before you get into libpng,
330 so if it doesn't work, you don't have much to undo. Of course, you
331 will also want to insure that you are, in fact, dealing with a PNG
332 file. Libpng provides a simple check to see if a file is a PNG file.
333 To use it, pass in the first 1 to 8 bytes of the file to the function
334 png_sig_cmp(), and it will return 0 (false) if the bytes match the
335 corresponding bytes of the PNG signature, or nonzero (true) otherwise.
336 Of course, the more bytes you pass in, the greater the accuracy of the
339 If you are intending to keep the file pointer open for use in libpng,
340 you must ensure you don't read more than 8 bytes from the beginning
341 of the file, and you also have to make a call to png_set_sig_bytes()
342 with the number of bytes you read from the beginning. Libpng will
343 then only check the bytes (if any) that your program didn't read.
345 (*): If you are not using the standard I/O functions, you will need
346 to replace them with custom functions. See the discussion under
349 FILE *fp = fopen(file_name, "rb");
355 if (fread(header, 1, number, fp) != number)
360 is_png = !png_sig_cmp(header, 0, number);
366 Next, png_struct and png_info need to be allocated and initialized. In
367 order to ensure that the size of these structures is correct even with a
368 dynamically linked libpng, there are functions to initialize and
369 allocate the structures. We also pass the library version, optional
370 pointers to error handling functions, and a pointer to a data struct for
371 use by the error functions, if necessary (the pointer and functions can
372 be NULL if the default error handlers are to be used). See the section
373 on Changes to Libpng below regarding the old initialization functions.
374 The structure allocation functions quietly return NULL if they fail to
375 create the structure, so your application should check for that.
377 png_structp png_ptr = png_create_read_struct
378 (PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, (png_voidp)user_error_ptr,
379 user_error_fn, user_warning_fn);
384 png_infop info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
388 png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr,
389 (png_infopp)NULL, (png_infopp)NULL);
393 If you want to use your own memory allocation routines,
394 use a libpng that was built with PNG_USER_MEM_SUPPORTED defined, and use
395 png_create_read_struct_2() instead of png_create_read_struct():
397 png_structp png_ptr = png_create_read_struct_2
398 (PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, (png_voidp)user_error_ptr,
399 user_error_fn, user_warning_fn, (png_voidp)
400 user_mem_ptr, user_malloc_fn, user_free_fn);
402 The error handling routines passed to png_create_read_struct()
403 and the memory alloc/free routines passed to png_create_struct_2()
404 are only necessary if you are not using the libpng supplied error
405 handling and memory alloc/free functions.
407 When libpng encounters an error, it expects to longjmp back
408 to your routine. Therefore, you will need to call setjmp and pass
409 your png_jmpbuf(png_ptr). If you read the file from different
410 routines, you will need to update the longjmp buffer every time you enter
411 a new routine that will call a png_*() function.
413 See your documentation of setjmp/longjmp for your compiler for more
414 information on setjmp/longjmp. See the discussion on libpng error
415 handling in the Customizing Libpng section below for more information
416 on the libpng error handling. If an error occurs, and libpng longjmp's
417 back to your setjmp, you will want to call png_destroy_read_struct() to
420 if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr)))
422 png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr,
428 Pass (png_infopp)NULL instead of &end_info if you didn't create
429 an end_info structure.
431 If you would rather avoid the complexity of setjmp/longjmp issues,
432 you can compile libpng with PNG_NO_SETJMP, in which case
433 errors will result in a call to PNG_ABORT() which defaults to abort().
435 You can #define PNG_ABORT() to a function that does something
436 more useful than abort(), as long as your function does not
439 Now you need to set up the input code. The default for libpng is to
440 use the C function fread(). If you use this, you will need to pass a
441 valid FILE * in the function png_init_io(). Be sure that the file is
442 opened in binary mode. If you wish to handle reading data in another
443 way, you need not call the png_init_io() function, but you must then
444 implement the libpng I/O methods discussed in the Customizing Libpng
447 png_init_io(png_ptr, fp);
449 If you had previously opened the file and read any of the signature from
450 the beginning in order to see if this was a PNG file, you need to let
451 libpng know that there are some bytes missing from the start of the file.
453 png_set_sig_bytes(png_ptr, number);
455 You can change the zlib compression buffer size to be used while
456 reading compressed data with
458 png_set_compression_buffer_size(png_ptr, buffer_size);
460 where the default size is 8192 bytes. Note that the buffer size
461 is changed immediately and the buffer is reallocated immediately,
462 instead of setting a flag to be acted upon later.
464 If you want CRC errors to be handled in a different manner than
467 png_set_crc_action(png_ptr, crit_action, ancil_action);
469 The values for png_set_crc_action() say how libpng is to handle CRC errors in
470 ancillary and critical chunks, and whether to use the data contained
471 therein. Starting with libpng-1.6.26, this also governs how an ADLER32 error
472 is handled while reading the IDAT chunk. Note that it is impossible to
473 "discard" data in a critical chunk.
475 Choices for (int) crit_action are
476 PNG_CRC_DEFAULT 0 error/quit
477 PNG_CRC_ERROR_QUIT 1 error/quit
478 PNG_CRC_WARN_USE 3 warn/use data
479 PNG_CRC_QUIET_USE 4 quiet/use data
480 PNG_CRC_NO_CHANGE 5 use the current value
482 Choices for (int) ancil_action are
483 PNG_CRC_DEFAULT 0 error/quit
484 PNG_CRC_ERROR_QUIT 1 error/quit
485 PNG_CRC_WARN_DISCARD 2 warn/discard data
486 PNG_CRC_WARN_USE 3 warn/use data
487 PNG_CRC_QUIET_USE 4 quiet/use data
488 PNG_CRC_NO_CHANGE 5 use the current value
490 When the setting for crit_action is PNG_CRC_QUIET_USE, the CRC and ADLER32
491 checksums are not only ignored, but they are not evaluated.
493 Setting up callback code
495 You can set up a callback function to handle any unknown chunks in the
496 input stream. You must supply the function
498 read_chunk_callback(png_structp png_ptr,
499 png_unknown_chunkp chunk);
501 /* The unknown chunk structure contains your
502 chunk data, along with similar data for any other
509 /* Note that libpng has already taken care of
512 /* put your code here. Search for your chunk in the
513 unknown chunk structure, process it, and return one
516 return -n; /* chunk had an error */
517 return 0; /* did not recognize */
518 return n; /* success */
521 (You can give your function another name that you like instead of
522 "read_chunk_callback")
524 To inform libpng about your function, use
526 png_set_read_user_chunk_fn(png_ptr, user_chunk_ptr,
527 read_chunk_callback);
529 This names not only the callback function, but also a user pointer that
530 you can retrieve with
532 png_get_user_chunk_ptr(png_ptr);
534 If you call the png_set_read_user_chunk_fn() function, then all unknown
535 chunks which the callback does not handle will be saved when read. You can
536 cause them to be discarded by returning '1' ("handled") instead of '0'. This
537 behavior will change in libpng 1.7 and the default handling set by the
538 png_set_keep_unknown_chunks() function, described below, will be used when the
539 callback returns 0. If you want the existing behavior you should set the global
540 default to PNG_HANDLE_CHUNK_IF_SAFE now; this is compatible with all current
541 versions of libpng and with 1.7. Libpng 1.6 issues a warning if you keep the
542 default, or PNG_HANDLE_CHUNK_NEVER, and the callback returns 0.
544 At this point, you can set up a callback function that will be
545 called after each row has been read, which you can use to control
546 a progress meter or the like. It's demonstrated in pngtest.c.
547 You must supply a function
549 void read_row_callback(png_structp png_ptr,
550 png_uint_32 row, int pass);
552 /* put your code here */
555 (You can give it another name that you like instead of "read_row_callback")
557 To inform libpng about your function, use
559 png_set_read_status_fn(png_ptr, read_row_callback);
561 When this function is called the row has already been completely processed and
562 the 'row' and 'pass' refer to the next row to be handled. For the
563 non-interlaced case the row that was just handled is simply one less than the
564 passed in row number, and pass will always be 0. For the interlaced case the
565 same applies unless the row value is 0, in which case the row just handled was
566 the last one from one of the preceding passes. Because interlacing may skip a
567 pass you cannot be sure that the preceding pass is just 'pass-1'; if you really
568 need to know what the last pass is record (row,pass) from the callback and use
569 the last recorded value each time.
571 As with the user transform you can find the output row using the
572 PNG_ROW_FROM_PASS_ROW macro.
574 Unknown-chunk handling
576 Now you get to set the way the library processes unknown chunks in the
577 input PNG stream. Both known and unknown chunks will be read. Normal
578 behavior is that known chunks will be parsed into information in
579 various info_ptr members while unknown chunks will be discarded. This
580 behavior can be wasteful if your application will never use some known
581 chunk types. To change this, you can call:
583 png_set_keep_unknown_chunks(png_ptr, keep,
584 chunk_list, num_chunks);
586 keep - 0: default unknown chunk handling
587 1: ignore; do not keep
588 2: keep only if safe-to-copy
589 3: keep even if unsafe-to-copy
591 You can use these definitions:
592 PNG_HANDLE_CHUNK_AS_DEFAULT 0
593 PNG_HANDLE_CHUNK_NEVER 1
594 PNG_HANDLE_CHUNK_IF_SAFE 2
595 PNG_HANDLE_CHUNK_ALWAYS 3
597 chunk_list - list of chunks affected (a byte string,
598 five bytes per chunk, NULL or '\0' if
599 num_chunks is positive; ignored if
602 num_chunks - number of chunks affected; if 0, all
603 unknown chunks are affected. If positive,
604 only the chunks in the list are affected,
605 and if negative all unknown chunks and
606 all known chunks except for the IHDR,
607 PLTE, tRNS, IDAT, and IEND chunks are
610 Unknown chunks declared in this way will be saved as raw data onto a
611 list of png_unknown_chunk structures. If a chunk that is normally
612 known to libpng is named in the list, it will be handled as unknown,
613 according to the "keep" directive. If a chunk is named in successive
614 instances of png_set_keep_unknown_chunks(), the final instance will
615 take precedence. The IHDR and IEND chunks should not be named in
616 chunk_list; if they are, libpng will process them normally anyway.
617 If you know that your application will never make use of some particular
618 chunks, use PNG_HANDLE_CHUNK_NEVER (or 1) as demonstrated below.
620 Here is an example of the usage of png_set_keep_unknown_chunks(),
621 where the private "vpAg" chunk will later be processed by a user chunk
624 png_byte vpAg[5]={118, 112, 65, 103, (png_byte) '\0'};
626 #if defined(PNG_UNKNOWN_CHUNKS_SUPPORTED)
627 png_byte unused_chunks[]=
629 104, 73, 83, 84, (png_byte) '\0', /* hIST */
630 105, 84, 88, 116, (png_byte) '\0', /* iTXt */
631 112, 67, 65, 76, (png_byte) '\0', /* pCAL */
632 115, 67, 65, 76, (png_byte) '\0', /* sCAL */
633 115, 80, 76, 84, (png_byte) '\0', /* sPLT */
634 116, 73, 77, 69, (png_byte) '\0', /* tIME */
640 #if defined(PNG_UNKNOWN_CHUNKS_SUPPORTED)
641 /* ignore all unknown chunks
642 * (use global setting "2" for libpng16 and earlier):
644 png_set_keep_unknown_chunks(read_ptr, 2, NULL, 0);
646 /* except for vpAg: */
647 png_set_keep_unknown_chunks(read_ptr, 2, vpAg, 1);
649 /* also ignore unused known chunks: */
650 png_set_keep_unknown_chunks(read_ptr, 1, unused_chunks,
651 (int)(sizeof unused_chunks)/5);
656 The PNG specification allows the width and height of an image to be as
657 large as 2^31-1 (0x7fffffff), or about 2.147 billion rows and columns.
658 For safety, libpng imposes a default limit of 1 million rows and columns.
659 Larger images will be rejected immediately with a png_error() call. If
660 you wish to change these limits, you can use
662 png_set_user_limits(png_ptr, width_max, height_max);
664 to set your own limits (libpng may reject some very wide images
665 anyway because of potential buffer overflow conditions).
667 You should put this statement after you create the PNG structure and
668 before calling png_read_info(), png_read_png(), or png_process_data().
670 When writing a PNG datastream, put this statement before calling
671 png_write_info() or png_write_png().
673 If you need to retrieve the limits that are being applied, use
675 width_max = png_get_user_width_max(png_ptr);
676 height_max = png_get_user_height_max(png_ptr);
678 The PNG specification sets no limit on the number of ancillary chunks
679 allowed in a PNG datastream. By default, libpng imposes a limit of
680 a total of 1000 sPLT, tEXt, iTXt, zTXt, and unknown chunks to be stored.
681 If you have set up both info_ptr and end_info_ptr, the limit applies
682 separately to each. You can change the limit on the total number of such
683 chunks that will be stored, with
685 png_set_chunk_cache_max(png_ptr, user_chunk_cache_max);
687 where 0x7fffffffL means unlimited. You can retrieve this limit with
689 chunk_cache_max = png_get_chunk_cache_max(png_ptr);
691 Libpng imposes a limit of 8 Megabytes (8,000,000 bytes) on the amount of
692 memory that any chunk other than IDAT can occupy, originally or when
693 decompressed (prior to libpng-1.6.32 the limit was only applied to compressed
694 chunks after decompression). You can change this limit with
696 png_set_chunk_malloc_max(png_ptr, user_chunk_malloc_max);
698 and you can retrieve the limit with
700 chunk_malloc_max = png_get_chunk_malloc_max(png_ptr);
702 Any chunks that would cause either of these limits to be exceeded will
705 Information about your system
707 If you intend to display the PNG or to incorporate it in other image data you
708 need to tell libpng information about your display or drawing surface so that
709 libpng can convert the values in the image to match the display.
711 From libpng-1.5.4 this information can be set before reading the PNG file
712 header. In earlier versions png_set_gamma() existed but behaved incorrectly if
713 called before the PNG file header had been read and png_set_alpha_mode() did not
716 If you need to support versions prior to libpng-1.5.4 test the version number
717 as illustrated below using "PNG_LIBPNG_VER >= 10504" and follow the procedures
718 described in the appropriate manual page.
720 You give libpng the encoding expected by your system expressed as a 'gamma'
721 value. You can also specify a default encoding for the PNG file in
722 case the required information is missing from the file. By default libpng
723 assumes that the PNG data matches your system, to keep this default call:
725 png_set_gamma(png_ptr, screen_gamma, output_gamma);
727 or you can use the fixed point equivalent:
729 png_set_gamma_fixed(png_ptr, PNG_FP_1*screen_gamma,
730 PNG_FP_1*output_gamma);
732 If you don't know the gamma for your system it is probably 2.2 - a good
733 approximation to the IEC standard for display systems (sRGB). If images are
734 too contrasty or washed out you got the value wrong - check your system
737 Many systems permit the system gamma to be changed via a lookup table in the
738 display driver, a few systems, including older Macs, change the response by
739 default. As of 1.5.4 three special values are available to handle common
742 PNG_DEFAULT_sRGB: Indicates that the system conforms to the
743 IEC 61966-2-1 standard. This matches almost
745 PNG_GAMMA_MAC_18: Indicates that the system is an older
746 (pre Mac OS 10.6) Apple Macintosh system with
747 the default settings.
748 PNG_GAMMA_LINEAR: Just the fixed point value for 1.0 - indicates
749 that the system expects data with no gamma
752 You would use the linear (unencoded) value if you need to process the pixel
753 values further because this avoids the need to decode and re-encode each
754 component value whenever arithmetic is performed. A lot of graphics software
755 uses linear values for this reason, often with higher precision component values
756 to preserve overall accuracy.
759 The output_gamma value expresses how to decode the output values, not how
760 they are encoded. The values used correspond to the normal numbers used to
761 describe the overall gamma of a computer display system; for example 2.2 for
762 an sRGB conformant system. The values are scaled by 100000 in the _fixed
763 version of the API (so 220000 for sRGB.)
765 The inverse of the value is always used to provide a default for the PNG file
766 encoding if it has no gAMA chunk and if png_set_gamma() has not been called
767 to override the PNG gamma information.
769 When the ALPHA_OPTIMIZED mode is selected the output gamma is used to encode
770 opaque pixels however pixels with lower alpha values are not encoded,
771 regardless of the output gamma setting.
773 When the standard Porter Duff handling is requested with mode 1 the output
774 encoding is set to be linear and the output_gamma value is only relevant
775 as a default for input data that has no gamma information. The linear output
776 encoding will be overridden if png_set_gamma() is called - the results may be
779 The following numbers are derived from the sRGB standard and the research
780 behind it. sRGB is defined to be approximated by a PNG gAMA chunk value of
781 0.45455 (1/2.2) for PNG. The value implicitly includes any viewing
782 correction required to take account of any differences in the color
783 environment of the original scene and the intended display environment; the
784 value expresses how to *decode* the image for display, not how the original
787 sRGB provides a peg for the PNG standard by defining a viewing environment.
788 sRGB itself, and earlier TV standards, actually use a more complex transform
789 (a linear portion then a gamma 2.4 power law) than PNG can express. (PNG is
790 limited to simple power laws.) By saying that an image for direct display on
791 an sRGB conformant system should be stored with a gAMA chunk value of 45455
792 (11.3.3.2 and 11.3.3.5 of the ISO PNG specification) the PNG specification
793 makes it possible to derive values for other display systems and
796 The Mac value is deduced from the sRGB based on an assumption that the actual
797 extra viewing correction used in early Mac display systems was implemented as
798 a power 1.45 lookup table.
800 Any system where a programmable lookup table is used or where the behavior of
801 the final display device characteristics can be changed requires system
802 specific code to obtain the current characteristic. However this can be
803 difficult and most PNG gamma correction only requires an approximate value.
805 By default, if png_set_alpha_mode() is not called, libpng assumes that all
806 values are unencoded, linear, values and that the output device also has a
807 linear characteristic. This is only very rarely correct - it is invariably
808 better to call png_set_alpha_mode() with PNG_DEFAULT_sRGB than rely on the
809 default if you don't know what the right answer is!
811 The special value PNG_GAMMA_MAC_18 indicates an older Mac system (pre Mac OS
812 10.6) which used a correction table to implement a somewhat lower gamma on an
813 otherwise sRGB system.
815 Both these values are reserved (not simple gamma values) in order to allow
816 more precise correction internally in the future.
818 NOTE: the values can be passed to either the fixed or floating
819 point APIs, but the floating point API will also accept floating point
822 The second thing you may need to tell libpng about is how your system handles
823 alpha channel information. Some, but not all, PNG files contain an alpha
824 channel. To display these files correctly you need to compose the data onto a
825 suitable background, as described in the PNG specification.
827 Libpng only supports composing onto a single color (using png_set_background;
828 see below). Otherwise you must do the composition yourself and, in this case,
829 you may need to call png_set_alpha_mode:
831 #if PNG_LIBPNG_VER >= 10504
832 png_set_alpha_mode(png_ptr, mode, screen_gamma);
834 png_set_gamma(png_ptr, screen_gamma, 1.0/screen_gamma);
837 The screen_gamma value is the same as the argument to png_set_gamma; however,
838 how it affects the output depends on the mode. png_set_alpha_mode() sets the
839 file gamma default to 1/screen_gamma, so normally you don't need to call
840 png_set_gamma. If you need different defaults call png_set_gamma() before
841 png_set_alpha_mode() - if you call it after it will override the settings made
842 by png_set_alpha_mode().
844 The mode is as follows:
846 PNG_ALPHA_PNG: The data is encoded according to the PNG
847 specification. Red, green and blue, or gray, components are
848 gamma encoded color values and are not premultiplied by the
849 alpha value. The alpha value is a linear measure of the
850 contribution of the pixel to the corresponding final output pixel.
852 You should normally use this format if you intend to perform
853 color correction on the color values; most, maybe all, color
854 correction software has no handling for the alpha channel and,
855 anyway, the math to handle pre-multiplied component values is
856 unnecessarily complex.
858 Before you do any arithmetic on the component values you need
859 to remove the gamma encoding and multiply out the alpha
860 channel. See the PNG specification for more detail. It is
861 important to note that when an image with an alpha channel is
862 scaled, linear encoded, pre-multiplied component values must
865 The remaining modes assume you don't need to do any further color correction or
866 that if you do, your color correction software knows all about alpha (it
867 probably doesn't!). They 'associate' the alpha with the color information by
868 storing color channel values that have been scaled by the alpha. The
869 advantage is that the color channels can be resampled (the image can be
870 scaled) in this form. The disadvantage is that normal practice is to store
871 linear, not (gamma) encoded, values and this requires 16-bit channels for
872 still images rather than the 8-bit channels that are just about sufficient if
873 gamma encoding is used. In addition all non-transparent pixel values,
874 including completely opaque ones, must be gamma encoded to produce the final
875 image. These are the 'STANDARD', 'ASSOCIATED' or 'PREMULTIPLIED' modes
876 described below (the latter being the two common names for associated alpha
877 color channels). Note that PNG files always contain non-associated color
878 channels; png_set_alpha_mode() with one of the modes causes the decoder to
879 convert the pixels to an associated form before returning them to your
882 Since it is not necessary to perform arithmetic on opaque color values so
883 long as they are not to be resampled and are in the final color space it is
884 possible to optimize the handling of alpha by storing the opaque pixels in
885 the PNG format (adjusted for the output color space) while storing partially
886 opaque pixels in the standard, linear, format. The accuracy required for
887 standard alpha composition is relatively low, because the pixels are
888 isolated, therefore typically the accuracy loss in storing 8-bit linear
889 values is acceptable. (This is not true if the alpha channel is used to
890 simulate transparency over large areas - use 16 bits or the PNG mode in
891 this case!) This is the 'OPTIMIZED' mode. For this mode a pixel is
892 treated as opaque only if the alpha value is equal to the maximum value.
894 PNG_ALPHA_STANDARD: The data libpng produces is encoded in the
895 standard way assumed by most correctly written graphics software.
896 The gamma encoding will be removed by libpng and the
897 linear component values will be pre-multiplied by the
900 With this format the final image must be re-encoded to
901 match the display gamma before the image is displayed.
902 If your system doesn't do that, yet still seems to
903 perform arithmetic on the pixels without decoding them,
904 it is broken - check out the modes below.
906 With PNG_ALPHA_STANDARD libpng always produces linear
907 component values, whatever screen_gamma you supply. The
908 screen_gamma value is, however, used as a default for
909 the file gamma if the PNG file has no gamma information.
911 If you call png_set_gamma() after png_set_alpha_mode() you
912 will override the linear encoding. Instead the
913 pre-multiplied pixel values will be gamma encoded but
914 the alpha channel will still be linear. This may
915 actually match the requirements of some broken software,
918 While linear 8-bit data is often used it has
919 insufficient precision for any image with a reasonable
920 dynamic range. To avoid problems, and if your software
921 supports it, use png_set_expand_16() to force all
922 components to 16 bits.
924 PNG_ALPHA_OPTIMIZED: This mode is the same as PNG_ALPHA_STANDARD
925 except that completely opaque pixels are gamma encoded according to
926 the screen_gamma value. Pixels with alpha less than 1.0
927 will still have linear components.
929 Use this format if you have control over your
930 compositing software and so don't do other arithmetic
931 (such as scaling) on the data you get from libpng. Your
932 compositing software can simply copy opaque pixels to
933 the output but still has linear values for the
936 In normal compositing, where the alpha channel encodes
937 partial pixel coverage (as opposed to broad area
938 translucency), the inaccuracies of the 8-bit
939 representation of non-opaque pixels are irrelevant.
941 You can also try this format if your software is broken;
942 it might look better.
944 PNG_ALPHA_BROKEN: This is PNG_ALPHA_STANDARD; however, all component
945 values, including the alpha channel are gamma encoded. This is
946 broken because, in practice, no implementation that uses this choice
947 correctly undoes the encoding before handling alpha composition. Use this
948 choice only if other serious errors in the software or hardware you use
949 mandate it. In most cases of broken software or hardware the bug in the
950 final display manifests as a subtle halo around composited parts of the
951 image. You may not even perceive this as a halo; the composited part of
952 the image may simply appear separate from the background, as though it had
953 been cut out of paper and pasted on afterward.
955 If you don't have to deal with bugs in software or hardware, or if you can fix
956 them, there are three recommended ways of using png_set_alpha_mode():
958 png_set_alpha_mode(png_ptr, PNG_ALPHA_PNG,
961 You can do color correction on the result (libpng does not currently
962 support color correction internally). When you handle the alpha channel
963 you need to undo the gamma encoding and multiply out the alpha.
965 png_set_alpha_mode(png_ptr, PNG_ALPHA_STANDARD,
967 png_set_expand_16(png_ptr);
969 If you are using the high level interface, don't call png_set_expand_16();
970 instead pass PNG_TRANSFORM_EXPAND_16 to the interface.
