Write a PNG file using C and libpng

This C program creates the simple image on the right, and then writes it to a PNG file called fruit.png.

This program is based on an example I found using an internet search engine, which I then altered so that it worked. The documentation for libpng is a bit difficult to understand. I hope that the complete specification of the library is in there, but I couldn't find some things.

#include <png.h>
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include <stdint.h>
    
/* A coloured pixel. */

typedef struct
{
    uint8_t red;
    uint8_t green;
    uint8_t blue;
}
pixel_t;

/* A picture. */
    
typedef struct
{
    pixel_t *pixels;
    size_t width;
    size_t height;
}
bitmap_t;
    
/* Given "bitmap", this returns the pixel of bitmap at the point 
   ("x", "y"). */

static pixel_t * pixel_at (bitmap_t * bitmap, int x, int y)
{
    return bitmap->pixels + bitmap->width * y + x;
}
    
/* Write "bitmap" to a PNG file specified by "path"; returns 0 on
   success, non-zero on error. */

static int save_png_to_file (bitmap_t *bitmap, const char *path)
{
    FILE * fp;
    png_structp png_ptr = NULL;
    png_infop info_ptr = NULL;
    size_t x, y;
    png_byte ** row_pointers = NULL;
    /* "status" contains the return value of this function. At first
       it is set to a value which means 'failure'. When the routine
       has finished its work, it is set to a value which means
       'success'. */
    int status = -1;
    /* The following number is set by trial and error only. I cannot
       see where it it is documented in the libpng manual.
    */
    int pixel_size = 3;
    int depth = 8;
    
    fp = fopen (path, "wb");
    if (! fp) {
        goto fopen_failed;
    }

    png_ptr = png_create_write_struct (PNG_LIBPNG_VER_STRING, NULL, NULL, NULL);
    if (png_ptr == NULL) {
        goto png_create_write_struct_failed;
    }
    
    info_ptr = png_create_info_struct (png_ptr);
    if (info_ptr == NULL) {
        goto png_create_info_struct_failed;
    }
    
    /* Set up error handling. */

    if (setjmp (png_jmpbuf (png_ptr))) {
        goto png_failure;
    }
    
    /* Set image attributes. */

    png_set_IHDR (png_ptr,
                  info_ptr,
                  bitmap->width,
                  bitmap->height,
                  depth,
                  PNG_COLOR_TYPE_RGB,
                  PNG_INTERLACE_NONE,
                  PNG_COMPRESSION_TYPE_DEFAULT,
                  PNG_FILTER_TYPE_DEFAULT);
    
    /* Initialize rows of PNG. */

    row_pointers = png_malloc (png_ptr, bitmap->height * sizeof (png_byte *));
    for (y = 0; y < bitmap->height; y++) {
        png_byte *row = 
            png_malloc (png_ptr, sizeof (uint8_t) * bitmap->width * pixel_size);
        row_pointers[y] = row;
        for (x = 0; x < bitmap->width; x++) {
            pixel_t * pixel = pixel_at (bitmap, x, y);
            *row++ = pixel->red;
            *row++ = pixel->green;
            *row++ = pixel->blue;
        }
    }
    
    /* Write the image data to "fp". */

    png_init_io (png_ptr, fp);
    png_set_rows (png_ptr, info_ptr, row_pointers);
    png_write_png (png_ptr, info_ptr, PNG_TRANSFORM_IDENTITY, NULL);

    /* The routine has successfully written the file, so we set
       "status" to a value which indicates success. */

    status = 0;
    
    for (y = 0; y < bitmap->height; y++) {
        png_free (png_ptr, row_pointers[y]);
    }
    png_free (png_ptr, row_pointers);
    
 png_failure:
 png_create_info_struct_failed:
    png_destroy_write_struct (&png_ptr, &info_ptr);
 png_create_write_struct_failed:
    fclose (fp);
 fopen_failed:
    return status;
}

/* Given "value" and "max", the maximum value which we expect "value"
   to take, this returns an integer between 0 and 255 proportional to
   "value" divided by "max". */

static int pix (int value, int max)
{
    if (value < 0) {
        return 0;
    }
    return (int) (256.0 *((double) (value)/(double) max));
}

int main ()
{
    bitmap_t fruit;
    int x;
    int y;
    int status;

    status = 0;

    /* Create an image. */

    fruit.width = 100;
    fruit.height = 100;

    fruit.pixels = calloc (fruit.width * fruit.height, sizeof (pixel_t));

    if (! fruit.pixels) {
	return -1;
    }

    for (y = 0; y < fruit.height; y++) {
        for (x = 0; x < fruit.width; x++) {
            pixel_t * pixel = pixel_at (& fruit, x, y);
            pixel->red = pix (x, fruit.width);
            pixel->green = pix (y, fruit.height);
        }
    }

    /* Write the image to a file 'fruit.png'. */

    if (save_png_to_file (& fruit, "fruit.png")) {
	fprintf (stderr, "Error writing file.\n");
	status = -1;
    }

    free (fruit.pixels);

    return status;
}

Web links

• How to encode PNG to buffer using libpng? - stackoverflow.com

  The above C code started out as the example found at the above website, which didn't work too well.