ImageMagick – MagickCore, C API: Constitute an Image
Author: ImageMagick Studio LLC
Description: ImageMagick is a powerful, open-source software suite for creating, editing, converting, and manipulating images in over 200 formats. Ideal for web developers, graphic designers, and researchers, it offers versatile tools for image processing, including batch processing, format conversion, and complex image transformations.
Keywords: MagickCore, C API: Constitute an Image, Image Processing, Digital Image Editing, Image Conversion, Open-Source Software, Image Manipulation, Command-Line Image Tools

# Constitute

## ConstituteImage

ConstituteImage() returns an image from the pixel data you supply. The pixel data must be in scanline order top-to-bottom. The data can be char, short int, int, float, or double. Float and double require the pixels to be normalized [0..1], otherwise [0..QuantumRange]. For example, to create a 640x480 image from unsigned red-green-blue character data, use:

    image = ConstituteImage(640,480,"RGB",CharPixel,pixels,&exception);

The format of the ConstituteImage method is:

    Image *ConstituteImage(const size_t columns,const size_t rows,
      const char *map,const StorageType storage,const void *pixels,
      ExceptionInfo *exception)

A description of each parameter follows:

columns
  width in pixels of the image.
rows
  height in pixels of the image.
map
  This string reflects the expected ordering of the pixel array. It can be any combination or order of R = red, G = green, B = blue, A = alpha (0 is transparent), O = opacity (0 is opaque), C = cyan, Y = yellow, M = magenta, K = black, I = intensity (for grayscale), P = pad.
storage
  Define the data type of the pixels. Float and double types are expected to be normalized [0..1] otherwise [0..QuantumRange]. Choose from these types: CharPixel, DoublePixel, FloatPixel, IntegerPixel, LongPixel, QuantumPixel, or ShortPixel.
pixels
  This array of values contain the pixel components as defined by map and type. You must preallocate this array where the expected length varies depending on the values of width, height, map, and type.
exception
  return any errors or warnings in this structure.

## PingImage

PingImage() returns all the properties of an image or image sequence except for the pixels. It is much faster and consumes far less memory than ReadImage(). On failure, a NULL image is returned and exception describes the reason for the failure.

The format of the PingImage method is:

    Image *PingImage(const ImageInfo *image_info,ExceptionInfo *exception)

A description of each parameter follows:

image_info
  Ping the image defined by the file or filename members of this structure.
exception
  return any errors or warnings in this structure.

## PingImages

PingImages() pings one or more images and returns them as an image list.

The format of the PingImage method is:

    Image *PingImages(const ImageInfo *image_info,ExceptionInfo *exception)

A description of each parameter follows:

image_info
  the image info.
exception
  return any errors or warnings in this structure.

## ReadImage

ReadImage() reads an image or image sequence from a file or file handle. The method returns a NULL if there is a memory shortage or if the image cannot be read. On failure, a NULL image is returned and exception describes the reason for the failure.

The format of the ReadImage method is:

    Image *ReadImage(const ImageInfo *image_info,ExceptionInfo *exception)

A description of each parameter follows:

image_info
  Read the image defined by the file or filename members of this structure.
exception
  return any errors or warnings in this structure.

## ReadImages

ReadImages() reads one or more images and returns them as an image list.

The format of the ReadImage method is:

    Image *ReadImages(const ImageInfo *image_info,ExceptionInfo *exception)

A description of each parameter follows:

image_info
  the image info.
exception
  return any errors or warnings in this structure.

## WriteImage

WriteImage() writes an image or an image sequence to a file or file handle. If writing to a file is on disk, the name is defined by the filename member of the image structure. WriteImage() returns MagickFalse is there is a memory shortage or if the image cannot be written. Check the exception member of image to determine the cause for any failure.

The format of the WriteImage method is:

    MagickBooleanType WriteImage(const ImageInfo *image_info,Image *image)

A description of each parameter follows:

image_info
  the image info.
image
  the image.

## WriteImages

WriteImages() writes an image sequence into one or more files. While WriteImage() can write an image sequence, it is limited to writing the sequence into a single file using a format which supports multiple frames. WriteImages(), however, does not have this limitation, instead it generates multiple output files if necessary (or when requested). When ImageInfo's adjoin flag is set to MagickFalse, the file name is expected to include a printf-style formatting string for the frame number (e.g. "image02d.png").

The format of the WriteImages method is:

    MagickBooleanType WriteImages(const ImageInfo *image_info,Image *images,
      const char *filename,ExceptionInfo *exception)

A description of each parameter follows:

image_info
  the image info.
images
  the image list.
filename
  the image filename.
exception
  return any errors or warnings in this structure.