972 With this mode you can't do color correction, but you can do arithmetic,
973 including composition and scaling, on the data without further processing.
975 png_set_alpha_mode(png_ptr, PNG_ALPHA_OPTIMIZED,
978 You can avoid the expansion to 16-bit components with this mode, but you
979 lose the ability to scale the image or perform other linear arithmetic.
980 All you can do is compose the result onto a matching output. Since this
981 mode is libpng-specific you also need to write your own composition
984 The following are examples of calls to png_set_alpha_mode to achieve the
985 required overall gamma correction and, where necessary, alpha
988 png_set_alpha_mode(pp, PNG_ALPHA_PNG, PNG_DEFAULT_sRGB);
990 Choices for the alpha_mode are
992 PNG_ALPHA_PNG 0 /* according to the PNG standard */
993 PNG_ALPHA_STANDARD 1 /* according to Porter/Duff */
994 PNG_ALPHA_ASSOCIATED 1 /* as above; this is the normal practice */
995 PNG_ALPHA_PREMULTIPLIED 1 /* as above */
996 PNG_ALPHA_OPTIMIZED 2 /* 'PNG' for opaque pixels, else 'STANDARD' */
997 PNG_ALPHA_BROKEN 3 /* the alpha channel is gamma encoded */
999 PNG_ALPHA_PNG is the default libpng handling of the alpha channel. It is not
1000 pre-multiplied into the color components. In addition the call states
1001 that the output is for a sRGB system and causes all PNG files without gAMA
1002 chunks to be assumed to be encoded using sRGB.
1004 png_set_alpha_mode(pp, PNG_ALPHA_PNG, PNG_GAMMA_MAC);
1006 In this case the output is assumed to be something like an sRGB conformant
1007 display preceded by a power-law lookup table of power 1.45. This is how
1008 early Mac systems behaved.
1010 png_set_alpha_mode(pp, PNG_ALPHA_STANDARD, PNG_GAMMA_LINEAR);
1012 This is the classic Jim Blinn approach and will work in academic
1013 environments where everything is done by the book. It has the shortcoming
1014 of assuming that input PNG data with no gamma information is linear - this
1015 is unlikely to be correct unless the PNG files were generated locally.
1016 Most of the time the output precision will be so low as to show
1017 significant banding in dark areas of the image.
1019 png_set_expand_16(pp);
1020 png_set_alpha_mode(pp, PNG_ALPHA_STANDARD, PNG_DEFAULT_sRGB);
1022 This is a somewhat more realistic Jim Blinn inspired approach. PNG files
1023 are assumed to have the sRGB encoding if not marked with a gamma value and
1024 the output is always 16 bits per component. This permits accurate scaling
1025 and processing of the data. If you know that your input PNG files were
1026 generated locally you might need to replace PNG_DEFAULT_sRGB with the
1027 correct value for your system.
1029 png_set_alpha_mode(pp, PNG_ALPHA_OPTIMIZED, PNG_DEFAULT_sRGB);
1031 If you just need to composite the PNG image onto an existing background
1032 and if you control the code that does this you can use the optimization
1033 setting. In this case you just copy completely opaque pixels to the
1034 output. For pixels that are not completely transparent (you just skip
1035 those) you do the composition math using png_composite or png_composite_16
1036 below then encode the resultant 8-bit or 16-bit values to match the output
1041 If neither the PNG nor the standard linear encoding work for you because
1042 of the software or hardware you use then you have a big problem. The PNG
1043 case will probably result in halos around the image. The linear encoding
1044 will probably result in a washed out, too bright, image (it's actually too
1045 contrasty.) Try the ALPHA_OPTIMIZED mode above - this will probably
1046 substantially reduce the halos. Alternatively try:
1048 png_set_alpha_mode(pp, PNG_ALPHA_BROKEN, PNG_DEFAULT_sRGB);
1050 This option will also reduce the halos, but there will be slight dark
1051 halos round the opaque parts of the image where the background is light.
1052 In the OPTIMIZED mode the halos will be light halos where the background
1053 is dark. Take your pick - the halos are unavoidable unless you can get
1054 your hardware/software fixed! (The OPTIMIZED approach is slightly
1057 When the default gamma of PNG files doesn't match the output gamma.
1058 If you have PNG files with no gamma information png_set_alpha_mode allows
1059 you to provide a default gamma, but it also sets the output gamma to the
1060 matching value. If you know your PNG files have a gamma that doesn't
1061 match the output you can take advantage of the fact that
1062 png_set_alpha_mode always sets the output gamma but only sets the PNG
1063 default if it is not already set:
1065 png_set_alpha_mode(pp, PNG_ALPHA_PNG, PNG_DEFAULT_sRGB);
1066 png_set_alpha_mode(pp, PNG_ALPHA_PNG, PNG_GAMMA_MAC);
1068 The first call sets both the default and the output gamma values, the
1069 second call overrides the output gamma without changing the default. This
1070 is easier than achieving the same effect with png_set_gamma. You must use
1071 PNG_ALPHA_PNG for the first call - internal checking in png_set_alpha will
1072 fire if more than one call to png_set_alpha_mode and png_set_background is
1073 made in the same read operation, however multiple calls with PNG_ALPHA_PNG
1076 If you don't need, or can't handle, the alpha channel you can call
1077 png_set_background() to remove it by compositing against a fixed color. Don't
1078 call png_set_strip_alpha() to do this - it will leave spurious pixel values in
1079 transparent parts of this image.
1081 png_set_background(png_ptr, &background_color,
1082 PNG_BACKGROUND_GAMMA_SCREEN, 0, 1);
1084 The background_color is an RGB or grayscale value according to the data format
1085 libpng will produce for you. Because you don't yet know the format of the PNG
1086 file, if you call png_set_background at this point you must arrange for the
1087 format produced by libpng to always have 8-bit or 16-bit components and then
1088 store the color as an 8-bit or 16-bit color as appropriate. The color contains
1089 separate gray and RGB component values, so you can let libpng produce gray or
1090 RGB output according to the input format, but low bit depth grayscale images
1091 must always be converted to at least 8-bit format. (Even though low bit depth
1092 grayscale images can't have an alpha channel they can have a transparent
1095 You set the transforms you need later, either as flags to the high level
1096 interface or libpng API calls for the low level interface. For reference the
1097 settings and API calls required are:
1100 PNG_TRANSFORM_SCALE_16 | PNG_EXPAND
1101 png_set_expand(png_ptr); png_set_scale_16(png_ptr);
1103 If you must get exactly the same inaccurate results
1104 produced by default in versions prior to libpng-1.5.4,
1105 use PNG_TRANSFORM_STRIP_16 and png_set_strip_16(png_ptr)
1109 PNG_TRANSFORM_EXPAND_16
1110 png_set_expand_16(png_ptr);
1112 In either case palette image data will be expanded to RGB. If you just want
1113 color data you can add PNG_TRANSFORM_GRAY_TO_RGB or png_set_gray_to_rgb(png_ptr)
1116 Calling png_set_background before the PNG file header is read will not work
1117 prior to libpng-1.5.4. Because the failure may result in unexpected warnings or
1118 errors it is therefore much safer to call png_set_background after the head has
1119 been read. Unfortunately this means that prior to libpng-1.5.4 it cannot be
1120 used with the high level interface.
1122 The high-level read interface
1124 At this point there are two ways to proceed; through the high-level
1125 read interface, or through a sequence of low-level read operations.
1126 You can use the high-level interface if (a) you are willing to read
1127 the entire image into memory, and (b) the input transformations
1128 you want to do are limited to the following set:
1130 PNG_TRANSFORM_IDENTITY No transformation
1131 PNG_TRANSFORM_SCALE_16 Strip 16-bit samples to
1133 PNG_TRANSFORM_STRIP_16 Chop 16-bit samples to
1134 8-bit less accurately
1135 PNG_TRANSFORM_STRIP_ALPHA Discard the alpha channel
1136 PNG_TRANSFORM_PACKING Expand 1, 2 and 4-bit
1138 PNG_TRANSFORM_PACKSWAP Change order of packed
1140 PNG_TRANSFORM_EXPAND Perform set_expand()
1141 PNG_TRANSFORM_INVERT_MONO Invert monochrome images
1142 PNG_TRANSFORM_SHIFT Normalize pixels to the
1144 PNG_TRANSFORM_BGR Flip RGB to BGR, RGBA
1146 PNG_TRANSFORM_SWAP_ALPHA Flip RGBA to ARGB or GA
1148 PNG_TRANSFORM_INVERT_ALPHA Change alpha from opacity
1150 PNG_TRANSFORM_SWAP_ENDIAN Byte-swap 16-bit samples
1151 PNG_TRANSFORM_GRAY_TO_RGB Expand grayscale samples
1152 to RGB (or GA to RGBA)
1153 PNG_TRANSFORM_EXPAND_16 Expand samples to 16 bits
1155 (This excludes setting a background color, doing gamma transformation,
1156 quantizing, and setting filler.) If this is the case, simply do this:
1158 png_read_png(png_ptr, info_ptr, png_transforms, NULL)
1160 where png_transforms is an integer containing the bitwise OR of some
1161 set of transformation flags. This call is equivalent to png_read_info(),
1162 followed the set of transformations indicated by the transform mask,
1163 then png_read_image(), and finally png_read_end().
1165 (The final parameter of this call is not yet used. Someday it might point
1166 to transformation parameters required by some future input transform.)
1168 You must use png_transforms and not call any png_set_transform() functions
1169 when you use png_read_png().
1171 After you have called png_read_png(), you can retrieve the image data
1174 row_pointers = png_get_rows(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1176 where row_pointers is an array of pointers to the pixel data for each row:
1178 png_bytep row_pointers[height];
1180 If you know your image size and pixel size ahead of time, you can allocate
1181 row_pointers prior to calling png_read_png() with
1183 if (height > PNG_UINT_32_MAX/(sizeof (png_byte)))
1185 "Image is too tall to process in memory");
1187 if (width > PNG_UINT_32_MAX/pixel_size)
1189 "Image is too wide to process in memory");
1191 row_pointers = png_malloc(png_ptr,
1192 height*(sizeof (png_bytep)));
1194 for (int i=0; i<height, i++)
1195 row_pointers[i]=NULL; /* security precaution */
1197 for (int i=0; i<height, i++)
1198 row_pointers[i]=png_malloc(png_ptr,
1201 png_set_rows(png_ptr, info_ptr, &row_pointers);
1203 Alternatively you could allocate your image in one big block and define
1204 row_pointers[i] to point into the proper places in your block, but first
1205 be sure that your platform is able to allocate such a large buffer:
1207 /* Guard against integer overflow */
1208 if (height > PNG_SIZE_MAX/(width*pixel_size)) {
1209 png_error(png_ptr,"image_data buffer would be too large");
1212 png_bytep buffer=png_malloc(png_ptr,height*width*pixel_size);
1214 for (int i=0; i<height, i++)
1215 row_pointers[i]=buffer+i*width*pixel_size;
1217 png_set_rows(png_ptr, info_ptr, &row_pointers);
1219 If you use png_set_rows(), the application is responsible for freeing
1220 row_pointers (and row_pointers[i], if they were separately allocated).
1222 If you don't allocate row_pointers ahead of time, png_read_png() will
1223 do it, and it'll be free'ed by libpng when you call png_destroy_*().
1225 The low-level read interface
1227 If you are going the low-level route, you are now ready to read all
1228 the file information up to the actual image data. You do this with a
1229 call to png_read_info().
1231 png_read_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1233 This will process all chunks up to but not including the image data.
1235 This also copies some of the data from the PNG file into the decode structure
1236 for use in later transformations. Important information copied in is:
1238 1) The PNG file gamma from the gAMA chunk. This overwrites the default value
1239 provided by an earlier call to png_set_gamma or png_set_alpha_mode.
1241 2) Prior to libpng-1.5.4 the background color from a bKGd chunk. This
1242 damages the information provided by an earlier call to png_set_background
1243 resulting in unexpected behavior. Libpng-1.5.4 no longer does this.
1245 3) The number of significant bits in each component value. Libpng uses this to
1246 optimize gamma handling by reducing the internal lookup table sizes.
1248 4) The transparent color information from a tRNS chunk. This can be modified by
1249 a later call to png_set_tRNS.
1251 Querying the info structure
1253 Functions are used to get the information from the info_ptr once it
1254 has been read. Note that these fields may not be completely filled
1255 in until png_read_end() has read the chunk data following the image.
1257 png_get_IHDR(png_ptr, info_ptr, &width, &height,
1258 &bit_depth, &color_type, &interlace_type,
1259 &compression_type, &filter_method);
1261 width - holds the width of the image
1262 in pixels (up to 2^31).
1264 height - holds the height of the image
1265 in pixels (up to 2^31).
1267 bit_depth - holds the bit depth of one of the
1268 image channels. (valid values are
1269 1, 2, 4, 8, 16 and depend also on
1270 the color_type. See also
1271 significant bits (sBIT) below).
1273 color_type - describes which color/alpha channels
1276 (bit depths 1, 2, 4, 8, 16)
1277 PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY_ALPHA
1279 PNG_COLOR_TYPE_PALETTE
1280 (bit depths 1, 2, 4, 8)
1283 PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB_ALPHA
1286 PNG_COLOR_MASK_PALETTE
1287 PNG_COLOR_MASK_COLOR
1288 PNG_COLOR_MASK_ALPHA
1290 interlace_type - (PNG_INTERLACE_NONE or
1291 PNG_INTERLACE_ADAM7)
1293 compression_type - (must be PNG_COMPRESSION_TYPE_BASE
1296 filter_method - (must be PNG_FILTER_TYPE_BASE
1297 for PNG 1.0, and can also be
1298 PNG_INTRAPIXEL_DIFFERENCING if
1299 the PNG datastream is embedded in
1300 a MNG-1.0 datastream)
1302 Any of width, height, color_type, bit_depth,
1303 interlace_type, compression_type, or filter_method can
1304 be NULL if you are not interested in their values.
1306 Note that png_get_IHDR() returns 32-bit data into
1307 the application's width and height variables.
1308 This is an unsafe situation if these are not png_uint_32
1309 variables. In such situations, the
1310 png_get_image_width() and png_get_image_height()
1311 functions described below are safer.
1313 width = png_get_image_width(png_ptr,
1316 height = png_get_image_height(png_ptr,
1319 bit_depth = png_get_bit_depth(png_ptr,
1322 color_type = png_get_color_type(png_ptr,
1325 interlace_type = png_get_interlace_type(png_ptr,
1328 compression_type = png_get_compression_type(png_ptr,
1331 filter_method = png_get_filter_type(png_ptr,
1334 channels = png_get_channels(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1336 channels - number of channels of info for the
1337 color type (valid values are 1 (GRAY,
1338 PALETTE), 2 (GRAY_ALPHA), 3 (RGB),
1339 4 (RGB_ALPHA or RGB + filler byte))
1341 rowbytes = png_get_rowbytes(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1343 rowbytes - number of bytes needed to hold a row
1344 This value, the bit_depth, color_type,
1345 and the number of channels can change
1346 if you use transforms such as
1347 png_set_expand(). See
1348 png_read_update_info(), below.
1350 signature = png_get_signature(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1352 signature - holds the signature read from the
1353 file (if any). The data is kept in
1354 the same offset it would be if the
1355 whole signature were read (i.e. if an
1356 application had already read in 4
1357 bytes of signature before starting
1358 libpng, the remaining 4 bytes would
1359 be in signature[4] through signature[7]
1360 (see png_set_sig_bytes())).
1362 These are also important, but their validity depends on whether the chunk
1363 has been read. The png_get_valid(png_ptr, info_ptr, PNG_INFO_<chunk>) and
1364 png_get_<chunk>(png_ptr, info_ptr, ...) functions return non-zero if the
1365 data has been read, or zero if it is missing. The parameters to the
1366 png_get_<chunk> are set directly if they are simple data types, or a
1367 pointer into the info_ptr is returned for any complex types.
1369 The colorspace data from gAMA, cHRM, sRGB, iCCP, and sBIT chunks
1370 is simply returned to give the application information about how the
1371 image was encoded. Libpng itself only does transformations using the file
1372 gamma when combining semitransparent pixels with the background color, and,
1373 since libpng-1.6.0, when converting between 8-bit sRGB and 16-bit linear pixels
1374 within the simplified API. Libpng also uses the file gamma when converting
1375 RGB to gray, beginning with libpng-1.0.5, if the application calls
1376 png_set_rgb_to_gray()).
1378 png_get_PLTE(png_ptr, info_ptr, &palette,
1381 palette - the palette for the file
1382 (array of png_color)
1384 num_palette - number of entries in the palette
1386 png_get_gAMA(png_ptr, info_ptr, &file_gamma);
1387 png_get_gAMA_fixed(png_ptr, info_ptr, &int_file_gamma);
1389 file_gamma - the gamma at which the file is
1390 written (PNG_INFO_gAMA)
1392 int_file_gamma - 100,000 times the gamma at which the
1395 png_get_cHRM(png_ptr, info_ptr, &white_x, &white_y, &red_x,
1396 &red_y, &green_x, &green_y, &blue_x, &blue_y)
1397 png_get_cHRM_XYZ(png_ptr, info_ptr, &red_X, &red_Y, &red_Z,
1398 &green_X, &green_Y, &green_Z, &blue_X, &blue_Y,
1400 png_get_cHRM_fixed(png_ptr, info_ptr, &int_white_x,
1401 &int_white_y, &int_red_x, &int_red_y,
1402 &int_green_x, &int_green_y, &int_blue_x,
1404 png_get_cHRM_XYZ_fixed(png_ptr, info_ptr, &int_red_X, &int_red_Y,
1405 &int_red_Z, &int_green_X, &int_green_Y,
1406 &int_green_Z, &int_blue_X, &int_blue_Y,
1409 {white,red,green,blue}_{x,y}
1410 A color space encoding specified using the
1411 chromaticities of the end points and the
1412 white point. (PNG_INFO_cHRM)
1414 {red,green,blue}_{X,Y,Z}
1415 A color space encoding specified using the
1416 encoding end points - the CIE tristimulus
1417 specification of the intended color of the red,
1418 green and blue channels in the PNG RGB data.
1419 The white point is simply the sum of the three
1420 end points. (PNG_INFO_cHRM)
1422 png_get_sRGB(png_ptr, info_ptr, &srgb_intent);
1424 srgb_intent - the rendering intent (PNG_INFO_sRGB)
1425 The presence of the sRGB chunk
1426 means that the pixel data is in the
1427 sRGB color space. This chunk also
1428 implies specific values of gAMA and
1431 png_get_iCCP(png_ptr, info_ptr, &name,
1432 &compression_type, &profile, &proflen);
1434 name - The profile name.
1436 compression_type - The compression type; always
1437 PNG_COMPRESSION_TYPE_BASE for PNG 1.0.
1438 You may give NULL to this argument to
1441 profile - International Color Consortium color
1442 profile data. May contain NULs.
1444 proflen - length of profile data in bytes.
1446 png_get_sBIT(png_ptr, info_ptr, &sig_bit);
1448 sig_bit - the number of significant bits for
1449 (PNG_INFO_sBIT) each of the gray,
1450 red, green, and blue channels,
1451 whichever are appropriate for the
1452 given color type (png_color_16)
1454 png_get_tRNS(png_ptr, info_ptr, &trans_alpha,
1455 &num_trans, &trans_color);
1457 trans_alpha - array of alpha (transparency)
1458 entries for palette (PNG_INFO_tRNS)
1460 num_trans - number of transparent entries
1463 trans_color - graylevel or color sample values of
1464 the single transparent color for
1465 non-paletted images (PNG_INFO_tRNS)
1467 png_get_eXIf_1(png_ptr, info_ptr, &num_exif, &exif);
1470 exif - Exif profile (array of png_byte)
1472 png_get_hIST(png_ptr, info_ptr, &hist);
1475 hist - histogram of palette (array of
1478 png_get_tIME(png_ptr, info_ptr, &mod_time);
1480 mod_time - time image was last modified
1483 png_get_bKGD(png_ptr, info_ptr, &background);
1485 background - background color (of type
1486 png_color_16p) (PNG_VALID_bKGD)
1487 valid 16-bit red, green and blue
1488 values, regardless of color_type
1490 num_comments = png_get_text(png_ptr, info_ptr,
1491 &text_ptr, &num_text);
1493 num_comments - number of comments
1495 text_ptr - array of png_text holding image
1498 text_ptr[i].compression - type of compression used
1499 on "text" PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_NONE
1500 PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_zTXt
1501 PNG_ITXT_COMPRESSION_NONE
1502 PNG_ITXT_COMPRESSION_zTXt
1504 text_ptr[i].key - keyword for comment. Must contain
1507 text_ptr[i].text - text comments for current
1508 keyword. Can be empty.
1510 text_ptr[i].text_length - length of text string,
1511 after decompression, 0 for iTXt
1513 text_ptr[i].itxt_length - length of itxt string,
1514 after decompression, 0 for tEXt/zTXt
1516 text_ptr[i].lang - language of comment (empty
1517 string for unknown).
1519 text_ptr[i].lang_key - keyword in UTF-8
1520 (empty string for unknown).
1522 Note that the itxt_length, lang, and lang_key
1523 members of the text_ptr structure only exist when the
1524 library is built with iTXt chunk support. Prior to
1525 libpng-1.4.0 the library was built by default without
1526 iTXt support. Also note that when iTXt is supported,
1527 they contain NULL pointers when the "compression"
1528 field contains PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_NONE or
1529 PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_zTXt.
1531 num_text - number of comments (same as
1532 num_comments; you can put NULL here
1533 to avoid the duplication)
1535 Note while png_set_text() will accept text, language,
1536 and translated keywords that can be NULL pointers, the
1537 structure returned by png_get_text will always contain
1538 regular zero-terminated C strings. They might be
1539 empty strings but they will never be NULL pointers.
1541 num_spalettes = png_get_sPLT(png_ptr, info_ptr,
1544 num_spalettes - number of sPLT chunks read.
1546 palette_ptr - array of palette structures holding
1547 contents of one or more sPLT chunks
1550 png_get_oFFs(png_ptr, info_ptr, &offset_x, &offset_y,
1553 offset_x - positive offset from the left edge
1554 of the screen (can be negative)
1556 offset_y - positive offset from the top edge
1557 of the screen (can be negative)
1559 unit_type - PNG_OFFSET_PIXEL, PNG_OFFSET_MICROMETER
1561 png_get_pHYs(png_ptr, info_ptr, &res_x, &res_y,
1564 res_x - pixels/unit physical resolution in
1567 res_y - pixels/unit physical resolution in
1570 unit_type - PNG_RESOLUTION_UNKNOWN,
1571 PNG_RESOLUTION_METER
1573 png_get_sCAL(png_ptr, info_ptr, &unit, &width,
1576 unit - physical scale units (an integer)
1578 width - width of a pixel in physical scale units
1580 height - height of a pixel in physical scale units
1581 (width and height are doubles)
1583 png_get_sCAL_s(png_ptr, info_ptr, &unit, &width,
1586 unit - physical scale units (an integer)
1588 width - width of a pixel in physical scale units
1589 (expressed as a string)
1591 height - height of a pixel in physical scale units
1592 (width and height are strings like "2.54")
1594 num_unknown_chunks = png_get_unknown_chunks(png_ptr,
1595 info_ptr, &unknowns)
1597 unknowns - array of png_unknown_chunk
1598 structures holding unknown chunks
1600 unknowns[i].name - name of unknown chunk
1602 unknowns[i].data - data of unknown chunk
1604 unknowns[i].size - size of unknown chunk's data
1606 unknowns[i].location - position of chunk in file
1608 The value of "i" corresponds to the order in which the
1609 chunks were read from the PNG file or inserted with the
1610 png_set_unknown_chunks() function.
1612 The value of "location" is a bitwise "or" of
1614 PNG_HAVE_IHDR (0x01)
1615 PNG_HAVE_PLTE (0x02)
1616 PNG_AFTER_IDAT (0x08)
1618 The data from the pHYs chunk can be retrieved in several convenient
1621 res_x = png_get_x_pixels_per_meter(png_ptr,
1624 res_y = png_get_y_pixels_per_meter(png_ptr,
1627 res_x_and_y = png_get_pixels_per_meter(png_ptr,
1630 res_x = png_get_x_pixels_per_inch(png_ptr,
1633 res_y = png_get_y_pixels_per_inch(png_ptr,
1636 res_x_and_y = png_get_pixels_per_inch(png_ptr,
1639 aspect_ratio = png_get_pixel_aspect_ratio(png_ptr,
1642 Each of these returns 0 [signifying "unknown"] if
1643 the data is not present or if res_x is 0;
1644 res_x_and_y is 0 if res_x != res_y
1646 Note that because of the way the resolutions are
1647 stored internally, the inch conversions won't
1648 come out to exactly even number. For example,
1649 72 dpi is stored as 0.28346 pixels/meter, and
1650 when this is retrieved it is 71.9988 dpi, so
1651 be sure to round the returned value appropriately
1652 if you want to display a reasonable-looking result.
