1
2This is Magick++, the object-oriented C++ API to the ImageMagick
3image-processing library, the most comprehensive open-source image
4processing solution available. Read the release notes for Magick++.
5
6Magick++ supports an object model which is inspired by PerlMagick.
7Magick++ executes faster than PerlMagick since it is accessed from a
8compiled language rather than from a scripting language. This makes it more
9suitable for Web CGI programs which must start-up and execute quickly.
10Images support implicit reference counting so that copy constructors and
11assignment incur almost no cost. The cost of actually copying an image (if
12necessary) is done just before modification and this copy is managed
13automatically by Magick++. De-referenced copies are automatically deleted.
14The image objects support value (rather than pointer)  semantics so it is
15trivial to support multiple generations of an image in memory at one time.
16
17Magick++ provides integrated support for the Standard Template Library (STL)
18so that the powerful containers available (e.g. deque, vector, list, and
19map)  can be used to write programs similar to those possible with PERL &
20PerlMagick. STL-compatable template versions of ImageMagick's list-style
21operations are provided so that operations may be performed on multiple
22images stored in STL containers.
23
24Documentation
25
26Detailed documentation are provided for all Magick++ classes, class methods,
27and template functions which comprise the API.
28
29Obtaining Magick++
30
31Magick++ is included as part of ImageMagick source releases and may be
32retrieved via ftp or Subversion.
33
34Installation
35
36Once you have the sources available, follow these detailed installation
37instructions for UNIX and Windows.
38
39Usage
40
41A helper script named Magick++-config is installed under Unix which assists
42with recalling compilation options required to compile and link programs
43which use Magick++.  For example, the following command will compile and
44link the source file example.cpp to produce the executable example (notice
45that quotes are backward quotes):
46
47     c++ `Magick++-config --cxxflags --cppflags --ldflags --libs` \
48       -o example example.cpp
49
50Windows users may get started by manually editing a project file for one of
51the Magick++ demo programs.
52
53Reporting Bugs
54
55Please report any bugs via the Magick++ Bug Tracking System at
56http://www.imagemagick.org/discourse-server/.
57
58Related Packages
59
60Users who are interested in displaying their images at video game rates on a
61wide number of platforms and graphic environments (e.g. Windows, X11, BeOS,
62and Linux/CGI) may want to try PtcMagick, which provides a simple interface
63between Magick++ and OpenPTC.
64