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Reference for Processing (BETA) version 0135+. If you have a previous version, use the reference included with your software. If you see any errors or have any comments, let us know.

Name

### loadImage()

Examples

    PImage b;
    b = loadImage("laDefense.jpg");
    image(b, 0, 0);

    PImage b;

    void setup() {
      b = loadImage("laDefense.jpg");
      noLoop();
    }

    void draw() {
      image(b, 0, 0);
    }

    PImage online;

    void setup() {
      String url = "http://processing.org/img/processing_beta_cover.gif";
      online = loadImage(url, "png");
      noLoop();
    }

    void draw() {
      image(online, 0, 0);
    }

Description

Loads an image into a variable of type PImage. Four types of images ( .gif, .jpg, .tga, .png) images may be loaded. To load correctly, images must be located in the data directory of the current sketch. In most cases, load all images in setup() to preload them at the start of the program. Loading images inside draw() will reduce the speed of a program.
The filename parameter can also be a URL to a file found online. For security reasons, a Processing sketch found online can only download files from the same server from which it came. Getting around this restriction requires a signed applet.
The extension of the filename parameter is used to determine the image type. In cases where the image filename does not end with a proper extension, specify the extension as the second parameter to loadImage(), as shown in the third example on this page.
If an image is not loaded successfully, the null value is returned and an error message will be printed to the console. The error message does not halt the program, however the null value may cause a NullPointerException if your code does not check whether the value returned from loadImage() is null.

Syntax

    loadImage(filename)

Parameters

filename | string: name of file to load, must be either .gif, .jpg, or .tga

Usage | Web & Application
Related | PImage image() imageMode() background()

Updated on March 26, 2008 10:43:13pm PDT