1654 The data from the oFFs chunk can be retrieved in several convenient
1657 x_offset = png_get_x_offset_microns(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1659 y_offset = png_get_y_offset_microns(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1661 x_offset = png_get_x_offset_inches(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1663 y_offset = png_get_y_offset_inches(png_ptr, info_ptr);
1665 Each of these returns 0 [signifying "unknown" if both
1666 x and y are 0] if the data is not present or if the
1667 chunk is present but the unit is the pixel. The
1668 remark about inexact inch conversions applies here
1669 as well, because a value in inches can't always be
1670 converted to microns and back without some loss
1673 For more information, see the
1674 PNG specification for chunk contents. Be careful with trusting
1675 rowbytes, as some of the transformations could increase the space
1676 needed to hold a row (expand, filler, gray_to_rgb, etc.).
1677 See png_read_update_info(), below.
1679 A quick word about text_ptr and num_text. PNG stores comments in
1680 keyword/text pairs, one pair per chunk, with no limit on the number
1681 of text chunks, and a 2^31 byte limit on their size. While there are
1682 suggested keywords, there is no requirement to restrict the use to these
1683 strings. It is strongly suggested that keywords and text be sensible
1684 to humans (that's the point), so don't use abbreviations. Non-printing
1685 symbols are not allowed. See the PNG specification for more details.
1686 There is also no requirement to have text after the keyword.
1688 Keywords should be limited to 79 Latin-1 characters without leading or
1689 trailing spaces, but non-consecutive spaces are allowed within the
1690 keyword. It is possible to have the same keyword any number of times.
1691 The text_ptr is an array of png_text structures, each holding a
1692 pointer to a language string, a pointer to a keyword and a pointer to
1693 a text string. The text string, language code, and translated
1694 keyword may be empty or NULL pointers. The keyword/text
1695 pairs are put into the array in the order that they are received.
1696 However, some or all of the text chunks may be after the image, so, to
1697 make sure you have read all the text chunks, don't mess with these
1698 until after you read the stuff after the image. This will be
1699 mentioned again below in the discussion that goes with png_read_end().
1701 Input transformations
1703 After you've read the header information, you can set up the library
1704 to handle any special transformations of the image data. The various
1705 ways to transform the data will be described in the order that they
1706 should occur. This is important, as some of these change the color
1707 type and/or bit depth of the data, and some others only work on
1708 certain color types and bit depths.
1710 Transformations you request are ignored if they don't have any meaning for a
1711 particular input data format. However some transformations can have an effect
1712 as a result of a previous transformation. If you specify a contradictory set of
1713 transformations, for example both adding and removing the alpha channel, you
1714 cannot predict the final result.
1716 The color used for the transparency values should be supplied in the same
1717 format/depth as the current image data. It is stored in the same format/depth
1718 as the image data in a tRNS chunk, so this is what libpng expects for this data.
1720 The color used for the background value depends on the need_expand argument as
1723 Data will be decoded into the supplied row buffers packed into bytes
1724 unless the library has been told to transform it into another format.
1725 For example, 4 bit/pixel paletted or grayscale data will be returned
1726 2 pixels/byte with the leftmost pixel in the high-order bits of the byte,
1727 unless png_set_packing() is called. 8-bit RGB data will be stored
1728 in RGB RGB RGB format unless png_set_filler() or png_set_add_alpha()
1729 is called to insert filler bytes, either before or after each RGB triplet.
1731 16-bit RGB data will be returned RRGGBB RRGGBB, with the most significant
1732 byte of the color value first, unless png_set_scale_16() is called to
1733 transform it to regular RGB RGB triplets, or png_set_filler() or
1734 png_set_add alpha() is called to insert two filler bytes, either before
1735 or after each RRGGBB triplet. Similarly, 8-bit or 16-bit grayscale data can
1736 be modified with png_set_filler(), png_set_add_alpha(), png_set_strip_16(),
1737 or png_set_scale_16().
1739 The following code transforms grayscale images of less than 8 to 8 bits,
1740 changes paletted images to RGB, and adds a full alpha channel if there is
1741 transparency information in a tRNS chunk. This is most useful on
1742 grayscale images with bit depths of 2 or 4 or if there is a multiple-image
1743 viewing application that wishes to treat all images in the same way.
1745 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_PALETTE)
1746 png_set_palette_to_rgb(png_ptr);
1748 if (png_get_valid(png_ptr, info_ptr,
1749 PNG_INFO_tRNS)) png_set_tRNS_to_alpha(png_ptr);
1751 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY &&
1752 bit_depth < 8) png_set_expand_gray_1_2_4_to_8(png_ptr);
1754 The first two functions are actually aliases for png_set_expand(), added
1755 in libpng version 1.0.4, with the function names expanded to improve code
1756 readability. In some future version they may actually do different
1759 As of libpng version 1.2.9, png_set_expand_gray_1_2_4_to_8() was
1760 added. It expands the sample depth without changing tRNS to alpha.
1762 As of libpng version 1.5.2, png_set_expand_16() was added. It behaves as
1763 png_set_expand(); however, the resultant channels have 16 bits rather than 8.
1764 Use this when the output color or gray channels are made linear to avoid fairly
1765 severe accuracy loss.
1768 png_set_expand_16(png_ptr);
1770 PNG can have files with 16 bits per channel. If you only can handle
1771 8 bits per channel, this will strip the pixels down to 8-bit.
1773 if (bit_depth == 16)
1774 #if PNG_LIBPNG_VER >= 10504
1775 png_set_scale_16(png_ptr);
1777 png_set_strip_16(png_ptr);
1780 (The more accurate "png_set_scale_16()" API became available in libpng version
1783 If you need to process the alpha channel on the image separately from the image
1784 data (for example if you convert it to a bitmap mask) it is possible to have
1785 libpng strip the channel leaving just RGB or gray data:
1787 if (color_type & PNG_COLOR_MASK_ALPHA)
1788 png_set_strip_alpha(png_ptr);
1790 If you strip the alpha channel you need to find some other way of dealing with
1791 the information. If, instead, you want to convert the image to an opaque
1792 version with no alpha channel use png_set_background; see below.
1794 As of libpng version 1.5.2, almost all useful expansions are supported, the
1795 major ommissions are conversion of grayscale to indexed images (which can be
1796 done trivially in the application) and conversion of indexed to grayscale (which
1797 can be done by a trivial manipulation of the palette.)
1799 In the following table, the 01 means grayscale with depth<8, 31 means
1800 indexed with depth<8, other numerals represent the color type, "T" means
1801 the tRNS chunk is present, A means an alpha channel is present, and O
1802 means tRNS or alpha is present but all pixels in the image are opaque.
1804 FROM 01 31 0 0T 0O 2 2T 2O 3 3T 3O 4A 4O 6A 6O
1806 01 - [G] - - - - - - - - - - - - -
1807 31 [Q] Q [Q] [Q] [Q] Q Q Q Q Q Q [Q] [Q] Q Q
1808 0 1 G + . . G G G G G G B B GB GB
1809 0T lt Gt t + . Gt G G Gt G G Bt Bt GBt GBt
1810 0O lt Gt t . + Gt Gt G Gt Gt G Bt Bt GBt GBt
1811 2 C P C C C + . . C - - CB CB B B
1812 2T Ct - Ct C C t + t - - - CBt CBt Bt Bt
1813 2O Ct - Ct C C t t + - - - CBt CBt Bt Bt
1814 3 [Q] p [Q] [Q] [Q] Q Q Q + . . [Q] [Q] Q Q
1815 3T [Qt] p [Qt][Q] [Q] Qt Qt Qt t + t [Qt][Qt] Qt Qt
1816 3O [Qt] p [Qt][Q] [Q] Qt Qt Qt t t + [Qt][Qt] Qt Qt
1817 4A lA G A T T GA GT GT GA GT GT + BA G GBA
1818 4O lA GBA A T T GA GT GT GA GT GT BA + GBA G
1819 6A CA PA CA C C A T tT PA P P C CBA + BA
1820 6O CA PBA CA C C A tT T PA P P CBA C BA +
1823 "+" identifies entries where 'from' and 'to' are the same.
1824 "-" means the transformation is not supported.
1825 "." means nothing is necessary (a tRNS chunk can just be ignored).
1826 "t" means the transformation is obtained by png_set_tRNS.
1827 "A" means the transformation is obtained by png_set_add_alpha().
1828 "X" means the transformation is obtained by png_set_expand().
1829 "1" means the transformation is obtained by
1830 png_set_expand_gray_1_2_4_to_8() (and by png_set_expand()
1831 if there is no transparency in the original or the final
1833 "C" means the transformation is obtained by png_set_gray_to_rgb().
1834 "G" means the transformation is obtained by png_set_rgb_to_gray().
1835 "P" means the transformation is obtained by
1836 png_set_expand_palette_to_rgb().
1837 "p" means the transformation is obtained by png_set_packing().
1838 "Q" means the transformation is obtained by png_set_quantize().
1839 "T" means the transformation is obtained by
1840 png_set_tRNS_to_alpha().
1841 "B" means the transformation is obtained by
1842 png_set_background(), or png_strip_alpha().
1844 When an entry has multiple transforms listed all are required to cause the
1845 right overall transformation. When two transforms are separated by a comma
1846 either will do the job. When transforms are enclosed in [] the transform should
1847 do the job but this is currently unimplemented - a different format will result
1848 if the suggested transformations are used.
1850 In PNG files, the alpha channel in an image
1851 is the level of opacity. If you need the alpha channel in an image to
1852 be the level of transparency instead of opacity, you can invert the
1853 alpha channel (or the tRNS chunk data) after it's read, so that 0 is
1854 fully opaque and 255 (in 8-bit or paletted images) or 65535 (in 16-bit
1855 images) is fully transparent, with
1857 png_set_invert_alpha(png_ptr);
1859 PNG files pack pixels of bit depths 1, 2, and 4 into bytes as small as
1860 they can, resulting in, for example, 8 pixels per byte for 1 bit
1861 files. This code expands to 1 pixel per byte without changing the
1862 values of the pixels:
1865 png_set_packing(png_ptr);
1867 PNG files have possible bit depths of 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16. All pixels
1868 stored in a PNG image have been "scaled" or "shifted" up to the next
1869 higher possible bit depth (e.g. from 5 bits/sample in the range [0,31]
1870 to 8 bits/sample in the range [0, 255]). However, it is also possible
1871 to convert the PNG pixel data back to the original bit depth of the
1872 image. This call reduces the pixels back down to the original bit depth:
1874 png_color_8p sig_bit;
1876 if (png_get_sBIT(png_ptr, info_ptr, &sig_bit))
1877 png_set_shift(png_ptr, sig_bit);
1879 PNG files store 3-color pixels in red, green, blue order. This code
1880 changes the storage of the pixels to blue, green, red:
1882 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB ||
1883 color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB_ALPHA)
1884 png_set_bgr(png_ptr);
1886 PNG files store RGB pixels packed into 3 or 6 bytes. This code expands them
1887 into 4 or 8 bytes for windowing systems that need them in this format:
1889 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB)
1890 png_set_filler(png_ptr, filler, PNG_FILLER_BEFORE);
1892 where "filler" is the 8-bit or 16-bit number to fill with, and the location
1893 is either PNG_FILLER_BEFORE or PNG_FILLER_AFTER, depending upon whether
1894 you want the filler before the RGB or after. When filling an 8-bit pixel,
1895 the least significant 8 bits of the number are used, if a 16-bit number is
1896 supplied. This transformation does not affect images that already have full
1897 alpha channels. To add an opaque alpha channel, use filler=0xffff and
1898 PNG_FILLER_AFTER which will generate RGBA pixels.
1900 Note that png_set_filler() does not change the color type. If you want
1901 to do that, you can add a true alpha channel with
1903 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB ||
1904 color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY)
1905 png_set_add_alpha(png_ptr, filler, PNG_FILLER_AFTER);
1907 where "filler" contains the alpha value to assign to each pixel.
1908 The png_set_add_alpha() function was added in libpng-1.2.7.
1910 If you are reading an image with an alpha channel, and you need the
1911 data as ARGB instead of the normal PNG format RGBA:
1913 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB_ALPHA)
1914 png_set_swap_alpha(png_ptr);
1916 For some uses, you may want a grayscale image to be represented as
1917 RGB. This code will do that conversion:
1919 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY ||
1920 color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY_ALPHA)
1921 png_set_gray_to_rgb(png_ptr);
1923 Conversely, you can convert an RGB or RGBA image to grayscale or grayscale
1926 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB ||
1927 color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB_ALPHA)
1928 png_set_rgb_to_gray(png_ptr, error_action,
1929 double red_weight, double green_weight);
1931 error_action = 1: silently do the conversion
1933 error_action = 2: issue a warning if the original
1934 image has any pixel where
1935 red != green or red != blue
1937 error_action = 3: issue an error and abort the
1938 conversion if the original
1939 image has any pixel where
1940 red != green or red != blue
1942 red_weight: weight of red component
1944 green_weight: weight of green component
1945 If either weight is negative, default
1948 In the corresponding fixed point API the red_weight and green_weight values are
1949 simply scaled by 100,000:
1951 png_set_rgb_to_gray(png_ptr, error_action,
1952 png_fixed_point red_weight,
1953 png_fixed_point green_weight);
1955 If you have set error_action = 1 or 2, you can
1956 later check whether the image really was gray, after processing
1957 the image rows, with the png_get_rgb_to_gray_status(png_ptr) function.
1958 It will return a png_byte that is zero if the image was gray or
1959 1 if there were any non-gray pixels. Background and sBIT data
1960 will be silently converted to grayscale, using the green channel
1961 data for sBIT, regardless of the error_action setting.
1963 The default values come from the PNG file cHRM chunk if present; otherwise, the
1964 defaults correspond to the ITU-R recommendation 709, and also the sRGB color
1965 space, as recommended in the Charles Poynton's Colour FAQ,
1966 Copyright (c) 2006-11-28 Charles Poynton, in section 9:
1968 <http://www.poynton.com/notes/colour_and_gamma/ColorFAQ.html#RTFToC9>
1970 Y = 0.2126 * R + 0.7152 * G + 0.0722 * B
1972 Previous versions of this document, 1998 through 2002, recommended a slightly
1975 Y = 0.212671 * R + 0.715160 * G + 0.072169 * B
1977 Libpng uses an integer approximation:
1979 Y = (6968 * R + 23434 * G + 2366 * B)/32768
1981 The calculation is done in a linear colorspace, if the image gamma
1984 The png_set_background() function has been described already; it tells libpng to
1985 composite images with alpha or simple transparency against the supplied
1986 background color. For compatibility with versions of libpng earlier than
1987 libpng-1.5.4 it is recommended that you call the function after reading the file
1988 header, even if you don't want to use the color in a bKGD chunk, if one exists.
1990 If the PNG file contains a bKGD chunk (PNG_INFO_bKGD valid),
1991 you may use this color, or supply another color more suitable for
1992 the current display (e.g., the background color from a web page). You
1993 need to tell libpng how the color is represented, both the format of the
1994 component values in the color (the number of bits) and the gamma encoding of the
1995 color. The function takes two arguments, background_gamma_mode and need_expand
1996 to convey this information; however, only two combinations are likely to be
1999 png_color_16 my_background;
2000 png_color_16p image_background;
2002 if (png_get_bKGD(png_ptr, info_ptr, &image_background))
2003 png_set_background(png_ptr, image_background,
2004 PNG_BACKGROUND_GAMMA_FILE, 1/*needs to be expanded*/, 1);
2006 png_set_background(png_ptr, &my_background,
2007 PNG_BACKGROUND_GAMMA_SCREEN, 0/*do not expand*/, 1);
2009 The second call was described above - my_background is in the format of the
2010 final, display, output produced by libpng. Because you now know the format of
2011 the PNG it is possible to avoid the need to choose either 8-bit or 16-bit
2012 output and to retain palette images (the palette colors will be modified
2013 appropriately and the tRNS chunk removed.) However, if you are doing this,
2014 take great care not to ask for transformations without checking first that
2017 In the first call the background color has the original bit depth and color type
2018 of the PNG file. So, for palette images the color is supplied as a palette
2019 index and for low bit greyscale images the color is a reduced bit value in
2020 image_background->gray.
2022 If you didn't call png_set_gamma() before reading the file header, for example
2023 if you need your code to remain compatible with older versions of libpng prior
2024 to libpng-1.5.4, this is the place to call it.
2026 Do not call it if you called png_set_alpha_mode(); doing so will damage the
2027 settings put in place by png_set_alpha_mode(). (If png_set_alpha_mode() is
2028 supported then you can certainly do png_set_gamma() before reading the PNG
2031 This API unconditionally sets the screen and file gamma values, so it will
2032 override the value in the PNG file unless it is called before the PNG file
2033 reading starts. For this reason you must always call it with the PNG file
2034 value when you call it in this position:
2036 if (png_get_gAMA(png_ptr, info_ptr, &file_gamma))
2037 png_set_gamma(png_ptr, screen_gamma, file_gamma);
2040 png_set_gamma(png_ptr, screen_gamma, 0.45455);
2042 If you need to reduce an RGB file to a paletted file, or if a paletted
2043 file has more entries than will fit on your screen, png_set_quantize()
2044 will do that. Note that this is a simple match quantization that merely
2045 finds the closest color available. This should work fairly well with
2046 optimized palettes, but fairly badly with linear color cubes. If you
2047 pass a palette that is larger than maximum_colors, the file will
2048 reduce the number of colors in the palette so it will fit into
2049 maximum_colors. If there is a histogram, libpng will use it to make
2050 more intelligent choices when reducing the palette. If there is no
2051 histogram, it may not do as good a job.
2053 if (color_type & PNG_COLOR_MASK_COLOR)
2055 if (png_get_valid(png_ptr, info_ptr,
2058 png_uint_16p histogram = NULL;
2060 png_get_hIST(png_ptr, info_ptr,
2062 png_set_quantize(png_ptr, palette, num_palette,
2063 max_screen_colors, histogram, 1);
2068 png_color std_color_cube[MAX_SCREEN_COLORS] =
2071 png_set_quantize(png_ptr, std_color_cube,
2072 MAX_SCREEN_COLORS, MAX_SCREEN_COLORS,
2077 PNG files describe monochrome as black being zero and white being one.
2078 The following code will reverse this (make black be one and white be
2081 if (bit_depth == 1 && color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY)
2082 png_set_invert_mono(png_ptr);
2084 This function can also be used to invert grayscale and gray-alpha images:
2086 if (color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY ||
2087 color_type == PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY_ALPHA)
2088 png_set_invert_mono(png_ptr);
2090 PNG files store 16-bit pixels in network byte order (big-endian,
2091 ie. most significant bits first). This code changes the storage to the
2092 other way (little-endian, i.e. least significant bits first, the
2093 way PCs store them):
2095 if (bit_depth == 16)
2096 png_set_swap(png_ptr);
2098 If you are using packed-pixel images (1, 2, or 4 bits/pixel), and you
2099 need to change the order the pixels are packed into bytes, you can use:
2102 png_set_packswap(png_ptr);
2104 Finally, you can write your own transformation function if none of
2105 the existing ones meets your needs. This is done by setting a callback
2108 png_set_read_user_transform_fn(png_ptr,
2111 You must supply the function
2113 void read_transform_fn(png_structp png_ptr, png_row_infop
2114 row_info, png_bytep data)
2116 See pngtest.c for a working example. Your function will be called
2117 after all of the other transformations have been processed. Take care with
2118 interlaced images if you do the interlace yourself - the width of the row is the
2119 width in 'row_info', not the overall image width.
2121 If supported, libpng provides two information routines that you can use to find
2122 where you are in processing the image:
2124 png_get_current_pass_number(png_structp png_ptr);
2125 png_get_current_row_number(png_structp png_ptr);
2127 Don't try using these outside a transform callback - firstly they are only
2128 supported if user transforms are supported, secondly they may well return
2129 unexpected results unless the row is actually being processed at the moment they
2133 images the value returned is the row in the input sub-image image. Use
2134 PNG_ROW_FROM_PASS_ROW(row, pass) and PNG_COL_FROM_PASS_COL(col, pass) to
2135 find the output pixel (x,y) given an interlaced sub-image pixel (row,col,pass).
2137 The discussion of interlace handling above contains more information on how to
2140 You can also set up a pointer to a user structure for use by your
2141 callback function, and you can inform libpng that your transform
2142 function will change the number of channels or bit depth with the
2145 png_set_user_transform_info(png_ptr, user_ptr,
2146 user_depth, user_channels);
2148 The user's application, not libpng, is responsible for allocating and
2149 freeing any memory required for the user structure.
2151 You can retrieve the pointer via the function
2152 png_get_user_transform_ptr(). For example:
2154 voidp read_user_transform_ptr =
2155 png_get_user_transform_ptr(png_ptr);
2157 The last thing to handle is interlacing; this is covered in detail below,
2158 but you must call the function here if you want libpng to handle expansion
2159 of the interlaced image.
2161 number_of_passes = png_set_interlace_handling(png_ptr);
2163 After setting the transformations, libpng can update your png_info
2164 structure to reflect any transformations you've requested with this
2167 png_read_update_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
2169 This is most useful to update the info structure's rowbytes
2170 field so you can use it to allocate your image memory. This function
2171 will also update your palette with the correct screen_gamma and
2172 background if these have been given with the calls above. You may
2173 only call png_read_update_info() once with a particular info_ptr.
2175 After you call png_read_update_info(), you can allocate any
2176 memory you need to hold the image. The row data is simply
2177 raw byte data for all forms of images. As the actual allocation
2178 varies among applications, no example will be given. If you
2179 are allocating one large chunk, you will need to build an
2180 array of pointers to each row, as it will be needed for some
2181 of the functions below.
2183 Be sure that your platform can allocate the buffer that you'll need.
2184 libpng internally checks for oversize width, but you'll need to
2185 do your own check for number_of_rows*width*pixel_size if you are using
2186 a multiple-row buffer:
2188 /* Guard against integer overflow */
2189 if (number_of_rows > PNG_SIZE_MAX/(width*pixel_size)) {
2190 png_error(png_ptr,"image_data buffer would be too large");
2193 Remember: Before you call png_read_update_info(), the png_get_*()
2194 functions return the values corresponding to the original PNG image.
2195 After you call png_read_update_info the values refer to the image
2196 that libpng will output. Consequently you must call all the png_set_
2197 functions before you call png_read_update_info(). This is particularly
2198 important for png_set_interlace_handling() - if you are going to call
2199 png_read_update_info() you must call png_set_interlace_handling() before
2200 it unless you want to receive interlaced output.
2204 After you've allocated memory, you can read the image data.
2205 The simplest way to do this is in one function call. If you are
2206 allocating enough memory to hold the whole image, you can just
2207 call png_read_image() and libpng will read in all the image data
2208 and put it in the memory area supplied. You will need to pass in
2209 an array of pointers to each row.
2211 This function automatically handles interlacing, so you don't
2212 need to call png_set_interlace_handling() (unless you call
2213 png_read_update_info()) or call this function multiple times, or any
2214 of that other stuff necessary with png_read_rows().
2216 png_read_image(png_ptr, row_pointers);
2218 where row_pointers is:
2220 png_bytep row_pointers[height];
2222 You can point to void or char or whatever you use for pixels.
2224 If you don't want to read in the whole image at once, you can
2225 use png_read_rows() instead. If there is no interlacing (check
2226 interlace_type == PNG_INTERLACE_NONE), this is simple:
2228 png_read_rows(png_ptr, row_pointers, NULL,
2231 where row_pointers is the same as in the png_read_image() call.
2233 If you are doing this just one row at a time, you can do this with
2234 a single row_pointer instead of an array of row_pointers:
2236 png_bytep row_pointer = row;
2237 png_read_row(png_ptr, row_pointer, NULL);
2239 If the file is interlaced (interlace_type != 0 in the IHDR chunk), things
2240 get somewhat harder. The only current (PNG Specification version 1.2)
2241 interlacing type for PNG is (interlace_type == PNG_INTERLACE_ADAM7);
2242 a somewhat complicated 2D interlace scheme, known as Adam7, that
2243 breaks down an image into seven smaller images of varying size, based
2244 on an 8x8 grid. This number is defined (from libpng 1.5) as
2245 PNG_INTERLACE_ADAM7_PASSES in png.h
2247 libpng can fill out those images or it can give them to you "as is".
2248 It is almost always better to have libpng handle the interlacing for you.
2249 If you want the images filled out, there are two ways to do that. The one
2250 mentioned in the PNG specification is to expand each pixel to cover
2251 those pixels that have not been read yet (the "rectangle" method).
2252 This results in a blocky image for the first pass, which gradually
2253 smooths out as more pixels are read. The other method is the "sparkle"
2254 method, where pixels are drawn only in their final locations, with the
2255 rest of the image remaining whatever colors they were initialized to
2256 before the start of the read. The first method usually looks better,
2257 but tends to be slower, as there are more pixels to put in the rows.
2259 If, as is likely, you want libpng to expand the images, call this before
2260 calling png_start_read_image() or png_read_update_info():
2262 if (interlace_type == PNG_INTERLACE_ADAM7)
2264 = png_set_interlace_handling(png_ptr);
2266 This will return the number of passes needed. Currently, this is seven,
2267 but may change if another interlace type is added. This function can be
2268 called even if the file is not interlaced, where it will return one pass.
2269 You then need to read the whole image 'number_of_passes' times. Each time
2270 will distribute the pixels from the current pass to the correct place in
2271 the output image, so you need to supply the same rows to png_read_rows in
2274 If you are not going to display the image after each pass, but are
2275 going to wait until the entire image is read in, use the sparkle
2276 effect. This effect is faster and the end result of either method
2277 is exactly the same. If you are planning on displaying the image
2278 after each pass, the "rectangle" effect is generally considered the
2281 If you only want the "sparkle" effect, just call png_read_row() or
2283 normal, with the third parameter NULL. Make sure you make pass over
2284 the image number_of_passes times, and you don't change the data in the
2285 rows between calls. You can change the locations of the data, just
2286 not the data. Each pass only writes the pixels appropriate for that
2287 pass, and assumes the data from previous passes is still valid.
2289 png_read_rows(png_ptr, row_pointers, NULL,
2292 png_read_row(png_ptr, row_pointers, NULL);
2294 If you only want the first effect (the rectangles), do the same as
2295 before except pass the row buffer in the third parameter, and leave
2296 the second parameter NULL.
2298 png_read_rows(png_ptr, NULL, row_pointers,
2301 png_read_row(png_ptr, NULL, row_pointers);
2303 If you don't want libpng to handle the interlacing details, just call
2304 png_read_rows() PNG_INTERLACE_ADAM7_PASSES times to read in all the images.
2305 Each of the images is a valid image by itself; however, you will almost
2306 certainly need to distribute the pixels from each sub-image to the
2307 correct place. This is where everything gets very tricky.
2309 If you want to retrieve the separate images you must pass the correct
2310 number of rows to each successive call of png_read_rows(). The calculation
2311 gets pretty complicated for small images, where some sub-images may
2312 not even exist because either their width or height ends up zero.
2313 libpng provides two macros to help you in 1.5 and later versions:
2315 png_uint_32 width = PNG_PASS_COLS(image_width, pass_number);
2316 png_uint_32 height = PNG_PASS_ROWS(image_height, pass_number);
2318 Respectively these tell you the width and height of the sub-image
2319 corresponding to the numbered pass. 'pass' is in in the range 0 to 6 -
2320 this can be confusing because the specification refers to the same passes
2321 as 1 to 7! Be careful, you must check both the width and height before
2322 calling png_read_rows() and not call it for that pass if either is zero.
2324 You can, of course, read each sub-image row by row. If you want to
2325 produce optimal code to make a pixel-by-pixel transformation of an
2326 interlaced image this is the best approach; read each row of each pass,
2327 transform it, and write it out to a new interlaced image.
2329 If you want to de-interlace the image yourself libpng provides further
2330 macros to help that tell you where to place the pixels in the output image.
2331 Because the interlacing scheme is rectangular - sub-image pixels are always
2332 arranged on a rectangular grid - all you need to know for each pass is the
2333 starting column and row in the output image of the first pixel plus the
2334 spacing between each pixel. As of libpng 1.5 there are four macros to
2335 retrieve this information:
2337 png_uint_32 x = PNG_PASS_START_COL(pass);
2338 png_uint_32 y = PNG_PASS_START_ROW(pass);
2339 png_uint_32 xStep = 1U << PNG_PASS_COL_SHIFT(pass);
2340 png_uint_32 yStep = 1U << PNG_PASS_ROW_SHIFT(pass);
2342 These allow you to write the obvious loop:
2344 png_uint_32 input_y = 0;
2345 png_uint_32 output_y = PNG_PASS_START_ROW(pass);
2347 while (output_y < output_image_height)
2349 png_uint_32 input_x = 0;
2350 png_uint_32 output_x = PNG_PASS_START_COL(pass);
2352 while (output_x < output_image_width)
2354 image[output_y][output_x] =
2355 subimage[pass][input_y][input_x++];
2364 Notice that the steps between successive output rows and columns are
2365 returned as shifts. This is possible because the pixels in the subimages
2366 are always a power of 2 apart - 1, 2, 4 or 8 pixels - in the original
2367 image. In practice you may need to directly calculate the output coordinate
2368 given an input coordinate. libpng provides two further macros for this
2371 png_uint_32 output_x = PNG_COL_FROM_PASS_COL(input_x, pass);
2372 png_uint_32 output_y = PNG_ROW_FROM_PASS_ROW(input_y, pass);
2374 Finally a pair of macros are provided to tell you if a particular image
2375 row or column appears in a given pass:
2377 int col_in_pass = PNG_COL_IN_INTERLACE_PASS(output_x, pass);
2378 int row_in_pass = PNG_ROW_IN_INTERLACE_PASS(output_y, pass);
2380 Bear in mind that you will probably also need to check the width and height
2381 of the pass in addition to the above to be sure the pass even exists!
2383 With any luck you are convinced by now that you don't want to do your own
2384 interlace handling. In reality normally the only good reason for doing this
2385 is if you are processing PNG files on a pixel-by-pixel basis and don't want
2386 to load the whole file into memory when it is interlaced.
2388 libpng includes a test program, pngvalid, that illustrates reading and
2389 writing of interlaced images. If you can't get interlacing to work in your
2390 code and don't want to leave it to libpng (the recommended approach), see
2391 how pngvalid.c does it.
2393 Finishing a sequential read
2395 After you are finished reading the image through the
2396 low-level interface, you can finish reading the file.
2398 If you want to use a different crc action for handling CRC errors in
2399 chunks after the image data, you can call png_set_crc_action()
2400 again at this point.
2402 If you are interested in comments or time, which may be stored either
2403 before or after the image data, you should pass the separate png_info
2404 struct if you want to keep the comments from before and after the image
2407 png_infop end_info = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
2411 png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr,
2416 png_read_end(png_ptr, end_info);
2418 If you are not interested, you should still call png_read_end()
2419 but you can pass NULL, avoiding the need to create an end_info structure.
2420 If you do this, libpng will not process any chunks after IDAT other than
2421 skipping over them and perhaps (depending on whether you have called
2422 png_set_crc_action) checking their CRCs while looking for the IEND chunk.
2424 png_read_end(png_ptr, (png_infop)NULL);
2426 If you don't call png_read_end(), then your file pointer will be
2427 left pointing to the first chunk after the last IDAT, which is probably
2428 not what you want if you expect to read something beyond the end of
2431 When you are done, you can free all memory allocated by libpng like this:
2433 png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr,
2436 or, if you didn't create an end_info structure,
2438 png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr,
2441 It is also possible to individually free the info_ptr members that
2442 point to libpng-allocated storage with the following function:
2444 png_free_data(png_ptr, info_ptr, mask, seq)
2446 mask - identifies data to be freed, a mask
2447 containing the bitwise OR of one or
2449 PNG_FREE_PLTE, PNG_FREE_TRNS,
2450 PNG_FREE_HIST, PNG_FREE_ICCP,
2451 PNG_FREE_PCAL, PNG_FREE_ROWS,
2452 PNG_FREE_SCAL, PNG_FREE_SPLT,
2453 PNG_FREE_TEXT, PNG_FREE_UNKN,
2454 or simply PNG_FREE_ALL
2456 seq - sequence number of item to be freed
2459 This function may be safely called when the relevant storage has
2460 already been freed, or has not yet been allocated, or was allocated
2461 by the user and not by libpng, and will in those cases do nothing.
2462 The "seq" parameter is ignored if only one item of the selected data
2463 type, such as PLTE, is allowed. If "seq" is not -1, and multiple items
2464 are allowed for the data type identified in the mask, such as text or
2465 sPLT, only the n'th item in the structure is freed, where n is "seq".
2467 The default behavior is only to free data that was allocated internally
2468 by libpng. This can be changed, so that libpng will not free the data,
2469 or so that it will free data that was allocated by the user with png_malloc()
2470 or png_calloc() and passed in via a png_set_*() function, with
2472 png_data_freer(png_ptr, info_ptr, freer, mask)
2475 PNG_DESTROY_WILL_FREE_DATA
2476 PNG_SET_WILL_FREE_DATA
2477 PNG_USER_WILL_FREE_DATA
2479 mask - which data elements are affected
2480 same choices as in png_free_data()
2482 This function only affects data that has already been allocated.
2483 You can call this function after reading the PNG data but before calling
2484 any png_set_*() functions, to control whether the user or the png_set_*()
2485 function is responsible for freeing any existing data that might be present,
2486 and again after the png_set_*() functions to control whether the user
2487 or png_destroy_*() is supposed to free the data. When the user assumes
2488 responsibility for libpng-allocated data, the application must use
2489 png_free() to free it, and when the user transfers responsibility to libpng
2490 for data that the user has allocated, the user must have used png_malloc()
2491 or png_calloc() to allocate it.
2493 If you allocated your row_pointers in a single block, as suggested above in
2494 the description of the high level read interface, you must not transfer
2495 responsibility for freeing it to the png_set_rows or png_read_destroy function,
2496 because they would also try to free the individual row_pointers[i].
2498 If you allocated text_ptr.text, text_ptr.lang, and text_ptr.translated_keyword
2499 separately, do not transfer responsibility for freeing text_ptr to libpng,
2500 because when libpng fills a png_text structure it combines these members with
2501 the key member, and png_free_data() will free only text_ptr.key. Similarly,
2502 if you transfer responsibility for free'ing text_ptr from libpng to your
2503 application, your application must not separately free those members.
2505 The png_free_data() function will turn off the "valid" flag for anything
2506 it frees. If you need to turn the flag off for a chunk that was freed by
2507 your application instead of by libpng, you can use
2509 png_set_invalid(png_ptr, info_ptr, mask);
2511 mask - identifies the chunks to be made invalid,
2512 containing the bitwise OR of one or
2514 PNG_INFO_gAMA, PNG_INFO_sBIT,
2515 PNG_INFO_cHRM, PNG_INFO_PLTE,
2516 PNG_INFO_tRNS, PNG_INFO_bKGD,
2518 PNG_INFO_hIST, PNG_INFO_pHYs,
2519 PNG_INFO_oFFs, PNG_INFO_tIME,
2520 PNG_INFO_pCAL, PNG_INFO_sRGB,
2521 PNG_INFO_iCCP, PNG_INFO_sPLT,
2522 PNG_INFO_sCAL, PNG_INFO_IDAT
2524 For a more compact example of reading a PNG image, see the file example.c.
2526 Reading PNG files progressively
2528 The progressive reader is slightly different from the non-progressive
2529 reader. Instead of calling png_read_info(), png_read_rows(), and
2530 png_read_end(), you make one call to png_process_data(), which calls
2531 callbacks when it has the info, a row, or the end of the image. You
2532 set up these callbacks with png_set_progressive_read_fn(). You don't
2533 have to worry about the input/output functions of libpng, as you are
2534 giving the library the data directly in png_process_data(). I will
2535 assume that you have read the section on reading PNG files above,
2536 so I will only highlight the differences (although I will show
2539 png_structp png_ptr;
2542 /* An example code fragment of how you would
2543 initialize the progressive reader in your
2546 initialize_png_reader()
2548 png_ptr = png_create_read_struct
2549 (PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, (png_voidp)user_error_ptr,
2550 user_error_fn, user_warning_fn);
2555 info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
2559 png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr,
2560 (png_infopp)NULL, (png_infopp)NULL);
2564 if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr)))
2566 png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr,
2571 /* This one's new. You can provide functions
2572 to be called when the header info is valid,
2573 when each row is completed, and when the image
2574 is finished. If you aren't using all functions,
2575 you can specify NULL parameters. Even when all
2576 three functions are NULL, you need to call
2577 png_set_progressive_read_fn(). You can use
2578 any struct as the user_ptr (cast to a void pointer
2579 for the function call), and retrieve the pointer
2580 from inside the callbacks using the function
2582 png_get_progressive_ptr(png_ptr);
2584 which will return a void pointer, which you have
2585 to cast appropriately.
2587 png_set_progressive_read_fn(png_ptr, (void *)user_ptr,
2588 info_callback, row_callback, end_callback);
2593 /* A code fragment that you call as you receive blocks
2596 process_data(png_bytep buffer, png_uint_32 length)
2598 if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr)))
2600 png_destroy_read_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr,
2605 /* This one's new also. Simply give it a chunk
2606 of data from the file stream (in order, of
2607 course). On machines with segmented memory
2608 models machines, don't give it any more than
2609 64K. The library seems to run fine with sizes
2610 of 4K. Although you can give it much less if
2611 necessary (I assume you can give it chunks of
2612 1 byte, I haven't tried less than 256 bytes
2613 yet). When this function returns, you may
2614 want to display any rows that were generated
2615 in the row callback if you don't already do
2618 png_process_data(png_ptr, info_ptr, buffer, length);
2620 /* At this point you can call png_process_data_skip if
2621 you want to handle data the library will skip yourself;
2622 it simply returns the number of bytes to skip (and stops
2623 libpng skipping that number of bytes on the next
2624 png_process_data call).
2628 /* This function is called (as set by
2629 png_set_progressive_read_fn() above) when enough data
2630 has been supplied so all of the header has been
2634 info_callback(png_structp png_ptr, png_infop info)
2636 /* Do any setup here, including setting any of
2637 the transformations mentioned in the Reading
2638 PNG files section. For now, you _must_ call
2639 either png_start_read_image() or
2640 png_read_update_info() after all the
2641 transformations are set (even if you don't set
2642 any). You may start getting rows before
2643 png_process_data() returns, so this is your
2644 last chance to prepare for that.
2646 This is where you turn on interlace handling,
2647 assuming you don't want to do it yourself.
2649 If you need to you can stop the processing of
2650 your original input data at this point by calling
2651 png_process_data_pause. This returns the number
2652 of unprocessed bytes from the last png_process_data
2653 call - it is up to you to ensure that the next call
2654 sees these bytes again. If you don't want to bother
2655 with this you can get libpng to cache the unread
2656 bytes by setting the 'save' parameter (see png.h) but
2657 then libpng will have to copy the data internally.
2661 /* This function is called when each row of image
2664 row_callback(png_structp png_ptr, png_bytep new_row,
2665 png_uint_32 row_num, int pass)
2667 /* If the image is interlaced, and you turned
2668 on the interlace handler, this function will
2669 be called for every row in every pass. Some
2670 of these rows will not be changed from the
2671 previous pass. When the row is not changed,
2672 the new_row variable will be NULL. The rows
2673 and passes are called in order, so you don't
2674 really need the row_num and pass, but I'm
2675 supplying them because it may make your life
2678 If you did not turn on interlace handling then
2679 the callback is called for each row of each
2680 sub-image when the image is interlaced. In this
2681 case 'row_num' is the row in the sub-image, not
2682 the row in the output image as it is in all other
2685 For the non-NULL rows of interlaced images when
2686 you have switched on libpng interlace handling,
2687 you must call png_progressive_combine_row()
2688 passing in the row and the old row. You can
2689 call this function for NULL rows (it will just
2690 return) and for non-interlaced images (it just
2691 does the memcpy for you) if it will make the
2692 code easier. Thus, you can just do this for
2693 all cases if you switch on interlace handling;
2696 png_progressive_combine_row(png_ptr, old_row,
2699 /* where old_row is what was displayed
2700 previously for the row. Note that the first
2701 pass (pass == 0, really) will completely cover
2702 the old row, so the rows do not have to be
2703 initialized. After the first pass (and only
2704 for interlaced images), you will have to pass
2705 the current row, and the function will combine
2706 the old row and the new row.
2708 You can also call png_process_data_pause in this
2709 callback - see above.
2714 end_callback(png_structp png_ptr, png_infop info)
2716 /* This function is called after the whole image
2717 has been read, including any chunks after the
2718 image (up to and including the IEND). You
2719 will usually have the same info chunk as you
2720 had in the header, although some data may have
2721 been added to the comments and time fields.
2723 Most people won't do much here, perhaps setting
2724 a flag that marks the image as finished.
2732 Much of this is very similar to reading. However, everything of
2733 importance is repeated here, so you won't have to constantly look
2734 back up in the reading section to understand writing.
2738 You will want to do the I/O initialization before you get into libpng,
2739 so if it doesn't work, you don't have anything to undo. If you are not
2740 using the standard I/O functions, you will need to replace them with
2741 custom writing functions. See the discussion under Customizing libpng.
2743 FILE *fp = fopen(file_name, "wb");
2748 Next, png_struct and png_info need to be allocated and initialized.
2749 As these can be both relatively large, you may not want to store these
2750 on the stack, unless you have stack space to spare. Of course, you
2751 will want to check if they return NULL. If you are also reading,
2752 you won't want to name your read structure and your write structure
2753 both "png_ptr"; you can call them anything you like, such as
2754 "read_ptr" and "write_ptr". Look at pngtest.c, for example.
2756 png_structp png_ptr = png_create_write_struct
2757 (PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, (png_voidp)user_error_ptr,
2758 user_error_fn, user_warning_fn);
2763 png_infop info_ptr = png_create_info_struct(png_ptr);
2766 png_destroy_write_struct(&png_ptr,
2771 If you want to use your own memory allocation routines,
2772 define PNG_USER_MEM_SUPPORTED and use
2773 png_create_write_struct_2() instead of png_create_write_struct():
2775 png_structp png_ptr = png_create_write_struct_2
2776 (PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, (png_voidp)user_error_ptr,
2777 user_error_fn, user_warning_fn, (png_voidp)
2778 user_mem_ptr, user_malloc_fn, user_free_fn);
2780 After you have these structures, you will need to set up the
2781 error handling. When libpng encounters an error, it expects to
2782 longjmp() back to your routine. Therefore, you will need to call
2783 setjmp() and pass the png_jmpbuf(png_ptr). If you
2784 write the file from different routines, you will need to update
2785 the png_jmpbuf(png_ptr) every time you enter a new routine that will
2786 call a png_*() function. See your documentation of setjmp/longjmp
2787 for your compiler for more information on setjmp/longjmp. See
2788 the discussion on libpng error handling in the Customizing Libpng
2789 section below for more information on the libpng error handling.
2791 if (setjmp(png_jmpbuf(png_ptr)))
2793 png_destroy_write_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr);
2800 If you would rather avoid the complexity of setjmp/longjmp issues,
2801 you can compile libpng with PNG_NO_SETJMP, in which case
2802 errors will result in a call to PNG_ABORT() which defaults to abort().
2804 You can #define PNG_ABORT() to a function that does something
2805 more useful than abort(), as long as your function does not
2808 Checking for invalid palette index on write was added at libpng
2809 1.5.10. If a pixel contains an invalid (out-of-range) index libpng issues
2810 a benign error. This is enabled by default because this condition is an
2811 error according to the PNG specification, Clause 11.3.2, but the error can
2812 be ignored in each png_ptr with
2814 png_set_check_for_invalid_index(png_ptr, 0);
2816 If the error is ignored, or if png_benign_error() treats it as a warning,
2817 any invalid pixels are written as-is by the encoder, resulting in an
2818 invalid PNG datastream as output. In this case the application is
2819 responsible for ensuring that the pixel indexes are in range when it writes
2820 a PLTE chunk with fewer entries than the bit depth would allow.
2822 Now you need to set up the output code. The default for libpng is to
2823 use the C function fwrite(). If you use this, you will need to pass a
2824 valid FILE * in the function png_init_io(). Be sure that the file is
2825 opened in binary mode. Again, if you wish to handle writing data in
2826 another way, see the discussion on libpng I/O handling in the Customizing
2827 Libpng section below.
2829 png_init_io(png_ptr, fp);
2831 If you are embedding your PNG into a datastream such as MNG, and don't
2832 want libpng to write the 8-byte signature, or if you have already
2833 written the signature in your application, use
2835 png_set_sig_bytes(png_ptr, 8);
2837 to inform libpng that it should not write a signature.
2841 At this point, you can set up a callback function that will be
2842 called after each row has been written, which you can use to control
2843 a progress meter or the like. It's demonstrated in pngtest.c.
2844 You must supply a function
2846 void write_row_callback(png_structp png_ptr, png_uint_32 row,
2849 /* put your code here */
2852 (You can give it another name that you like instead of "write_row_callback")
2854 To inform libpng about your function, use
2856 png_set_write_status_fn(png_ptr, write_row_callback);
2858 When this function is called the row has already been completely processed and
2859 it has also been written out. The 'row' and 'pass' refer to the next row to be
2861 non-interlaced case the row that was just handled is simply one less than the
2862 passed in row number, and pass will always be 0. For the interlaced case the
2863 same applies unless the row value is 0, in which case the row just handled was
2864 the last one from one of the preceding passes. Because interlacing may skip a
2865 pass you cannot be sure that the preceding pass is just 'pass-1', if you really
2866 need to know what the last pass is record (row,pass) from the callback and use
2867 the last recorded value each time.
2869 As with the user transform you can find the output row using the
2870 PNG_ROW_FROM_PASS_ROW macro.
2872 You now have the option of modifying how the compression library will
2873 run. The following functions are mainly for testing, but may be useful
2874 in some cases, like if you need to write PNG files extremely fast and
2875 are willing to give up some compression, or if you want to get the
2876 maximum possible compression at the expense of slower writing. If you
2877 have no special needs in this area, let the library do what it wants by
2878 not calling this function at all, as it has been tuned to deliver a good
2879 speed/compression ratio. The second parameter to png_set_filter() is
2880 the filter method, for which the only valid values are 0 (as of the
2881 July 1999 PNG specification, version 1.2) or 64 (if you are writing
2882 a PNG datastream that is to be embedded in a MNG datastream). The third
2883 parameter is a flag that indicates which filter type(s) are to be tested
2884 for each scanline. See the PNG specification for details on the specific
2888 /* turn on or off filtering, and/or choose
2889 specific filters. You can use either a single
2890 PNG_FILTER_VALUE_NAME or the bitwise OR of one
2891 or more PNG_FILTER_NAME masks.
2893 png_set_filter(png_ptr, 0,
2894 PNG_FILTER_NONE | PNG_FILTER_VALUE_NONE |
2895 PNG_FILTER_SUB | PNG_FILTER_VALUE_SUB |
2896 PNG_FILTER_UP | PNG_FILTER_VALUE_UP |
2897 PNG_FILTER_AVG | PNG_FILTER_VALUE_AVG |
2898 PNG_FILTER_PAETH | PNG_FILTER_VALUE_PAETH|
2899 PNG_ALL_FILTERS | PNG_FAST_FILTERS);
2901 If an application wants to start and stop using particular filters during
2902 compression, it should start out with all of the filters (to ensure that
2903 the previous row of pixels will be stored in case it's needed later),
2904 and then add and remove them after the start of compression.
2906 If you are writing a PNG datastream that is to be embedded in a MNG
2907 datastream, the second parameter can be either 0 or 64.
2909 The png_set_compression_*() functions interface to the zlib compression
2910 library, and should mostly be ignored unless you really know what you are
2911 doing. The only generally useful call is png_set_compression_level()
2912 which changes how much time zlib spends on trying to compress the image
2913 data. See the Compression Library (zlib.h and algorithm.txt, distributed
2914 with zlib) for details on the compression levels.
2918 /* Set the zlib compression level */
2919 png_set_compression_level(png_ptr,
2920 Z_BEST_COMPRESSION);
2922 /* Set other zlib parameters for compressing IDAT */
2923 png_set_compression_mem_level(png_ptr, 8);
2924 png_set_compression_strategy(png_ptr,
2925 Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY);
2926 png_set_compression_window_bits(png_ptr, 15);
2927 png_set_compression_method(png_ptr, 8);
2928 png_set_compression_buffer_size(png_ptr, 8192)
2930 /* Set zlib parameters for text compression
2931 * If you don't call these, the parameters
2932 * fall back on those defined for IDAT chunks
2934 png_set_text_compression_mem_level(png_ptr, 8);
2935 png_set_text_compression_strategy(png_ptr,
2936 Z_DEFAULT_STRATEGY);
2937 png_set_text_compression_window_bits(png_ptr, 15);
2938 png_set_text_compression_method(png_ptr, 8);
2940 Setting the contents of info for output
2942 You now need to fill in the png_info structure with all the data you
2943 wish to write before the actual image. Note that the only thing you
2944 are allowed to write after the image is the text chunks and the time
2945 chunk (as of PNG Specification 1.2, anyway). See png_write_end() and
2946 the latest PNG specification for more information on that. If you
2947 wish to write them before the image, fill them in now, and flag that
2948 data as being valid. If you want to wait until after the data, don't
2949 fill them until png_write_end(). For all the fields in png_info and
2950 their data types, see png.h. For explanations of what the fields
2951 contain, see the PNG specification.
2953 Some of the more important parts of the png_info are:
2955 png_set_IHDR(png_ptr, info_ptr, width, height,
2956 bit_depth, color_type, interlace_type,
2957 compression_type, filter_method)
2959 width - holds the width of the image
2960 in pixels (up to 2^31).
2962 height - holds the height of the image
2963 in pixels (up to 2^31).
2965 bit_depth - holds the bit depth of one of the
2967 (valid values are 1, 2, 4, 8, 16
2968 and depend also on the
2969 color_type. See also significant
2972 color_type - describes which color/alpha
2973 channels are present.
2975 (bit depths 1, 2, 4, 8, 16)
2976 PNG_COLOR_TYPE_GRAY_ALPHA
2978 PNG_COLOR_TYPE_PALETTE
2979 (bit depths 1, 2, 4, 8)
2982 PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB_ALPHA
2985 PNG_COLOR_MASK_PALETTE
2986 PNG_COLOR_MASK_COLOR
2987 PNG_COLOR_MASK_ALPHA
2989 interlace_type - PNG_INTERLACE_NONE or
2992 compression_type - (must be
2993 PNG_COMPRESSION_TYPE_DEFAULT)
2995 filter_method - (must be PNG_FILTER_TYPE_DEFAULT
2996 or, if you are writing a PNG to
2997 be embedded in a MNG datastream,
2999 PNG_INTRAPIXEL_DIFFERENCING)
3001 If you call png_set_IHDR(), the call must appear before any of the
3002 other png_set_*() functions, because they might require access to some of
3003 the IHDR settings. The remaining png_set_*() functions can be called
3006 If you wish, you can reset the compression_type, interlace_type, or
3007 filter_method later by calling png_set_IHDR() again; if you do this, the
3008 width, height, bit_depth, and color_type must be the same in each call.
3010 png_set_PLTE(png_ptr, info_ptr, palette,
3013 palette - the palette for the file
3014 (array of png_color)
3015 num_palette - number of entries in the palette
3018 png_set_gAMA(png_ptr, info_ptr, file_gamma);
3019 png_set_gAMA_fixed(png_ptr, info_ptr, int_file_gamma);
3021 file_gamma - the gamma at which the image was
3022 created (PNG_INFO_gAMA)
3024 int_file_gamma - 100,000 times the gamma at which
3025 the image was created
3027 png_set_cHRM(png_ptr, info_ptr, white_x, white_y, red_x, red_y,
3028 green_x, green_y, blue_x, blue_y)
3029 png_set_cHRM_XYZ(png_ptr, info_ptr, red_X, red_Y, red_Z, green_X,
3030 green_Y, green_Z, blue_X, blue_Y, blue_Z)
3031 png_set_cHRM_fixed(png_ptr, info_ptr, int_white_x, int_white_y,
3032 int_red_x, int_red_y, int_green_x, int_green_y,
3033 int_blue_x, int_blue_y)
3034 png_set_cHRM_XYZ_fixed(png_ptr, info_ptr, int_red_X, int_red_Y,
3035 int_red_Z, int_green_X, int_green_Y, int_green_Z,
3036 int_blue_X, int_blue_Y, int_blue_Z)
3038 {white,red,green,blue}_{x,y}
3039 A color space encoding specified using the chromaticities
3040 of the end points and the white point.
3042 {red,green,blue}_{X,Y,Z}
3043 A color space encoding specified using the encoding end
3044 points - the CIE tristimulus specification of the intended
3045 color of the red, green and blue channels in the PNG RGB
3046 data. The white point is simply the sum of the three end
3049 png_set_sRGB(png_ptr, info_ptr, srgb_intent);
3051 srgb_intent - the rendering intent
3052 (PNG_INFO_sRGB) The presence of
3053 the sRGB chunk means that the pixel
3054 data is in the sRGB color space.
3055 This chunk also implies specific
3056 values of gAMA and cHRM. Rendering
3057 intent is the CSS-1 property that
3058 has been defined by the International
3060 (http://www.color.org).
3062 PNG_sRGB_INTENT_SATURATION,
3063 PNG_sRGB_INTENT_PERCEPTUAL,
3064 PNG_sRGB_INTENT_ABSOLUTE, or
3065 PNG_sRGB_INTENT_RELATIVE.
3068 png_set_sRGB_gAMA_and_cHRM(png_ptr, info_ptr,
3071 srgb_intent - the rendering intent
3072 (PNG_INFO_sRGB) The presence of the
3073 sRGB chunk means that the pixel
3074 data is in the sRGB color space.
3075 This function also causes gAMA and
3076 cHRM chunks with the specific values
3077 that are consistent with sRGB to be
3080 png_set_iCCP(png_ptr, info_ptr, name, compression_type,
3083 name - The profile name.
3085 compression_type - The compression type; always
3086 PNG_COMPRESSION_TYPE_BASE for PNG 1.0.
3087 You may give NULL to this argument to
3090 profile - International Color Consortium color
3091 profile data. May contain NULs.
3093 proflen - length of profile data in bytes.
3095 png_set_sBIT(png_ptr, info_ptr, sig_bit);
3097 sig_bit - the number of significant bits for
3098 (PNG_INFO_sBIT) each of the gray, red,
3099 green, and blue channels, whichever are
3100 appropriate for the given color type
3103 png_set_tRNS(png_ptr, info_ptr, trans_alpha,
3104 num_trans, trans_color);
3106 trans_alpha - array of alpha (transparency)
3107 entries for palette (PNG_INFO_tRNS)
3109 num_trans - number of transparent entries
3112 trans_color - graylevel or color sample values
3113 (in order red, green, blue) of the
3114 single transparent color for
3115 non-paletted images (PNG_INFO_tRNS)
3117 png_set_eXIf_1(png_ptr, info_ptr, num_exif, exif);
3119 exif - Exif profile (array of
3120 png_byte) (PNG_INFO_eXIf)
3122 png_set_hIST(png_ptr, info_ptr, hist);
3124 hist - histogram of palette (array of
3125 png_uint_16) (PNG_INFO_hIST)
3127 png_set_tIME(png_ptr, info_ptr, mod_time);
3129 mod_time - time image was last modified
3132 png_set_bKGD(png_ptr, info_ptr, background);
3134 background - background color (of type
3135 png_color_16p) (PNG_VALID_bKGD)
3137 png_set_text(png_ptr, info_ptr, text_ptr, num_text);
3139 text_ptr - array of png_text holding image
3142 text_ptr[i].compression - type of compression used
3143 on "text" PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_NONE
3144 PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_zTXt
3145 PNG_ITXT_COMPRESSION_NONE
3146 PNG_ITXT_COMPRESSION_zTXt
3147 text_ptr[i].key - keyword for comment. Must contain
3149 text_ptr[i].text - text comments for current
3150 keyword. Can be NULL or empty.
3151 text_ptr[i].text_length - length of text string,
3152 after decompression, 0 for iTXt
3153 text_ptr[i].itxt_length - length of itxt string,
3154 after decompression, 0 for tEXt/zTXt
3155 text_ptr[i].lang - language of comment (NULL or
3157 text_ptr[i].translated_keyword - keyword in UTF-8 (NULL
3158 or empty for unknown).
3160 Note that the itxt_length, lang, and lang_key
3161 members of the text_ptr structure only exist when the
3162 library is built with iTXt chunk support. Prior to
3163 libpng-1.4.0 the library was built by default without
3164 iTXt support. Also note that when iTXt is supported,
3165 they contain NULL pointers when the "compression"
3166 field contains PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_NONE or
3167 PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_zTXt.
3169 num_text - number of comments
3171 png_set_sPLT(png_ptr, info_ptr, &palette_ptr,
3174 palette_ptr - array of png_sPLT_struct structures
3175 to be added to the list of palettes
3176 in the info structure.
3177 num_spalettes - number of palette structures to be
3180 png_set_oFFs(png_ptr, info_ptr, offset_x, offset_y,
3183 offset_x - positive offset from the left
3186 offset_y - positive offset from the top
3189 unit_type - PNG_OFFSET_PIXEL, PNG_OFFSET_MICROMETER
3191 png_set_pHYs(png_ptr, info_ptr, res_x, res_y,
3194 res_x - pixels/unit physical resolution
3197 res_y - pixels/unit physical resolution
3200 unit_type - PNG_RESOLUTION_UNKNOWN,
3201 PNG_RESOLUTION_METER
3203 png_set_sCAL(png_ptr, info_ptr, unit, width, height)
3205 unit - physical scale units (an integer)
3207 width - width of a pixel in physical scale units
3209 height - height of a pixel in physical scale units
3210 (width and height are doubles)
3212 png_set_sCAL_s(png_ptr, info_ptr, unit, width, height)
3214 unit - physical scale units (an integer)
3216 width - width of a pixel in physical scale units
3217 expressed as a string
3219 height - height of a pixel in physical scale units
3220 (width and height are strings like "2.54")
3222 png_set_unknown_chunks(png_ptr, info_ptr, &unknowns,
3225 unknowns - array of png_unknown_chunk
3226 structures holding unknown chunks
3227 unknowns[i].name - name of unknown chunk
3228 unknowns[i].data - data of unknown chunk
3229 unknowns[i].size - size of unknown chunk's data
3230 unknowns[i].location - position to write chunk in file
3231 0: do not write chunk
3232 PNG_HAVE_IHDR: before PLTE
3233 PNG_HAVE_PLTE: before IDAT
3234 PNG_AFTER_IDAT: after IDAT
3236 The "location" member is set automatically according to
3237 what part of the output file has already been written.
3238 You can change its value after calling png_set_unknown_chunks()
3239 as demonstrated in pngtest.c. Within each of the "locations",
3240 the chunks are sequenced according to their position in the
3241 structure (that is, the value of "i", which is the order in which
3242 the chunk was either read from the input file or defined with
3243 png_set_unknown_chunks).
3245 A quick word about text and num_text. text is an array of png_text
3246 structures. num_text is the number of valid structures in the array.
3247 Each png_text structure holds a language code, a keyword, a text value,
3248 and a compression type.
3250 The compression types have the same valid numbers as the compression
3251 types of the image data. Currently, the only valid number is zero.
3252 However, you can store text either compressed or uncompressed, unlike
3253 images, which always have to be compressed. So if you don't want the
3254 text compressed, set the compression type to PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_NONE.
3255 Because tEXt and zTXt chunks don't have a language field, if you
3256 specify PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_NONE or PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_zTXt
3257 any language code or translated keyword will not be written out.
3259 Until text gets around a few hundred bytes, it is not worth compressing it.
3260 After the text has been written out to the file, the compression type
3261 is set to PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_NONE_WR or PNG_TEXT_COMPRESSION_zTXt_WR,
3262 so that it isn't written out again at the end (in case you are calling
3263 png_write_end() with the same struct).
3265 The keywords that are given in the PNG Specification are:
3267 Title Short (one line) title or
3270 Author Name of image's creator
3272 Description Description of image (possibly long)
3274 Copyright Copyright notice
3276 Creation Time Time of original image creation
3277 (usually RFC 1123 format, see below)
3279 Software Software used to create the image
3281 Disclaimer Legal disclaimer
3283 Warning Warning of nature of content
3285 Source Device used to create the image
3287 Comment Miscellaneous comment; conversion
3288 from other image format
3290 The keyword-text pairs work like this. Keywords should be short
3291 simple descriptions of what the comment is about. Some typical
3292 keywords are found in the PNG specification, as is some recommendations
3293 on keywords. You can repeat keywords in a file. You can even write
3294 some text before the image and some after. For example, you may want
3295 to put a description of the image before the image, but leave the
3296 disclaimer until after, so viewers working over modem connections
3297 don't have to wait for the disclaimer to go over the modem before
3298 they start seeing the image. Finally, keywords should be full
3299 words, not abbreviations. Keywords and text are in the ISO 8859-1
3300 (Latin-1) character set (a superset of regular ASCII) and can not
3301 contain NUL characters, and should not contain control or other
3302 unprintable characters. To make the comments widely readable, stick
3303 with basic ASCII, and avoid machine specific character set extensions
3304 like the IBM-PC character set. The keyword must be present, but
3305 you can leave off the text string on non-compressed pairs.
3306 Compressed pairs must have a text string, as only the text string
3307 is compressed anyway, so the compression would be meaningless.
3309 PNG supports modification time via the png_time structure. Two
3310 conversion routines are provided, png_convert_from_time_t() for
3311 time_t and png_convert_from_struct_tm() for struct tm. The
3312 time_t routine uses gmtime(). You don't have to use either of
3313 these, but if you wish to fill in the png_time structure directly,
3314 you should provide the time in universal time (GMT) if possible
3315 instead of your local time. Note that the year number is the full
3316 year (e.g. 1998, rather than 98 - PNG is year 2000 compliant!), and
3317 that months start with 1.
3319 If you want to store the time of the original image creation, you should
3320 use a plain tEXt chunk with the "Creation Time" keyword. This is
3321 necessary because the "creation time" of a PNG image is somewhat vague,
3322 depending on whether you mean the PNG file, the time the image was
3323 created in a non-PNG format, a still photo from which the image was
3324 scanned, or possibly the subject matter itself. In order to facilitate
3325 machine-readable dates, it is recommended that the "Creation Time"
3326 tEXt chunk use RFC 1123 format dates (e.g. "22 May 1997 18:07:10 GMT"),
3327 although this isn't a requirement. Unlike the tIME chunk, the
3328 "Creation Time" tEXt chunk is not expected to be automatically changed
3329 by the software. To facilitate the use of RFC 1123 dates, a function
3330 png_convert_to_rfc1123_buffer(buffer, png_timep) is provided to
3331 convert from PNG time to an RFC 1123 format string. The caller must provide
3332 a writeable buffer of at least 29 bytes.
3334 Writing unknown chunks
3336 You can use the png_set_unknown_chunks function to queue up private chunks
3337 for writing. You give it a chunk name, location, raw data, and a size. You
3338 also must use png_set_keep_unknown_chunks() to ensure that libpng will
3339 handle them. That's all there is to it. The chunks will be written by the
3340 next following png_write_info_before_PLTE, png_write_info, or png_write_end
3341 function, depending upon the specified location. Any chunks previously
3342 read into the info structure's unknown-chunk list will also be written out
3343 in a sequence that satisfies the PNG specification's ordering rules.
3345 Here is an example of writing two private chunks, prVt and miNE:
3347 #ifdef PNG_WRITE_UNKNOWN_CHUNKS_SUPPORTED
3348 /* Set unknown chunk data */
3349 png_unknown_chunk unk_chunk[2];
3350 strcpy((char *) unk_chunk[0].name, "prVt";
3351 unk_chunk[0].data = (unsigned char *) "PRIVATE DATA";
3352 unk_chunk[0].size = strlen(unk_chunk[0].data)+1;
3353 unk_chunk[0].location = PNG_HAVE_IHDR;
3354 strcpy((char *) unk_chunk[1].name, "miNE";
3355 unk_chunk[1].data = (unsigned char *) "MY CHUNK DATA";
3356 unk_chunk[1].size = strlen(unk_chunk[0].data)+1;
3357 unk_chunk[1].location = PNG_AFTER_IDAT;
3358 png_set_unknown_chunks(write_ptr, write_info_ptr,
3360 /* Needed because miNE is not safe-to-copy */
3361 png_set_keep_unknown_chunks(png, PNG_HANDLE_CHUNK_ALWAYS,
3362 (png_bytep) "miNE", 1);
3363 # if PNG_LIBPNG_VER < 10600
3364 /* Deal with unknown chunk location bug in 1.5.x and earlier */
3365 png_set_unknown_chunk_location(png, info, 0, PNG_HAVE_IHDR);
3366 png_set_unknown_chunk_location(png, info, 1, PNG_AFTER_IDAT);
3368 # if PNG_LIBPNG_VER < 10500
3369 /* PNG_AFTER_IDAT writes two copies of the chunk prior to libpng-1.5.0,
3370 * one before IDAT and another after IDAT, so don't use it; only use
3371 * PNG_HAVE_IHDR location. This call resets the location previously
3372 * set by assignment and png_set_unknown_chunk_location() for chunk 1.
3374 png_set_unknown_chunk_location(png, info, 1, PNG_HAVE_IHDR);
3378 The high-level write interface
3380 At this point there are two ways to proceed; through the high-level
3381 write interface, or through a sequence of low-level write operations.
3382 You can use the high-level interface if your image data is present
3383 in the info structure. All defined output
3384 transformations are permitted, enabled by the following masks.
3386 PNG_TRANSFORM_IDENTITY No transformation
3387 PNG_TRANSFORM_PACKING Pack 1, 2 and 4-bit samples
3388 PNG_TRANSFORM_PACKSWAP Change order of packed
3390 PNG_TRANSFORM_INVERT_MONO Invert monochrome images
3391 PNG_TRANSFORM_SHIFT Normalize pixels to the
3393 PNG_TRANSFORM_BGR Flip RGB to BGR, RGBA
3395 PNG_TRANSFORM_SWAP_ALPHA Flip RGBA to ARGB or GA
3397 PNG_TRANSFORM_INVERT_ALPHA Change alpha from opacity
3399 PNG_TRANSFORM_SWAP_ENDIAN Byte-swap 16-bit samples
3400 PNG_TRANSFORM_STRIP_FILLER Strip out filler
3402 PNG_TRANSFORM_STRIP_FILLER_BEFORE Strip out leading
3404 PNG_TRANSFORM_STRIP_FILLER_AFTER Strip out trailing
3407 If you have valid image data in the info structure (you can use
3408 png_set_rows() to put image data in the info structure), simply do this:
3410 png_write_png(png_ptr, info_ptr, png_transforms, NULL)
3412 where png_transforms is an integer containing the bitwise OR of some set of
3413 transformation flags. This call is equivalent to png_write_info(),
3414 followed the set of transformations indicated by the transform mask,
3415 then png_write_image(), and finally png_write_end().
3417 (The final parameter of this call is not yet used. Someday it might point
3418 to transformation parameters required by some future output transform.)
3420 You must use png_transforms and not call any png_set_transform() functions
3421 when you use png_write_png().
3423 The low-level write interface
3425 If you are going the low-level route instead, you are now ready to
3426 write all the file information up to the actual image data. You do
3427 this with a call to png_write_info().
3429 png_write_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
3431 Note that there is one transformation you may need to do before
3432 png_write_info(). In PNG files, the alpha channel in an image is the
3433 level of opacity. If your data is supplied as a level of transparency,
3434 you can invert the alpha channel before you write it, so that 0 is
3435 fully transparent and 255 (in 8-bit or paletted images) or 65535
3436 (in 16-bit images) is fully opaque, with
3438 png_set_invert_alpha(png_ptr);
3440 This must appear before png_write_info() instead of later with the
3441 other transformations because in the case of paletted images the tRNS
3442 chunk data has to be inverted before the tRNS chunk is written. If
3443 your image is not a paletted image, the tRNS data (which in such cases
3444 represents a single color to be rendered as transparent) won't need to
3445 be changed, and you can safely do this transformation after your
3446 png_write_info() call.
3448 If you need to write a private chunk that you want to appear before
3449 the PLTE chunk when PLTE is present, you can write the PNG info in
3450 two steps, and insert code to write your own chunk between them:
3452 png_write_info_before_PLTE(png_ptr, info_ptr);
3453 png_set_unknown_chunks(png_ptr, info_ptr, ...);
3454 png_write_info(png_ptr, info_ptr);
3456 After you've written the file information, you can set up the library
3457 to handle any special transformations of the image data. The various
3458 ways to transform the data will be described in the order that they
3459 should occur. This is important, as some of these change the color
3460 type and/or bit depth of the data, and some others only work on
3461 certain color types and bit depths. Even though each transformation
3462 checks to see if it has data that it can do something with, you should
3463 make sure to only enable a transformation if it will be valid for the
3464 data. For example, don't swap red and blue on grayscale data.
3466 PNG files store RGB pixels packed into 3 or 6 bytes. This code tells
3467 the library to strip input data that has 4 or 8 bytes per pixel down
3468 to 3 or 6 bytes (or strip 2 or 4-byte grayscale+filler data to 1 or 2
3471 png_set_filler(png_ptr, 0, PNG_FILLER_BEFORE);
3473 where the 0 is unused, and the location is either PNG_FILLER_BEFORE or
3474 PNG_FILLER_AFTER, depending upon whether the filler byte in the pixel
3475 is stored XRGB or RGBX.
3477 PNG files pack pixels of bit depths 1, 2, and 4 into bytes as small as
3478 they can, resulting in, for example, 8 pixels per byte for 1 bit files.
3479 If the data is supplied at 1 pixel per byte, use this code, which will
3480 correctly pack the pixels into a single byte:
3482 png_set_packing(png_ptr);
3484 PNG files reduce possible bit depths to 1, 2, 4, 8, and 16. If your
3485 data is of another bit depth, you can write an sBIT chunk into the
3486 file so that decoders can recover the original data if desired.
3488 /* Set the true bit depth of the image data */
3489 if (color_type & PNG_COLOR_MASK_COLOR)
3491 sig_bit.red = true_bit_depth;
3492 sig_bit.green = true_bit_depth;
3493 sig_bit.blue = true_bit_depth;
3498 sig_bit.gray = true_bit_depth;
3501 if (color_type & PNG_COLOR_MASK_ALPHA)
3503 sig_bit.alpha = true_bit_depth;
3506 png_set_sBIT(png_ptr, info_ptr, &sig_bit);
3508 If the data is stored in the row buffer in a bit depth other than
3509 one supported by PNG (e.g. 3 bit data in the range 0-7 for a 4-bit PNG),
3510 this will scale the values to appear to be the correct bit depth as
3513 png_set_shift(png_ptr, &sig_bit);
3515 PNG files store 16-bit pixels in network byte order (big-endian,
3516 ie. most significant bits first). This code would be used if they are
3517 supplied the other way (little-endian, i.e. least significant bits
3518 first, the way PCs store them):
3521 png_set_swap(png_ptr);
3523 If you are using packed-pixel images (1, 2, or 4 bits/pixel), and you
3524 need to change the order the pixels are packed into bytes, you can use:
3527 png_set_packswap(png_ptr);
3529 PNG files store 3 color pixels in red, green, blue order. This code
3530 would be used if they are supplied as blue, green, red:
3532 png_set_bgr(png_ptr);
3534 PNG files describe monochrome as black being zero and white being
3535 one. This code would be used if the pixels are supplied with this reversed
3536 (black being one and white being zero):
3538 png_set_invert_mono(png_ptr);
3540 Finally, you can write your own transformation function if none of
3541 the existing ones meets your needs. This is done by setting a callback
3544 png_set_write_user_transform_fn(png_ptr,
3545 write_transform_fn);
3547 You must supply the function
3549 void write_transform_fn(png_structp png_ptr, png_row_infop
3550 row_info, png_bytep data)
3552 See pngtest.c for a working example. Your function will be called
3553 before any of the other transformations are processed. If supported
3554 libpng also supplies an information routine that may be called from
3557 png_get_current_row_number(png_ptr);
3558 png_get_current_pass_number(png_ptr);
3560 This returns the current row passed to the transform. With interlaced
3561 images the value returned is the row in the input sub-image image. Use
3562 PNG_ROW_FROM_PASS_ROW(row, pass) and PNG_COL_FROM_PASS_COL(col, pass) to
3563 find the output pixel (x,y) given an interlaced sub-image pixel (row,col,pass).
3565 The discussion of interlace handling above contains more information on how to
3568 You can also set up a pointer to a user structure for use by your
3571 png_set_user_transform_info(png_ptr, user_ptr, 0, 0);
3573 The user_channels and user_depth parameters of this function are ignored
3574 when writing; you can set them to zero as shown.
3576 You can retrieve the pointer via the function png_get_user_transform_ptr().
3579 voidp write_user_transform_ptr =
3580 png_get_user_transform_ptr(png_ptr);
3582 It is possible to have libpng flush any pending output, either manually,
3583 or automatically after a certain number of lines have been written. To
3584 flush the output stream a single time call:
3586 png_write_flush(png_ptr);
3588 and to have libpng flush the output stream periodically after a certain
3589 number of scanlines have been written, call:
3591 png_set_flush(png_ptr, nrows);
3593 Note that the distance between rows is from the last time png_write_flush()
3594 was called, or the first row of the image if it has never been called.
3595 So if you write 50 lines, and then png_set_flush 25, it will flush the
3596 output on the next scanline, and every 25 lines thereafter, unless
3597 png_write_flush() is called before 25 more lines have been written.
3598 If nrows is too small (less than about 10 lines for a 640 pixel wide
3599 RGB image) the image compression may decrease noticeably (although this
3600 may be acceptable for real-time applications). Infrequent flushing will
3601 only degrade the compression performance by a few percent over images
3602 that do not use flushing.
3604 Writing the image data
3606 That's it for the transformations. Now you can write the image data.
3607 The simplest way to do this is in one function call. If you have the
3608 whole image in memory, you can just call png_write_image() and libpng
3609 will write the image. You will need to pass in an array of pointers to
3610 each row. This function automatically handles interlacing, so you don't
3611 need to call png_set_interlace_handling() or call this function multiple
3612 times, or any of that other stuff necessary with png_write_rows().
3614 png_write_image(png_ptr, row_pointers);
3616 where row_pointers is:
3618 png_byte *row_pointers[height];
3620 You can point to void or char or whatever you use for pixels.
3622 If you don't want to write the whole image at once, you can
3623 use png_write_rows() instead. If the file is not interlaced,
3626 png_write_rows(png_ptr, row_pointers,
3629 row_pointers is the same as in the png_write_image() call.
3631 If you are just writing one row at a time, you can do this with
3632 a single row_pointer instead of an array of row_pointers:
3634 png_bytep row_pointer = row;
3636 png_write_row(png_ptr, row_pointer);
3638 When the file is interlaced, things can get a good deal more complicated.
3639 The only currently (as of the PNG Specification version 1.2, dated July
3640 1999) defined interlacing scheme for PNG files is the "Adam7" interlace
3641 scheme, that breaks down an image into seven smaller images of varying
3642 size. libpng will build these images for you, or you can do them
3643 yourself. If you want to build them yourself, see the PNG specification
3644 for details of which pixels to write when.
3646 If you don't want libpng to handle the interlacing details, just
3647 use png_set_interlace_handling() and call png_write_rows() the
3648 correct number of times to write all the sub-images
3649 (png_set_interlace_handling() returns the number of sub-images.)
3651 If you want libpng to build the sub-images, call this before you start
3654 number_of_passes = png_set_interlace_handling(png_ptr);
3656 This will return the number of passes needed. Currently, this is seven,
3657 but may change if another interlace type is added.
3659 Then write the complete image number_of_passes times.
3661 png_write_rows(png_ptr, row_pointers, number_of_rows);
3663 Think carefully before you write an interlaced image. Typically code that
3664 reads such images reads all the image data into memory, uncompressed, before
3665 doing any processing. Only code that can display an image on the fly can
3666 take advantage of the interlacing and even then the image has to be exactly
3667 the correct size for the output device, because scaling an image requires
3668 adjacent pixels and these are not available until all the passes have been
3671 If you do write an interlaced image you will hardly ever need to handle
3672 the interlacing yourself. Call png_set_interlace_handling() and use the
3673 approach described above.
3675 The only time it is conceivable that you will really need to write an
3676 interlaced image pass-by-pass is when you have read one pass by pass and
3677 made some pixel-by-pixel transformation to it, as described in the read
3678 code above. In this case use the PNG_PASS_ROWS and PNG_PASS_COLS macros
3679 to determine the size of each sub-image in turn and simply write the rows
3680 you obtained from the read code.
3682 Finishing a sequential write
3684 After you are finished writing the image, you should finish writing
3685 the file. If you are interested in writing comments or time, you should
3686 pass an appropriately filled png_info pointer. If you are not interested,
3689 png_write_end(png_ptr, info_ptr);
3691 When you are done, you can free all memory used by libpng like this:
3693 png_destroy_write_struct(&png_ptr, &info_ptr);
3695 It is also possible to individually free the info_ptr members that
3696 point to libpng-allocated storage with the following function:
3698 png_free_data(png_ptr, info_ptr, mask, seq)
3700 mask - identifies data to be freed, a mask
3701 containing the bitwise OR of one or
3703 PNG_FREE_PLTE, PNG_FREE_TRNS,
3704 PNG_FREE_HIST, PNG_FREE_ICCP,
3705 PNG_FREE_PCAL, PNG_FREE_ROWS,
3706 PNG_FREE_SCAL, PNG_FREE_SPLT,
3707 PNG_FREE_TEXT, PNG_FREE_UNKN,
3708 or simply PNG_FREE_ALL
3710 seq - sequence number of item to be freed
3713 This function may be safely called when the relevant storage has
3714 already been freed, or has not yet been allocated, or was allocated
3715 by the user and not by libpng, and will in those cases do nothing.
3716 The "seq" parameter is ignored if only one item of the selected data
3717 type, such as PLTE, is allowed. If "seq" is not -1, and multiple items
3718 are allowed for the data type identified in the mask, such as text or
3719 sPLT, only the n'th item in the structure is freed, where n is "seq".
3721 If you allocated data such as a palette that you passed in to libpng
3722 with png_set_*, you must not free it until just before the call to
3723 png_destroy_write_struct().
3725 The default behavior is only to free data that was allocated internally
3726 by libpng. This can be changed, so that libpng will not free the data,
3727 or so that it will free data that was allocated by the user with png_malloc()
3728 or png_calloc() and passed in via a png_set_*() function, with
3730 png_data_freer(png_ptr, info_ptr, freer, mask)
3733 PNG_DESTROY_WILL_FREE_DATA
3734 PNG_SET_WILL_FREE_DATA
3735 PNG_USER_WILL_FREE_DATA
3737 mask - which data elements are affected
3738 same choices as in png_free_data()
3740 For example, to transfer responsibility for some data from a read structure
3741 to a write structure, you could use
3743 png_data_freer(read_ptr, read_info_ptr,
3744 PNG_USER_WILL_FREE_DATA,
3745 PNG_FREE_PLTE|PNG_FREE_tRNS|PNG_FREE_hIST)
3747 png_data_freer(write_ptr, write_info_ptr,
3748 PNG_DESTROY_WILL_FREE_DATA,
3749 PNG_FREE_PLTE|PNG_FREE_tRNS|PNG_FREE_hIST)
3751 thereby briefly reassigning responsibility for freeing to the user but
3752 immediately afterwards reassigning it once more to the write_destroy
3753 function. Having done this, it would then be safe to destroy the read
3754 structure and continue to use the PLTE, tRNS, and hIST data in the write
3757 This function only affects data that has already been allocated.
3758 You can call this function before calling after the png_set_*() functions
3759 to control whether the user or png_destroy_*() is supposed to free the data.
3760 When the user assumes responsibility for libpng-allocated data, the
3761 application must use
3762 png_free() to free it, and when the user transfers responsibility to libpng
3763 for data that the user has allocated, the user must have used png_malloc()
3764 or png_calloc() to allocate it.
3766 If you allocated text_ptr.text, text_ptr.lang, and text_ptr.translated_keyword
3767 separately, do not transfer responsibility for freeing text_ptr to libpng,
3768 because when libpng fills a png_text structure it combines these members with
3769 the key member, and png_free_data() will free only text_ptr.key. Similarly,
3770 if you transfer responsibility for free'ing text_ptr from libpng to your
3771 application, your application must not separately free those members.
3772 For a more compact example of writing a PNG image, see the file example.c.
3776 The simplified API, which became available in libpng-1.6.0, hides the details
3777 of both libpng and the PNG file format itself.
3778 It allows PNG files to be read into a very limited number of
3779 in-memory bitmap formats or to be written from the same formats. If these
3780 formats do not accommodate your needs then you can, and should, use the more
3781 sophisticated APIs above - these support a wide variety of in-memory formats
3782 and a wide variety of sophisticated transformations to those formats as well
3783 as a wide variety of APIs to manipulate ancillary information.
3785 To read a PNG file using the simplified API:
3787 1) Declare a 'png_image' structure (see below) on the stack, set the
3788 version field to PNG_IMAGE_VERSION and the 'opaque' pointer to NULL
3789 (this is REQUIRED, your program may crash if you don't do it.)
3791 2) Call the appropriate png_image_begin_read... function.
3793 3) Set the png_image 'format' member to the required sample format.
3795 4) Allocate a buffer for the image and, if required, the color-map.
3797 5) Call png_image_finish_read to read the image and, if required, the
3798 color-map into your buffers.
3800 There are no restrictions on the format of the PNG input itself; all valid
3801 color types, bit depths, and interlace methods are acceptable, and the
3802 input image is transformed as necessary to the requested in-memory format
3803 during the png_image_finish_read() step. The only caveat is that if you
3804 request a color-mapped image from a PNG that is full-color or makes
3805 complex use of an alpha channel the transformation is extremely lossy and the
3806 result may look terrible.
3808 To write a PNG file using the simplified API:
3810 1) Declare a 'png_image' structure on the stack and memset()
3813 2) Initialize the members of the structure that describe the
3814 image, setting the 'format' member to the format of the
3817 3) Call the appropriate png_image_write... function with a
3818 pointer to the image and, if necessary, the color-map to write
3821 png_image is a structure that describes the in-memory format of an image
3822 when it is being read or defines the in-memory format of an image that you
3823 need to write. The "png_image" structure contains the following members:
3825 png_controlp opaque Initialize to NULL, free with png_image_free
3826 png_uint_32 version Set to PNG_IMAGE_VERSION
3827 png_uint_32 width Image width in pixels (columns)
3828 png_uint_32 height Image height in pixels (rows)
3829 png_uint_32 format Image format as defined below
3830 png_uint_32 flags A bit mask containing informational flags
3831 png_uint_32 colormap_entries; Number of entries in the color-map
3832 png_uint_32 warning_or_error;
3835 In the event of an error or warning the "warning_or_error"
3836 field will be set to a non-zero value and the 'message' field will contain
3837 a '\0' terminated string with the libpng error or warning message. If both
3838 warnings and an error were encountered, only the error is recorded. If there
3839 are multiple warnings, only the first one is recorded.
3841 The upper 30 bits of the "warning_or_error" value are reserved; the low two
3842 bits contain a two bit code such that a value more than 1 indicates a failure
3843 in the API just called:
3845 0 - no warning or error
3848 3 - error preceded by warning
3850 The pixels (samples) of the image have one to four channels whose components
3851 have original values in the range 0 to 1.0:
3853 1: A single gray or luminance channel (G).
3854 2: A gray/luminance channel and an alpha channel (GA).
3855 3: Three red, green, blue color channels (RGB).
3856 4: Three color channels and an alpha channel (RGBA).
3858 The channels are encoded in one of two ways:
3860 a) As a small integer, value 0..255, contained in a single byte. For the
3861 alpha channel the original value is simply value/255. For the color or
3862 luminance channels the value is encoded according to the sRGB specification
3863 and matches the 8-bit format expected by typical display devices.
3865 The color/gray channels are not scaled (pre-multiplied) by the alpha
3866 channel and are suitable for passing to color management software.
3868 b) As a value in the range 0..65535, contained in a 2-byte integer, in
3869 the native byte order of the platform on which the application is running.
3870 All channels can be converted to the original value by dividing by 65535; all
3871 channels are linear. Color channels use the RGB encoding (RGB end-points) of
3872 the sRGB specification. This encoding is identified by the
3873 PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_LINEAR flag below.
3875 When the simplified API needs to convert between sRGB and linear colorspaces,
3876 the actual sRGB transfer curve defined in the sRGB specification (see the
3877 article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRGB) is used, not the gamma=1/2.2
3878 approximation used elsewhere in libpng.
3880 When an alpha channel is present it is expected to denote pixel coverage
3881 of the color or luminance channels and is returned as an associated alpha
3882 channel: the color/gray channels are scaled (pre-multiplied) by the alpha
3885 The samples are either contained directly in the image data, between 1 and 8
3886 bytes per pixel according to the encoding, or are held in a color-map indexed
3887 by bytes in the image data. In the case of a color-map the color-map entries
3888 are individual samples, encoded as above, and the image data has one byte per
3889 pixel to select the relevant sample from the color-map.
3893 The #defines to be used in png_image::format. Each #define identifies a
3894 particular layout of channel data and, if present, alpha values. There are
3895 separate defines for each of the two component encodings.
3897 A format is built up using single bit flag values. All combinations are
3898 valid. Formats can be built up from the flag values or you can use one of
3899 the predefined values below. When testing formats always use the FORMAT_FLAG
3900 macros to test for individual features - future versions of the library may
3903 When reading or writing color-mapped images the format should be set to the
3904 format of the entries in the color-map then png_image_{read,write}_colormap
3905 called to read or write the color-map and set the format correctly for the
3906 image data. Do not set the PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_COLORMAP bit directly!
3908 NOTE: libpng can be built with particular features disabled. If you see
3909 compiler errors because the definition of one of the following flags has been
3910 compiled out it is because libpng does not have the required support. It is
3911 possible, however, for the libpng configuration to enable the format on just
3912 read or just write; in that case you may see an error at run time.
3913 You can guard against this by checking for the definition of the
3914 appropriate "_SUPPORTED" macro, one of:
3916 PNG_SIMPLIFIED_{READ,WRITE}_{BGR,AFIRST}_SUPPORTED
3918 PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_ALPHA format with an alpha channel
3919 PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_COLOR color format: otherwise grayscale
3920 PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_LINEAR 2-byte channels else 1-byte
3921 PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_COLORMAP image data is color-mapped
3922 PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_BGR BGR colors, else order is RGB
3923 PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_AFIRST alpha channel comes first
3925 Supported formats are as follows. Future versions of libpng may support more
3926 formats; for compatibility with older versions simply check if the format
3927 macro is defined using #ifdef. These defines describe the in-memory layout
3928 of the components of the pixels of the image.
3930 First the single byte (sRGB) formats:
3942 Then the linear 2-byte formats. When naming these "Y" is used to
3943 indicate a luminance (gray) channel. The component order within the pixel
3944 is always the same - there is no provision for swapping the order of the
3945 components in the linear format. The components are 16-bit integers in
3946 the native byte order for your platform, and there is no provision for
3947 swapping the bytes to a different endian condition.
3950 PNG_FORMAT_LINEAR_Y_ALPHA
3951 PNG_FORMAT_LINEAR_RGB
3952 PNG_FORMAT_LINEAR_RGB_ALPHA
3954 With color-mapped formats the image data is one byte for each pixel. The byte
3955 is an index into the color-map which is formatted as above. To obtain a
3956 color-mapped format it is sufficient just to add the PNG_FOMAT_FLAG_COLORMAP
3957 to one of the above definitions, or you can use one of the definitions below.
3959 PNG_FORMAT_RGB_COLORMAP
3960 PNG_FORMAT_BGR_COLORMAP
3961 PNG_FORMAT_RGBA_COLORMAP
3962 PNG_FORMAT_ARGB_COLORMAP
3963 PNG_FORMAT_BGRA_COLORMAP
3964 PNG_FORMAT_ABGR_COLORMAP
3968 These are convenience macros to derive information from a png_image
3969 structure. The PNG_IMAGE_SAMPLE_ macros return values appropriate to the
3970 actual image sample values - either the entries in the color-map or the
3971 pixels in the image. The PNG_IMAGE_PIXEL_ macros return corresponding values
3972 for the pixels and will always return 1 for color-mapped formats. The
3973 remaining macros return information about the rows in the image and the
3976 NOTE: All the macros that take a png_image::format parameter are compile time
3977 constants if the format parameter is, itself, a constant. Therefore these
3978 macros can be used in array declarations and case labels where required.
3979 Similarly the macros are also pre-processor constants (sizeof is not used) so
3980 they can be used in #if tests.
3982 PNG_IMAGE_SAMPLE_CHANNELS(fmt)
3983 Returns the total number of channels in a given format: 1..4
3985 PNG_IMAGE_SAMPLE_COMPONENT_SIZE(fmt)
3986 Returns the size in bytes of a single component of a pixel or color-map
3987 entry (as appropriate) in the image: 1 or 2.
3989 PNG_IMAGE_SAMPLE_SIZE(fmt)
3990 This is the size of the sample data for one sample. If the image is
3991 color-mapped it is the size of one color-map entry (and image pixels are
3992 one byte in size), otherwise it is the size of one image pixel.
3994 PNG_IMAGE_MAXIMUM_COLORMAP_COMPONENTS(fmt)
3995 The maximum size of the color-map required by the format expressed in a
3996 count of components. This can be used to compile-time allocate a
3999 png_uint_16 colormap[PNG_IMAGE_MAXIMUM_COLORMAP_COMPONENTS(linear_fmt)];
4001 png_byte colormap[PNG_IMAGE_MAXIMUM_COLORMAP_COMPONENTS(sRGB_fmt)];
4003 Alternatively use the PNG_IMAGE_COLORMAP_SIZE macro below to use the
4004 information from one of the png_image_begin_read_ APIs and dynamically
4005 allocate the required memory.
4007 PNG_IMAGE_COLORMAP_SIZE(fmt)
4008 The size of the color-map required by the format; this is the size of the
4009 color-map buffer passed to the png_image_{read,write}_colormap APIs. It is
4010 a fixed number determined by the format so can easily be allocated on the
4013 Corresponding information about the pixels
4015 PNG_IMAGE_PIXEL_CHANNELS(fmt)
4016 The number of separate channels (components) in a pixel; 1 for a
4019 PNG_IMAGE_PIXEL_COMPONENT_SIZE(fmt)\
4020 The size, in bytes, of each component in a pixel; 1 for a color-mapped
4023 PNG_IMAGE_PIXEL_SIZE(fmt)
4024 The size, in bytes, of a complete pixel; 1 for a color-mapped image.
4026 Information about the whole row, or whole image
4028 PNG_IMAGE_ROW_STRIDE(image)
4029 Returns the total number of components in a single row of the image; this
4030 is the minimum 'row stride', the minimum count of components between each
4031 row. For a color-mapped image this is the minimum number of bytes in a
4034 If you need the stride measured in bytes, row_stride_bytes is
4035 PNG_IMAGE_ROW_STRIDE(image) * PNG_IMAGE_PIXEL_COMPONENT_SIZE(fmt)
4036 plus any padding bytes that your application might need, for example
4037 to start the next row on a 4-byte boundary.
4039 PNG_IMAGE_BUFFER_SIZE(image, row_stride)
4040 Return the size, in bytes, of an image buffer given a png_image and a row
4041 stride - the number of components to leave space for in each row.
4043 PNG_IMAGE_SIZE(image)
4044 Return the size, in bytes, of the image in memory given just a png_image;
4045 the row stride is the minimum stride required for the image.
4047 PNG_IMAGE_COLORMAP_SIZE(image)
4048 Return the size, in bytes, of the color-map of this image. If the image
4049 format is not a color-map format this will return a size sufficient for
4050 256 entries in the given format; check PNG_FORMAT_FLAG_COLORMAP if
4051 you don't want to allocate a color-map in this case.
4055 Flags containing additional information about the image are held in
4056 the 'flags' field of png_image.
4058 PNG_IMAGE_FLAG_COLORSPACE_NOT_sRGB == 0x01
4059 This indicates that the RGB values of the in-memory bitmap do not
4060 correspond to the red, green and blue end-points defined by sRGB.
4062 PNG_IMAGE_FLAG_FAST == 0x02
4063 On write emphasise speed over compression; the resultant PNG file will be
4064 larger but will be produced significantly faster, particular for large
4065 images. Do not use this option for images which will be distributed, only
4066 used it when producing intermediate files that will be read back in
4067 repeatedly. For a typical 24-bit image the option will double the read
4068 speed at the cost of increasing the image size by 25%, however for many
4069 more compressible images the PNG file can be 10 times larger with only a
4072 PNG_IMAGE_FLAG_16BIT_sRGB == 0x04
4073 On read if the image is a 16-bit per component image and there is no gAMA
4074 or sRGB chunk assume that the components are sRGB encoded. Notice that
4075 images output by the simplified API always have gamma information; setting
4076 this flag only affects the interpretation of 16-bit images from an
4077 external source. It is recommended that the application expose this flag
4078 to the user; the user can normally easily recognize the difference between
4079 linear and sRGB encoding. This flag has no effect on write - the data
4080 passed to the write APIs must have the correct encoding (as defined
4083 If the flag is not set (the default) input 16-bit per component data is
4084 assumed to be linear.
4086 NOTE: the flag can only be set after the png_image_begin_read_ call,
4087 because that call initializes the 'flags' field.
4091 The png_image passed to the read APIs must have been initialized by setting
4092 the png_controlp field 'opaque' to NULL (or, better, memset the whole thing.)
4094 int png_image_begin_read_from_file( png_imagep image,
4095 const char *file_name)
4097 The named file is opened for read and the image header
4098 is filled in from the PNG header in the file.
4100 int png_image_begin_read_from_stdio (png_imagep image,
4103 The PNG header is read from the stdio FILE object.
4105 int png_image_begin_read_from_memory(png_imagep image,
4106 png_const_voidp memory, size_t size)
4108 The PNG header is read from the given memory buffer.
4110 int png_image_finish_read(png_imagep image,
4111 png_colorp background, void *buffer,
4112 png_int_32 row_stride, void *colormap));
4114 Finish reading the image into the supplied buffer and
4115 clean up the png_image structure.
4117 row_stride is the step, in png_byte or png_uint_16 units
4118 as appropriate, between adjacent rows. A positive stride
4119 indicates that the top-most row is first in the buffer -
4120 the normal top-down arrangement. A negative stride
4121 indicates that the bottom-most row is first in the buffer.
4123 background need only be supplied if an alpha channel must
4124 be removed from a png_byte format and the removal is to be
4125 done by compositing on a solid color; otherwise it may be
4126 NULL and any composition will be done directly onto the
4127 buffer. The value is an sRGB color to use for the
4128 background, for grayscale output the green channel is used.
4130 For linear output removing the alpha channel is always done
4131 by compositing on black.
4133 void png_image_free(png_imagep image)
4135 Free any data allocated by libpng in image->opaque,
4136 setting the pointer to NULL. May be called at any time
4137 after the structure is initialized.
4139 When the simplified API needs to convert between sRGB and linear colorspaces,
4140 the actual sRGB transfer curve defined in the sRGB specification (see the
4141 article at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/SRGB) is used, not the gamma=1/2.2
4142 approximation used elsewhere in libpng.
4146 For write you must initialize a png_image structure to describe the image to
4149 version: must be set to PNG_IMAGE_VERSION
4150 opaque: must be initialized to NULL
4151 width: image width in pixels
4152 height: image height in rows
4153 format: the format of the data you wish to write
4154 flags: set to 0 unless one of the defined flags applies; set
4155 PNG_IMAGE_FLAG_COLORSPACE_NOT_sRGB for color format images
4156 where the RGB values do not correspond to the colors in sRGB.
4157 colormap_entries: set to the number of entries in the color-map (0 to 256)
4159 int png_image_write_to_file, (png_imagep image,
4160 const char *file, int convert_to_8bit, const void *buffer,
4161 png_int_32 row_stride, const void *colormap));
4163 Write the image to the named file.
4165 int png_image_write_to_memory (png_imagep image, void *memory,
4166 png_alloc_size_t * PNG_RESTRICT memory_bytes,
4167 int convert_to_8_bit, const void *buffer, ptrdiff_t row_stride,
4168 const void *colormap));
4170 Write the image to memory.
4172 int png_image_write_to_stdio(png_imagep image, FILE *file,
4173 int convert_to_8_bit, const void *buffer,
4174 png_int_32 row_stride, const void *colormap)
4176 Write the image to the given (FILE*).
4178 With all write APIs if image is in one of the linear formats with
4179 (png_uint_16) data then setting convert_to_8_bit will cause the output to be
4180 a (png_byte) PNG gamma encoded according to the sRGB specification, otherwise
4181 a 16-bit linear encoded PNG file is written.
4183 With all APIs row_stride is handled as in the read APIs - it is the spacing
4184 from one row to the next in component sized units (float) and if negative
4185 indicates a bottom-up row layout in the buffer. If you pass zero, libpng will
4186 calculate the row_stride for you from the width and number of channels.
4188 Note that the write API does not support interlacing, sub-8-bit pixels,
4189 indexed (paletted) images, or most ancillary chunks.
4191 VI. Modifying/Customizing libpng
4193 There are two issues here. The first is changing how libpng does
4194 standard things like memory allocation, input/output, and error handling.
4195 The second deals with more complicated things like adding new chunks,
4196 adding new transformations, and generally changing how libpng works.
4197 Both of those are compile-time issues; that is, they are generally
4198 determined at the time the code is written, and there is rarely a need
4199 to provide the user with a means of changing them.
4201 Memory allocation, input/output, and error handling
4203 All of the memory allocation, input/output, and error handling in libpng
4204 goes through callbacks that are user-settable. The default routines are
4205 in pngmem.c, pngrio.c, pngwio.c, and pngerror.c, respectively. To change
4206 these functions, call the appropriate png_set_*_fn() function.
4208 Memory allocation is done through the functions png_malloc(), png_calloc(),
4209 and png_free(). The png_malloc() and png_free() functions currently just
4210 call the standard C functions and png_calloc() calls png_malloc() and then
4211 clears the newly allocated memory to zero; note that png_calloc(png_ptr, size)
4212 is not the same as the calloc(number, size) function provided by stdlib.h.
4213 There is limited support for certain systems with segmented memory
4214 architectures and the types of pointers declared by png.h match this; you
4215 will have to use appropriate pointers in your application. If you prefer
4216 to use a different method of allocating and freeing data, you can use
4217 png_create_read_struct_2() or png_create_write_struct_2() to register your
4218 own functions as described above. These functions also provide a void
4219 pointer that can be retrieved via
4221 mem_ptr=png_get_mem_ptr(png_ptr);
4223 Your replacement memory functions must have prototypes as follows:
4225 png_voidp malloc_fn(png_structp png_ptr,
4226 png_alloc_size_t size);
4228 void free_fn(png_structp png_ptr, png_voidp ptr);
4230 Your malloc_fn() must return NULL in case of failure. The png_malloc()
4231 function will normally call png_error() if it receives a NULL from the
4232 system memory allocator or from your replacement malloc_fn().
4234 Your free_fn() will never be called with a NULL ptr, since libpng's
4235 png_free() checks for NULL before calling free_fn().
4237 Input/Output in libpng is done through png_read() and png_write(),
4238 which currently just call fread() and fwrite(). The FILE * is stored in
4239 png_struct and is initialized via png_init_io(). If you wish to change
4240 the method of I/O, the library supplies callbacks that you can set
4241 through the function png_set_read_fn() and png_set_write_fn() at run
4242 time, instead of calling the png_init_io() function. These functions
4243 also provide a void pointer that can be retrieved via the function
4244 png_get_io_ptr(). For example:
4246 png_set_read_fn(png_structp read_ptr,
4247 voidp read_io_ptr, png_rw_ptr read_data_fn)
4249 png_set_write_fn(png_structp write_ptr,
4250 voidp write_io_ptr, png_rw_ptr write_data_fn,
4251 png_flush_ptr output_flush_fn);
4253 voidp read_io_ptr = png_get_io_ptr(read_ptr);
4254 voidp write_io_ptr = png_get_io_ptr(write_ptr);
4256 The replacement I/O functions must have prototypes as follows:
4258 void user_read_data(png_structp png_ptr,
4259 png_bytep data, size_t length);
4261 void user_write_data(png_structp png_ptr,
4262 png_bytep data, size_t length);
4264 void user_flush_data(png_structp png_ptr);
4266 The user_read_data() function is responsible for detecting and
4267 handling end-of-data errors.
4269 Supplying NULL for the read, write, or flush functions sets them back
4270 to using the default C stream functions, which expect the io_ptr to
4271 point to a standard *FILE structure. It is probably a mistake
4272 to use NULL for one of write_data_fn and output_flush_fn but not both
4273 of them, unless you have built libpng with PNG_NO_WRITE_FLUSH defined.
4274 It is an error to read from a write stream, and vice versa.
4276 Error handling in libpng is done through png_error() and png_warning().
4277 Errors handled through png_error() are fatal, meaning that png_error()
4278 should never return to its caller. Currently, this is handled via
4279 setjmp() and longjmp() (unless you have compiled libpng with
4280 PNG_NO_SETJMP, in which case it is handled via PNG_ABORT()),
4281 but you could change this to do things like exit() if you should wish,
4282 as long as your function does not return.
4284 On non-fatal errors, png_warning() is called
4285 to print a warning message, and then control returns to the calling code.
4286 By default png_error() and png_warning() print a message on stderr via
4287 fprintf() unless the library is compiled with PNG_NO_CONSOLE_IO defined
4288 (because you don't want the messages) or PNG_NO_STDIO defined (because
4289 fprintf() isn't available). If you wish to change the behavior of the error
4290 functions, you will need to set up your own message callbacks. These
4291 functions are normally supplied at the time that the png_struct is created.
4292 It is also possible to redirect errors and warnings to your own replacement
4293 functions after png_create_*_struct() has been called by calling:
4295 png_set_error_fn(png_structp png_ptr,
4296 png_voidp error_ptr, png_error_ptr error_fn,
4297 png_error_ptr warning_fn);
4299 If NULL is supplied for either error_fn or warning_fn, then the libpng
4300 default function will be used, calling fprintf() and/or longjmp() if a
4301 problem is encountered. The replacement error functions should have
4302 parameters as follows:
4304 void user_error_fn(png_structp png_ptr,
4305 png_const_charp error_msg);
4307 void user_warning_fn(png_structp png_ptr,
4308 png_const_charp warning_msg);
4310 Then, within your user_error_fn or user_warning_fn, you can retrieve
4311 the error_ptr if you need it, by calling
4313 png_voidp error_ptr = png_get_error_ptr(png_ptr);
4315 The motivation behind using setjmp() and longjmp() is the C++ throw and
4316 catch exception handling methods. This makes the code much easier to write,
4317 as there is no need to check every return code of every function call.
4318 However, there are some uncertainties about the status of local variables
4319 after a longjmp, so the user may want to be careful about doing anything
4320 after setjmp returns non-zero besides returning itself. Consult your
4321 compiler documentation for more details. For an alternative approach, you
4322 may wish to use the "cexcept" facility (see https://cexcept.sourceforge.io/),
4323 which is illustrated in pngvalid.c and in contrib/visupng.
4325 Beginning in libpng-1.4.0, the png_set_benign_errors() API became available.
4326 You can use this to handle certain errors (normally handled as errors)
4329 png_set_benign_errors (png_ptr, int allowed);
4331 allowed: 0: treat png_benign_error() as an error.
4332 1: treat png_benign_error() as a warning.
4334 As of libpng-1.6.0, the default condition is to treat benign errors as
4335 warnings while reading and as errors while writing.
4339 If you need to read or write custom chunks, you may need to get deeper
4340 into the libpng code. The library now has mechanisms for storing
4341 and writing chunks of unknown type; you can even declare callbacks
4342 for custom chunks. However, this may not be good enough if the
4343 library code itself needs to know about interactions between your
4344 chunk and existing `intrinsic' chunks.
4346 If you need to write a new intrinsic chunk, first read the PNG
4347 specification. Acquire a first level of understanding of how it works.
4348 Pay particular attention to the sections that describe chunk names,
4349 and look at how other chunks were designed, so you can do things
4350 similarly. Second, check out the sections of libpng that read and
4351 write chunks. Try to find a chunk that is similar to yours and use
4352 it as a template. More details can be found in the comments inside
4353 the code. It is best to handle private or unknown chunks in a generic method,
4354 via callback functions, instead of by modifying libpng functions. This
4355 is illustrated in pngtest.c, which uses a callback function to handle a
4356 private "vpAg" chunk and the new "sTER" chunk, which are both unknown to
4359 If you wish to write your own transformation for the data, look through
4360 the part of the code that does the transformations, and check out some of
4361 the simpler ones to get an idea of how they work. Try to find a similar
4362 transformation to the one you want to add and copy off of it. More details
4363 can be found in the comments inside the code itself.
4365 Configuring for gui/windowing platforms:
4367 You will need to write new error and warning functions that use the GUI
4368 interface, as described previously, and set them to be the error and
4369 warning functions at the time that png_create_*_struct() is called,
4370 in order to have them available during the structure initialization.
4371 They can be changed later via png_set_error_fn(). On some compilers,
4372 you may also have to change the memory allocators (png_malloc, etc.).
4376 There are special functions to configure the compression. Perhaps the
4377 most useful one changes the compression level, which currently uses
4378 input compression values in the range 0 - 9. The library normally
4379 uses the default compression level (Z_DEFAULT_COMPRESSION = 6). Tests
4380 have shown that for a large majority of images, compression values in
4381 the range 3-6 compress nearly as well as higher levels, and do so much
4382 faster. For online applications it may be desirable to have maximum speed
4383 (Z_BEST_SPEED = 1). With versions of zlib after v0.99, you can also
4384 specify no compression (Z_NO_COMPRESSION = 0), but this would create
4385 files larger than just storing the raw bitmap. You can specify the
4386 compression level by calling:
4389 png_set_compression_level(png_ptr, level);
4391 Another useful one is to reduce the memory level used by the library.
4392 The memory level defaults to 8, but it can be lowered if you are
4393 short on memory (running DOS, for example, where you only have 640K).
4394 Note that the memory level does have an effect on compression; among
4395 other things, lower levels will result in sections of incompressible
4396 data being emitted in smaller stored blocks, with a correspondingly
4397 larger relative overhead of up to 15% in the worst case.
4400 png_set_compression_mem_level(png_ptr, level);
4402 The other functions are for configuring zlib. They are not recommended
4403 for normal use and may result in writing an invalid PNG file. See
4404 zlib.h for more information on what these mean.
4407 png_set_compression_strategy(png_ptr,
4410 png_set_compression_window_bits(png_ptr,
4413 png_set_compression_method(png_ptr, method);
4415 This controls the size of the IDAT chunks (default 8192):
4417 png_set_compression_buffer_size(png_ptr, size);
4419 As of libpng version 1.5.4, additional APIs became
4420 available to set these separately for non-IDAT
4421 compressed chunks such as zTXt, iTXt, and iCCP:
4424 #if PNG_LIBPNG_VER >= 10504
4425 png_set_text_compression_level(png_ptr, level);
4427 png_set_text_compression_mem_level(png_ptr, level);
4429 png_set_text_compression_strategy(png_ptr,
4432 png_set_text_compression_window_bits(png_ptr,
4435 png_set_text_compression_method(png_ptr, method);
4438 Controlling row filtering
4440 If you want to control whether libpng uses filtering or not, which
4441 filters are used, and how it goes about picking row filters, you
4442 can call one of these functions. The selection and configuration
4443 of row filters can have a significant impact on the size and
4444 encoding speed and a somewhat lesser impact on the decoding speed
4445 of an image. Filtering is enabled by default for RGB and grayscale
4446 images (with and without alpha), but not for paletted images nor
4447 for any images with bit depths less than 8 bits/pixel.
4449 The 'method' parameter sets the main filtering method, which is
4450 currently only '0' in the PNG 1.2 specification. The 'filters'
4451 parameter sets which filter(s), if any, should be used for each
4452 scanline. Possible values are PNG_ALL_FILTERS, PNG_NO_FILTERS,
4453 or PNG_FAST_FILTERS to turn filtering on and off, or to turn on
4454 just the fast-decoding subset of filters, respectively.
4456 Individual filter types are PNG_FILTER_NONE, PNG_FILTER_SUB,
4457 PNG_FILTER_UP, PNG_FILTER_AVG, PNG_FILTER_PAETH, which can be bitwise
4458 ORed together with '|' to specify one or more filters to use.
4459 These filters are described in more detail in the PNG specification.
4460 If you intend to change the filter type during the course of writing
4461 the image, you should start with flags set for all of the filters
4462 you intend to use so that libpng can initialize its internal
4463 structures appropriately for all of the filter types. (Note that this
4464 means the first row must always be adaptively filtered, because libpng
4465 currently does not allocate the filter buffers until png_write_row()
4466 is called for the first time.)
4468 filters = PNG_NO_FILTERS;
4469 filters = PNG_ALL_FILTERS;
4470 filters = PNG_FAST_FILTERS;
4474 filters = PNG_FILTER_NONE | PNG_FILTER_SUB |
4475 PNG_FILTER_UP | PNG_FILTER_AVG |
4478 png_set_filter(png_ptr, PNG_FILTER_TYPE_BASE,
4481 The second parameter can also be
4482 PNG_INTRAPIXEL_DIFFERENCING if you are
4483 writing a PNG to be embedded in a MNG
4484 datastream. This parameter must be the
4485 same as the value of filter_method used
4488 Requesting debug printout
4490 The macro definition PNG_DEBUG can be used to request debugging
4491 printout. Set it to an integer value in the range 0 to 3. Higher
4492 numbers result in increasing amounts of debugging information. The
4493 information is printed to the "stderr" file, unless another file
4494 name is specified in the PNG_DEBUG_FILE macro definition.
4496 When PNG_DEBUG > 0, the following functions (macros) become available:
4498 png_debug(level, message)
4499 png_debug1(level, message, p1)
4500 png_debug2(level, message, p1, p2)
4502 in which "level" is compared to PNG_DEBUG to decide whether to print
4503 the message, "message" is the formatted string to be printed,
4504 and p1 and p2 are parameters that are to be embedded in the string
4505 according to printf-style formatting directives. For example,
4507 png_debug1(2, "foo=%d", foo);
4512 fprintf(PNG_DEBUG_FILE, "foo=%d\n", foo);
4514 When PNG_DEBUG is defined but is zero, the macros aren't defined, but you
4515 can still use PNG_DEBUG to control your own debugging:
4521 When PNG_DEBUG = 1, the macros are defined, but only png_debug statements
4522 having level = 0 will be printed. There aren't any such statements in
4523 this version of libpng, but if you insert some they will be printed.
4527 The MNG specification (available at http://www.libpng.org/pub/mng) allows
4528 certain extensions to PNG for PNG images that are embedded in MNG datastreams.
4529 Libpng can support some of these extensions. To enable them, use the
4530 png_permit_mng_features() function:
4532 feature_set = png_permit_mng_features(png_ptr, mask)
4534 mask is a png_uint_32 containing the bitwise OR of the
4535 features you want to enable. These include
4536 PNG_FLAG_MNG_EMPTY_PLTE
4537 PNG_FLAG_MNG_FILTER_64
4538 PNG_ALL_MNG_FEATURES
4540 feature_set is a png_uint_32 that is the bitwise AND of
4541 your mask with the set of MNG features that is
4542 supported by the version of libpng that you are using.
4544 It is an error to use this function when reading or writing a standalone
4545 PNG file with the PNG 8-byte signature. The PNG datastream must be wrapped
4546 in a MNG datastream. As a minimum, it must have the MNG 8-byte signature
4547 and the MHDR and MEND chunks. Libpng does not provide support for these
4548 or any other MNG chunks; your application must provide its own support for
4549 them. You may wish to consider using libmng (available at
4550 https://www.libmng.com/) instead.
4552 VIII. Changes to Libpng from version 0.88
4554 It should be noted that versions of libpng later than 0.96 are not
4555 distributed by the original libpng author, Guy Schalnat, nor by
4556 Andreas Dilger, who had taken over from Guy during 1996 and 1997, and
4557 distributed versions 0.89 through 0.96, but rather by another member
4558 of the original PNG Group, Glenn Randers-Pehrson. Guy and Andreas are
4559 still alive and well, but they have moved on to other things.
4561 The old libpng functions png_read_init(), png_write_init(),
4562 png_info_init(), png_read_destroy(), and png_write_destroy() have been
4563 moved to PNG_INTERNAL in version 0.95 to discourage their use. These
4564 functions will be removed from libpng version 1.4.0.
4566 The preferred method of creating and initializing the libpng structures is
4567 via the png_create_read_struct(), png_create_write_struct(), and
4568 png_create_info_struct() because they isolate the size of the structures
4569 from the application, allow version error checking, and also allow the
4570 use of custom error handling routines during the initialization, which
4571 the old functions do not. The functions png_read_destroy() and
4572 png_write_destroy() do not actually free the memory that libpng
4573 allocated for these structs, but just reset the data structures, so they
4574 can be used instead of png_destroy_read_struct() and
4575 png_destroy_write_struct() if you feel there is too much system overhead
4576 allocating and freeing the png_struct for each image read.
4578 Setting the error callbacks via png_set_message_fn() before
4579 png_read_init() as was suggested in libpng-0.88 is no longer supported
4580 because this caused applications that do not use custom error functions
4581 to fail if the png_ptr was not initialized to zero. It is still possible
4582 to set the error callbacks AFTER png_read_init(), or to change them with
4583 png_set_error_fn(), which is essentially the same function, but with a new
4584 name to force compilation errors with applications that try to use the old
4587 Support for the sCAL, iCCP, iTXt, and sPLT chunks was added at libpng-1.0.6;
4588 however, iTXt support was not enabled by default.
4590 Starting with version 1.0.7, you can find out which version of the library
4591 you are using at run-time:
4593 png_uint_32 libpng_vn = png_access_version_number();
4595 The number libpng_vn is constructed from the major version, minor
4596 version with leading zero, and release number with leading zero,
4597 (e.g., libpng_vn for version 1.0.7 is 10007).
4599 Note that this function does not take a png_ptr, so you can call it
4600 before you've created one.
4602 You can also check which version of png.h you used when compiling your
4605 png_uint_32 application_vn = PNG_LIBPNG_VER;
4607 IX. Changes to Libpng from version 1.0.x to 1.2.x
4609 Support for user memory management was enabled by default. To
4610 accomplish this, the functions png_create_read_struct_2(),
4611 png_create_write_struct_2(), png_set_mem_fn(), png_get_mem_ptr(),
4612 png_malloc_default(), and png_free_default() were added.
4614 Support for the iTXt chunk has been enabled by default as of
4617 Support for certain MNG features was enabled.
4619 Support for numbered error messages was added. However, we never got
4620 around to actually numbering the error messages. The function
4621 png_set_strip_error_numbers() was added (Note: the prototype for this
4622 function was inadvertently removed from png.h in PNG_NO_ASSEMBLER_CODE
4623 builds of libpng-1.2.15. It was restored in libpng-1.2.36).
4625 The png_malloc_warn() function was added at libpng-1.2.3. This issues
4626 a png_warning and returns NULL instead of aborting when it fails to
4627 acquire the requested memory allocation.
4629 Support for setting user limits on image width and height was enabled
4630 by default. The functions png_set_user_limits(), png_get_user_width_max(),
4631 and png_get_user_height_max() were added at libpng-1.2.6.
4633 The png_set_add_alpha() function was added at libpng-1.2.7.
4635 The function png_set_expand_gray_1_2_4_to_8() was added at libpng-1.2.9.
4636 Unlike png_set_gray_1_2_4_to_8(), the new function does not expand the
4637 tRNS chunk to alpha. The png_set_gray_1_2_4_to_8() function is
4640 A number of macro definitions in support of runtime selection of
4641 assembler code features (especially Intel MMX code support) were
4642 added at libpng-1.2.0:
4644 PNG_ASM_FLAG_MMX_SUPPORT_COMPILED
4645 PNG_ASM_FLAG_MMX_SUPPORT_IN_CPU
4646 PNG_ASM_FLAG_MMX_READ_COMBINE_ROW
4647 PNG_ASM_FLAG_MMX_READ_INTERLACE
4648 PNG_ASM_FLAG_MMX_READ_FILTER_SUB
4649 PNG_ASM_FLAG_MMX_READ_FILTER_UP
4650 PNG_ASM_FLAG_MMX_READ_FILTER_AVG
4651 PNG_ASM_FLAG_MMX_READ_FILTER_PAETH
4652 PNG_ASM_FLAGS_INITIALIZED
4658 We added the following functions in support of runtime
4659 selection of assembler code features:
4661 png_get_mmx_flagmask()
4662 png_set_mmx_thresholds()
4664 png_get_mmx_bitdepth_threshold()
4665 png_get_mmx_rowbytes_threshold()
4668 We replaced all of these functions with simple stubs in libpng-1.2.20,
4669 when the Intel assembler code was removed due to a licensing issue.
4671 These macros are deprecated:
4673 PNG_READ_TRANSFORMS_NOT_SUPPORTED
4674 PNG_PROGRESSIVE_READ_NOT_SUPPORTED
4675 PNG_NO_SEQUENTIAL_READ_SUPPORTED
4676 PNG_WRITE_TRANSFORMS_NOT_SUPPORTED
4677 PNG_READ_ANCILLARY_CHUNKS_NOT_SUPPORTED
4678 PNG_WRITE_ANCILLARY_CHUNKS_NOT_SUPPORTED
4680 They have been replaced, respectively, by:
4682 PNG_NO_READ_TRANSFORMS
4683 PNG_NO_PROGRESSIVE_READ
4684 PNG_NO_SEQUENTIAL_READ
4685 PNG_NO_WRITE_TRANSFORMS
4686 PNG_NO_READ_ANCILLARY_CHUNKS
4687 PNG_NO_WRITE_ANCILLARY_CHUNKS
4689 PNG_MAX_UINT was replaced with PNG_UINT_31_MAX. It has been
4690 deprecated since libpng-1.0.16 and libpng-1.2.6.
4693 png_check_sig(sig, num)
4695 !png_sig_cmp(sig, 0, num)
4696 It has been deprecated since libpng-0.90.
4699 png_set_gray_1_2_4_to_8()
4700 which also expands tRNS to alpha was replaced with
4701 png_set_expand_gray_1_2_4_to_8()
4702 which does not. It has been deprecated since libpng-1.0.18 and 1.2.9.
4704 X. Changes to Libpng from version 1.0.x/1.2.x to 1.4.x
4706 Private libpng prototypes and macro definitions were moved from
4707 png.h and pngconf.h into a new pngpriv.h header file.
4709 Functions png_set_benign_errors(), png_benign_error(), and
4710 png_chunk_benign_error() were added.
4712 Support for setting the maximum amount of memory that the application
4713 will allocate for reading chunks was added, as a security measure.
4714 The functions png_set_chunk_cache_max() and png_get_chunk_cache_max()
4715 were added to the library.
4717 We implemented support for I/O states by adding png_ptr member io_state
4718 and functions png_get_io_chunk_name() and png_get_io_state() in pngget.c
4720 We added PNG_TRANSFORM_GRAY_TO_RGB to the available high-level
4723 Checking for and reporting of errors in the IHDR chunk is more thorough.
4725 Support for global arrays was removed, to improve thread safety.
4727 Some obsolete/deprecated macros and functions have been removed.
4729 Typecasted NULL definitions such as
4730 #define png_voidp_NULL (png_voidp)NULL
4731 were eliminated. If you used these in your application, just use
4734 The png_struct and info_struct members "trans" and "trans_values" were
4735 changed to "trans_alpha" and "trans_color", respectively.
4737 The obsolete, unused pnggccrd.c and pngvcrd.c files and related makefiles
4740 The PNG_1_0_X and PNG_1_2_X macros were eliminated.
4742 The PNG_LEGACY_SUPPORTED macro was eliminated.
4744 Many WIN32_WCE #ifdefs were removed.
4746 The functions png_read_init(info_ptr), png_write_init(info_ptr),
4747 png_info_init(info_ptr), png_read_destroy(), and png_write_destroy()
4748 have been removed. They have been deprecated since libpng-0.95.
4750 The png_permit_empty_plte() was removed. It has been deprecated
4751 since libpng-1.0.9. Use png_permit_mng_features() instead.
4753 We removed the obsolete stub functions png_get_mmx_flagmask(),
4754 png_set_mmx_thresholds(), png_get_asm_flags(),
4755 png_get_mmx_bitdepth_threshold(), png_get_mmx_rowbytes_threshold(),
4756 png_set_asm_flags(), and png_mmx_supported()
4758 We removed the obsolete png_check_sig(), png_memcpy_check(), and
4759 png_memset_check() functions. Instead use !png_sig_cmp(), memcpy(),
4760 and memset(), respectively.
4762 The function png_set_gray_1_2_4_to_8() was removed. It has been
4763 deprecated since libpng-1.0.18 and 1.2.9, when it was replaced with
4764 png_set_expand_gray_1_2_4_to_8() because the former function also
4765 expanded any tRNS chunk to an alpha channel.
4767 Macros for png_get_uint_16, png_get_uint_32, and png_get_int_32
4768 were added and are used by default instead of the corresponding
4769 functions. Unfortunately,
4770 from libpng-1.4.0 until 1.4.4, the png_get_uint_16 macro (but not the
4771 function) incorrectly returned a value of type png_uint_32.
4773 We changed the prototype for png_malloc() from
4774 png_malloc(png_structp png_ptr, png_uint_32 size)
4776 png_malloc(png_structp png_ptr, png_alloc_size_t size)
4778 This also applies to the prototype for the user replacement malloc_fn().
4780 The png_calloc() function was added and is used in place of
4781 of "png_malloc(); memset();" except in the case in png_read_png()
4782 where the array consists of pointers; in this case a "for" loop is used
4783 after the png_malloc() to set the pointers to NULL, to give robust.
4784 behavior in case the application runs out of memory part-way through
4787 We changed the prototypes of png_get_compression_buffer_size() and
4788 png_set_compression_buffer_size() to work with size_t instead of
4791 Support for numbered error messages was removed by default, since we
4792 never got around to actually numbering the error messages. The function
4793 png_set_strip_error_numbers() was removed from the library by default.
4795 The png_zalloc() and png_zfree() functions are no longer exported.
4796 The png_zalloc() function no longer zeroes out the memory that it
4797 allocates. Applications that called png_zalloc(png_ptr, number, size)
4798 can call png_calloc(png_ptr, number*size) instead, and can call
4799 png_free() instead of png_zfree().
4801 Support for dithering was disabled by default in libpng-1.4.0, because
4802 it has not been well tested and doesn't actually "dither".
4804 removed, however, and could be enabled by building libpng with
4805 PNG_READ_DITHER_SUPPORTED defined. In libpng-1.4.2, this support
4806 was re-enabled, but the function was renamed png_set_quantize() to
4807 reflect more accurately what it actually does. At the same time,
4808 the PNG_DITHER_[RED,GREEN_BLUE]_BITS macros were also renamed to
4809 PNG_QUANTIZE_[RED,GREEN,BLUE]_BITS, and PNG_READ_DITHER_SUPPORTED
4810 was renamed to PNG_READ_QUANTIZE_SUPPORTED.
4812 We removed the trailing '.' from the warning and error messages.
4814 XI. Changes to Libpng from version 1.4.x to 1.5.x
4816 From libpng-1.4.0 until 1.4.4, the png_get_uint_16 macro (but not the
4817 function) incorrectly returned a value of type png_uint_32.
4818 The incorrect macro was removed from libpng-1.4.5.
4820 Checking for invalid palette index on write was added at libpng
4821 1.5.10. If a pixel contains an invalid (out-of-range) index libpng issues
4822 a benign error. This is enabled by default because this condition is an
4823 error according to the PNG specification, Clause 11.3.2, but the error can
4824 be ignored in each png_ptr with
4826 png_set_check_for_invalid_index(png_ptr, allowed);
4829 0: disable benign error (accept the
4830 invalid data without warning).
4831 1: enable benign error (treat the
4832 invalid data as an error or a
4835 If the error is ignored, or if png_benign_error() treats it as a warning,
4836 any invalid pixels are decoded as opaque black by the decoder and written
4837 as-is by the encoder.
4839 Retrieving the maximum palette index found was added at libpng-1.5.15.
4840 This statement must appear after png_read_png() or png_read_image() while
4841 reading, and after png_write_png() or png_write_image() while writing.
4843 int max_palette = png_get_palette_max(png_ptr, info_ptr);
4845 This will return the maximum palette index found in the image, or "-1" if
4846 the palette was not checked, or "0" if no palette was found. Note that this
4847 does not account for any palette index used by ancillary chunks such as the
4848 bKGD chunk; you must check those separately to determine the maximum
4849 palette index actually used.
4851 There are no substantial API changes between the non-deprecated parts of
4852 the 1.4.5 API and the 1.5.0 API; however, the ability to directly access
4853 members of the main libpng control structures, png_struct and png_info,
4854 deprecated in earlier versions of libpng, has been completely removed from
4855 libpng 1.5, and new private "pngstruct.h", "pnginfo.h", and "pngdebug.h"
4856 header files were created.
4858 We no longer include zlib.h in png.h. The include statement has been moved
4859 to pngstruct.h, where it is not accessible by applications. Applications that
4860 need access to information in zlib.h will need to add the '#include "zlib.h"'
4861 directive. It does not matter whether this is placed prior to or after
4862 the '"#include png.h"' directive.
4864 The png_sprintf(), png_strcpy(), and png_strncpy() macros are no longer used
4867 We moved the png_strlen(), png_memcpy(), png_memset(), and png_memcmp()
4868 macros into a private header file (pngpriv.h) that is not accessible to
4871 In png_get_iCCP, the type of "profile" was changed from png_charpp
4872 to png_bytepp, and in png_set_iCCP, from png_charp to png_const_bytep.
4874 There are changes of form in png.h, including new and changed macros to
4875 declare parts of the API. Some API functions with arguments that are
4876 pointers to data not modified within the function have been corrected to
4877 declare these arguments with const.
4879 Much of the internal use of C macros to control the library build has also
4880 changed and some of this is visible in the exported header files, in
4881 particular the use of macros to control data and API elements visible
4882 during application compilation may require significant revision to
4883 application code. (It is extremely rare for an application to do this.)
4885 Any program that compiled against libpng 1.4 and did not use deprecated
4886 features or access internal library structures should compile and work
4887 against libpng 1.5, except for the change in the prototype for
4888 png_get_iCCP() and png_set_iCCP() API functions mentioned above.
4890 libpng 1.5.0 adds PNG_ PASS macros to help in the reading and writing of
4891 interlaced images. The macros return the number of rows and columns in
4892 each pass and information that can be used to de-interlace and (if
4893 absolutely necessary) interlace an image.
4895 libpng 1.5.0 adds an API png_longjmp(png_ptr, value). This API calls
4896 the application-provided png_longjmp_ptr on the internal, but application
4897 initialized, longjmp buffer. It is provided as a convenience to avoid
4898 the need to use the png_jmpbuf macro, which had the unnecessary side
4899 effect of resetting the internal png_longjmp_ptr value.
4901 libpng 1.5.0 includes a complete fixed point API. By default this is
4902 present along with the corresponding floating point API. In general the
4903 fixed point API is faster and smaller than the floating point one because
4904 the PNG file format used fixed point, not floating point. This applies
4905 even if the library uses floating point in internal calculations. A new
4906 macro, PNG_FLOATING_ARITHMETIC_SUPPORTED, reveals whether the library
4907 uses floating point arithmetic (the default) or fixed point arithmetic
4908 internally for performance critical calculations such as gamma correction.
4909 In some cases, the gamma calculations may produce slightly different
4910 results. This has changed the results in png_rgb_to_gray and in alpha
4911 composition (png_set_background for example). This applies even if the
4912 original image was already linear (gamma == 1.0) and, therefore, it is
4913 not necessary to linearize the image. This is because libpng has *not*
4914 been changed to optimize that case correctly, yet.
4916 Fixed point support for the sCAL chunk comes with an important caveat;
4917 the sCAL specification uses a decimal encoding of floating point values
4918 and the accuracy of PNG fixed point values is insufficient for
4919 representation of these values. Consequently a "string" API
4920 (png_get_sCAL_s and png_set_sCAL_s) is the only reliable way of reading
4921 arbitrary sCAL chunks in the absence of either the floating point API or
4922 internal floating point calculations. Starting with libpng-1.5.0, both
4923 of these functions are present when PNG_sCAL_SUPPORTED is defined. Prior
4924 to libpng-1.5.0, their presence also depended upon PNG_FIXED_POINT_SUPPORTED
4925 being defined and PNG_FLOATING_POINT_SUPPORTED not being defined.
4927 Applications no longer need to include the optional distribution header
4928 file pngusr.h or define the corresponding macros during application
4929 build in order to see the correct variant of the libpng API. From 1.5.0
4930 application code can check for the corresponding _SUPPORTED macro:
4932 #ifdef PNG_INCH_CONVERSIONS_SUPPORTED
4933 /* code that uses the inch conversion APIs. */
4936 This macro will only be defined if the inch conversion functions have been
4937 compiled into libpng. The full set of macros, and whether or not support
4938 has been compiled in, are available in the header file pnglibconf.h.
4939 This header file is specific to the libpng build. Notice that prior to
4940 1.5.0 the _SUPPORTED macros would always have the default definition unless
4941 reset by pngusr.h or by explicit settings on the compiler command line.
4942 These settings may produce compiler warnings or errors in 1.5.0 because
4943 of macro redefinition.
4945 Applications can now choose whether to use these macros or to call the
4946 corresponding function by defining PNG_USE_READ_MACROS or
4947 PNG_NO_USE_READ_MACROS before including png.h. Notice that this is
4948 only supported from 1.5.0; defining PNG_NO_USE_READ_MACROS prior to 1.5.0
4949 will lead to a link failure.
4951 Prior to libpng-1.5.4, the zlib compressor used the same set of parameters
4952 when compressing the IDAT data and textual data such as zTXt and iCCP.
4953 In libpng-1.5.4 we reinitialized the zlib stream for each type of data.
4954 We added five png_set_text_*() functions for setting the parameters to
4955 use with textual data.
4957 Prior to libpng-1.5.4, the PNG_READ_16_TO_8_ACCURATE_SCALE_SUPPORTED
4958 option was off by default, and slightly inaccurate scaling occurred.
4959 This option can no longer be turned off, and the choice of accurate
4960 or inaccurate 16-to-8 scaling is by using the new png_set_scale_16_to_8()
4961 API for accurate scaling or the old png_set_strip_16_to_8() API for simple
4962 chopping. In libpng-1.5.4, the PNG_READ_16_TO_8_ACCURATE_SCALE_SUPPORTED
4963 macro became PNG_READ_SCALE_16_TO_8_SUPPORTED, and the PNG_READ_16_TO_8
4964 macro became PNG_READ_STRIP_16_TO_8_SUPPORTED, to enable the two
4965 png_set_*_16_to_8() functions separately.
4967 Prior to libpng-1.5.4, the png_set_user_limits() function could only be
4968 used to reduce the width and height limits from the value of
4969 PNG_USER_WIDTH_MAX and PNG_USER_HEIGHT_MAX, although this document said
4970 that it could be used to override them. Now this function will reduce or
4971 increase the limits.
4973 Starting in libpng-1.5.22, default user limits were established. These
4974 can be overridden by application calls to png_set_user_limits(),
4975 png_set_user_chunk_cache_max(), and/or png_set_user_malloc_max().
4977 max possible default
4978 png_user_width_max 0x7fffffff 1,000,000
4979 png_user_height_max 0x7fffffff 1,000,000
4980 png_user_chunk_cache_max 0 (unlimited) 1000
4981 png_user_chunk_malloc_max 0 (unlimited) 8,000,000
4983 The png_set_option() function (and the "options" member of the png struct) was
4984 added to libpng-1.5.15, with option PNG_ARM_NEON.
4986 The library now supports a complete fixed point implementation and can
4987 thus be used on systems that have no floating point support or very
4988 limited or slow support. Previously gamma correction, an essential part
4989 of complete PNG support, required reasonably fast floating point.
4991 As part of this the choice of internal implementation has been made
4992 independent of the choice of fixed versus floating point APIs and all the
4993 missing fixed point APIs have been implemented.
4995 The exact mechanism used to control attributes of API functions has
4996 changed, as described in the INSTALL file.
4998 A new test program, pngvalid, is provided in addition to pngtest.
4999 pngvalid validates the arithmetic accuracy of the gamma correction
5000 calculations and includes a number of validations of the file format.
5001 A subset of the full range of tests is run when "make check" is done
5002 (in the 'configure' build.) pngvalid also allows total allocated memory
5003 usage to be evaluated and performs additional memory overwrite validation.
5005 Many changes to individual feature macros have been made. The following
5006 are the changes most likely to be noticed by library builders who
5009 1) All feature macros now have consistent naming:
5011 #define PNG_NO_feature turns the feature off
5012 #define PNG_feature_SUPPORTED turns the feature on
5014 pnglibconf.h contains one line for each feature macro which is either:
5016 #define PNG_feature_SUPPORTED
5018 if the feature is supported or:
5020 /*#undef PNG_feature_SUPPORTED*/
5022 if it is not. Library code consistently checks for the 'SUPPORTED' macro.
5023 It does not, and libpng applications should not, check for the 'NO' macro
5024 which will not normally be defined even if the feature is not supported.
5025 The 'NO' macros are only used internally for setting or not setting the
5026 corresponding 'SUPPORTED' macros.
5028 Compatibility with the old names is provided as follows:
5030 PNG_INCH_CONVERSIONS turns on PNG_INCH_CONVERSIONS_SUPPORTED
5032 And the following definitions disable the corresponding feature:
5034 PNG_SETJMP_NOT_SUPPORTED disables SETJMP
5035 PNG_READ_TRANSFORMS_NOT_SUPPORTED disables READ_TRANSFORMS
5036 PNG_NO_READ_COMPOSITED_NODIV disables READ_COMPOSITE_NODIV
5037 PNG_WRITE_TRANSFORMS_NOT_SUPPORTED disables WRITE_TRANSFORMS
5038 PNG_READ_ANCILLARY_CHUNKS_NOT_SUPPORTED disables READ_ANCILLARY_CHUNKS
5039 PNG_WRITE_ANCILLARY_CHUNKS_NOT_SUPPORTED disables WRITE_ANCILLARY_CHUNKS
5041 Library builders should remove use of the above, inconsistent, names.
5043 2) Warning and error message formatting was previously conditional on
5044 the STDIO feature. The library has been changed to use the
5045 CONSOLE_IO feature instead. This means that if CONSOLE_IO is disabled
5046 the library no longer uses the printf(3) functions, even though the
5047 default read/write implementations use (FILE) style stdio.h functions.
5049 3) Three feature macros now control the fixed/floating point decisions:
5051 PNG_FLOATING_POINT_SUPPORTED enables the floating point APIs
5053 PNG_FIXED_POINT_SUPPORTED enables the fixed point APIs; however, in
5054 practice these are normally required internally anyway (because the PNG
5055 file format is fixed point), therefore in most cases PNG_NO_FIXED_POINT
5056 merely stops the function from being exported.
5058 PNG_FLOATING_ARITHMETIC_SUPPORTED chooses between the internal floating
5059 point implementation or the fixed point one. Typically the fixed point
5060 implementation is larger and slower than the floating point implementation
5061 on a system that supports floating point; however, it may be faster on a
5062 system which lacks floating point hardware and therefore uses a software
5065 4) Added PNG_{READ,WRITE}_INT_FUNCTIONS_SUPPORTED. This allows the
5066 functions to read and write ints to be disabled independently of
5067 PNG_USE_READ_MACROS, which allows libpng to be built with the functions
5068 even though the default is to use the macros - this allows applications
5069 to choose at app buildtime whether or not to use macros (previously
5070 impossible because the functions weren't in the default build.)
5072 XII. Changes to Libpng from version 1.5.x to 1.6.x
5074 A "simplified API" has been added (see documentation in png.h and a simple
5075 example in contrib/examples/pngtopng.c). The new publicly visible API
5076 includes the following:
5085 png_image_begin_read_from_file()
5086 png_image_begin_read_from_stdio()
5087 png_image_begin_read_from_memory()
5088 png_image_finish_read()
5091 png_image_write_to_file()
5092 png_image_write_to_memory()
5093 png_image_write_to_stdio()
5095 Starting with libpng-1.6.0, you can configure libpng to prefix all exported
5096 symbols, using the PNG_PREFIX macro.
5098 We no longer include string.h in png.h. The include statement has been moved
5099 to pngpriv.h, where it is not accessible by applications. Applications that
5100 need access to information in string.h must add an '#include <string.h>'
5101 directive. It does not matter whether this is placed prior to or after
5102 the '#include "png.h"' directive.
5104 The following API are now DEPRECATED:
5106 png_convert_to_rfc1123() which has been replaced
5107 with png_convert_to_rfc1123_buffer()
5108 png_malloc_default()
5112 The following have been removed:
5113 png_get_io_chunk_name(), which has been replaced
5114 with png_get_io_chunk_type(). The new
5115 function returns a 32-bit integer instead of
5117 The png_sizeof(), png_strlen(), png_memcpy(), png_memcmp(), and
5118 png_memset() macros are no longer used in the libpng sources and
5119 have been removed. These had already been made invisible to applications
5120 (i.e., defined in the private pngpriv.h header file) since libpng-1.5.0.
5122 The signatures of many exported functions were changed, such that
5123 png_structp became png_structrp or png_const_structrp
5124 png_infop became png_inforp or png_const_inforp
5125 where "rp" indicates a "restricted pointer".
5127 Dropped support for 16-bit platforms. The support for FAR/far types has
5128 been eliminated and the definition of png_alloc_size_t is now controlled
5129 by a flag so that 'small size_t' systems can select it if necessary.
5131 Error detection in some chunks has improved; in particular the iCCP chunk
5132 reader now does pretty complete validation of the basic format. Some bad
5133 profiles that were previously accepted are now accepted with a warning or
5134 rejected, depending upon the png_set_benign_errors() setting, in particular
5135 the very old broken Microsoft/HP 3144-byte sRGB profile. Starting with
5136 libpng-1.6.11, recognizing and checking sRGB profiles can be avoided by
5139 #if defined(PNG_SKIP_sRGB_CHECK_PROFILE) && \
5140 defined(PNG_SET_OPTION_SUPPORTED)
5141 png_set_option(png_ptr, PNG_SKIP_sRGB_CHECK_PROFILE,
5145 It's not a good idea to do this if you are using the "simplified API",
5146 which needs to be able to recognize sRGB profiles conveyed via the iCCP
5149 The PNG spec requirement that only grayscale profiles may appear in images
5150 with color type 0 or 4 and that even if the image only contains gray pixels,
5151 only RGB profiles may appear in images with color type 2, 3, or 6, is now
5152 enforced. The sRGB chunk is allowed to appear in images with any color type
5153 and is interpreted by libpng to convey a one-tracer-curve gray profile or a
5154 three-tracer-curve RGB profile as appropriate.
5156 Libpng 1.5.x erroneously used /MD for Debug DLL builds; if you used the debug
5157 builds in your app and you changed your app to use /MD you will need to
5158 change it back to /MDd for libpng 1.6.x.
5160 Prior to libpng-1.6.0 a warning would be issued if the iTXt chunk contained
5161 an empty language field or an empty translated keyword. Both of these
5162 are allowed by the PNG specification, so these warnings are no longer issued.
5164 The library now issues an error if the application attempts to set a
5165 transform after it calls png_read_update_info() or if it attempts to call
5166 both png_read_update_info() and png_start_read_image() or to call either
5167 of them more than once.
5169 The default condition for benign_errors is now to treat benign errors as
5170 warnings while reading and as errors while writing.
5172 The library now issues a warning if both background processing and RGB to
5173 gray are used when gamma correction happens. As with previous versions of
5174 the library the results are numerically very incorrect in this case.
5176 There are some minor arithmetic changes in some transforms such as
5177 png_set_background(), that might be detected by certain regression tests.
5179 Unknown chunk handling has been improved internally, without any API change.
5180 This adds more correct option control of the unknown handling, corrects
5181 a pre-existing bug where the per-chunk 'keep' setting is ignored, and makes
5182 it possible to skip IDAT chunks in the sequential reader.
5184 The machine-generated configure files are no longer included in branches
5185 libpng16 and later of the GIT repository. They continue to be included
5186 in the tarball releases, however.
5188 Libpng-1.6.0 through 1.6.2 used the CMF bytes at the beginning of the IDAT
5189 stream to set the size of the sliding window for reading instead of using the
5190 default 32-kbyte sliding window size. It was discovered that there are
5191 hundreds of PNG files in the wild that have incorrect CMF bytes that caused
5192 zlib to issue the "invalid distance too far back" error and reject the file.
5193 Libpng-1.6.3 and later calculate their own safe CMF from the image dimensions,
5194 provide a way to revert to the libpng-1.5.x behavior (ignoring the CMF bytes
5195 and using a 32-kbyte sliding window), by using
5197 png_set_option(png_ptr, PNG_MAXIMUM_INFLATE_WINDOW,
5200 and provide a tool (contrib/tools/pngfix) for rewriting a PNG file while
5201 optimizing the CMF bytes in its IDAT chunk correctly.
5203 Libpng-1.6.0 and libpng-1.6.1 wrote uncompressed iTXt chunks with the wrong
5204 length, which resulted in PNG files that cannot be read beyond the bad iTXt
5205 chunk. This error was fixed in libpng-1.6.3, and a tool (called
5206 contrib/tools/png-fix-itxt) has been added to the libpng distribution.
5208 Starting with libpng-1.6.17, the PNG_SAFE_LIMITS macro was eliminated
5209 and safe limits are used by default (users who need larger limits
5210 can still override them at compile time or run time, as described above).
5214 png_user_width_max 1,000,000 2,147,483,647
5215 png_user_height_max 1,000,000 2,147,483,647
5216 png_user_chunk_cache_max 128 unlimited
5217 png_user_chunk_malloc_max 8,000,000 unlimited
5219 Starting with libpng-1.6.18, a PNG_RELEASE_BUILD macro was added, which allows
5220 library builders to control compilation for an installed system (a release build).
5221 It can be set for testing debug or beta builds to ensure that they will compile
5222 when the build type is switched to RC or STABLE. In essence this overrides the
5223 PNG_LIBPNG_BUILD_BASE_TYPE definition which is not directly user controllable.
5225 Starting with libpng-1.6.19, attempting to set an over-length PLTE chunk
5226 is an error. Previously this requirement of the PNG specification was not
5227 enforced, and the palette was always limited to 256 entries. An over-length
5228 PLTE chunk found in an input PNG is silently truncated.
5230 Starting with libpng-1.6.31, the eXIf chunk is supported. Libpng does not
5231 attempt to decode the Exif profile; it simply returns a byte array
5232 containing the profile to the calling application which must do its own
5235 XIII. Detecting libpng
5237 The png_get_io_ptr() function has been present since libpng-0.88, has never
5238 changed, and is unaffected by conditional compilation macros. It is the
5239 best choice for use in configure scripts for detecting the presence of any
5240 libpng version since 0.88. In an autoconf "configure.in" you could use
5242 AC_CHECK_LIB(png, png_get_io_ptr, ...
5244 XV. Source code repository
5246 Since about February 2009, version 1.2.34, libpng has been under "git" source
5247 control. The git repository was built from old libpng-x.y.z.tar.gz files
5248 going back to version 0.70. You can access the git repository (read only)
5251 https://github.com/glennrp/libpng or
5252 https://git.code.sf.net/p/libpng/code.git
5254 or you can browse it with a web browser at
5256 https://github.com/glennrp/libpng or
5257 https://sourceforge.net/p/libpng/code/ci/libpng16/tree/
5259 Patches can be sent to png-mng-implement at lists.sourceforge.net or
5260 uploaded to the libpng bug tracker at
5262 https://libpng.sourceforge.io/
5264 or as a "pull request" to
5266 https://github.com/glennrp/libpng/pulls
5268 We also accept patches built from the tar or zip distributions, and
5269 simple verbal descriptions of bug fixes, reported either to the
5270 SourceForge bug tracker, to the png-mng-implement at lists.sf.net
5271 mailing list, as github issues.
5275 Our coding style is similar to the "Allman" style
5276 (See https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Indent_style#Allman_style), with curly
5277 braces on separate lines:
5284 else if (another condition)
5289 The braces can be omitted from simple one-line actions:
5294 We use 3-space indentation, except for continued statements which
5295 are usually indented the same as the first line of the statement
5296 plus four more spaces.
5298 For macro definitions we use 2-space indentation, always leaving the "#"
5299 in the first column.
5301 #ifndef PNG_NO_FEATURE
5302 # ifndef PNG_FEATURE_SUPPORTED
5303 # define PNG_FEATURE_SUPPORTED
5307 Comments appear with the leading "/*" at the same indentation as
5308 the statement that follows the comment:
5310 /* Single-line comment */
5313 /* This is a multiple-line
5318 Very short comments can be placed after the end of the statement
5319 to which they pertain:
5321 statement; /* comment */
5323 We don't use C++ style ("//") comments. We have, however,
5324 used them in the past in some now-abandoned MMX assembler
5327 Functions and their curly braces are not indented, and
5328 exported functions are marked with PNGAPI:
5330 /* This is a public function that is visible to
5331 * application programmers. It does thus-and-so.
5334 png_exported_function(png_ptr, png_info, foo)
5339 The return type and decorations are placed on a separate line
5340 ahead of the function name, as illustrated above.
5342 The prototypes for all exported functions appear in png.h,
5343 above the comment that says
5345 /* Maintainer: Put new public prototypes here ... */
5347 We mark all non-exported functions with "/* PRIVATE */"":
5350 png_non_exported_function(png_ptr, png_info, foo)
5355 The prototypes for non-exported functions (except for those in
5356 pngtest) appear in pngpriv.h above the comment that says
5358 /* Maintainer: Put new private prototypes here ^ */
5360 To avoid polluting the global namespace, the names of all exported
5361 functions and variables begin with "png_", and all publicly visible C
5362 preprocessor macros begin with "PNG". We request that applications that
5363 use libpng *not* begin any of their own symbols with either of these strings.
5365 We put a space after the "sizeof" operator and we omit the
5366 optional parentheses around its argument when the argument
5367 is an expression, not a type name, and we always enclose the
5368 sizeof operator, with its argument, in parentheses:
5370 (sizeof (png_uint_32))
5373 Prior to libpng-1.6.0 we used a "png_sizeof()" macro, formatted as
5374 though it were a function.
5376 Control keywords if, for, while, and switch are always followed by a space
5377 to distinguish them from function calls, which have no trailing space.
5379 We put a space after each comma and after each semicolon
5380 in "for" statements, and we put spaces before and after each
5381 C binary operator and after "for" or "while", and before
5382 "?". We don't put a space between a typecast and the expression
5383 being cast, nor do we put one between a function name and the
5384 left parenthesis that follows it:
5386 for (i = 2; i > 0; --i)
5387 y[i] = a(x) + (int)b;
5389 We prefer #ifdef and #ifndef to #if defined() and #if !defined()
5390 when there is only one macro being tested. We always use parentheses
5393 We express integer constants that are used as bit masks in hex format,
5394 with an even number of lower-case hex digits, and to make them unsigned
5395 (e.g., 0x00U, 0xffU, 0x0100U) and long if they are greater than 0x7fff
5398 We prefer to use underscores rather than camelCase in names, except
5399 for a few type names that we inherit from zlib.h.
5401 We prefer "if (something != 0)" and "if (something == 0)" over
5402 "if (something)" and if "(!something)", respectively, and for pointers
5403 we prefer "if (some_pointer != NULL)" or "if (some_pointer == NULL)".
5405 We do not use the TAB character for indentation in the C sources.
5407 Lines do not exceed 80 characters.
5409 Other rules can be inferred by inspecting the libpng source.