Java Image I/O Technology
The Java Image I/O API,
developed through JSR-015, provides a
pluggable architecture for working with images stored in files and
accessed across the network. It offers substantially more
flexibility and power than the previous APIs for loading and saving
images.
The API provides a framework for the addition of format-specific
plugins. Plug-ins for several common formats are included with Java
Image I/O, but third parties can use this API to create their own
plugins to handle special formats.
API Specification
The Java Image I/O API Specification consists of the following
packages:
- javax.imageio
- the basic classes and interfaces for describing the contents of
image files, including metadata and thumbnails; controlling the
image reading and writing process; performing transcoding between
formats; and reporting errors.
- javax.imageio.event
- interfaces for dealing with synchronous notification of events
during the reading and writing of images.
- javax.imageio.metadata
- classes and interfaces for reading and writing image
metadata.
- javax.imageio.plugins.bmp
- a support class for the built-in BMP reader and writer
plug-ins.
- javax.imageio.plugins.jpeg
- some support classes for the built-in JPEG reader and writer
plug-ins.
- javax.imageio.spi
- service-provider interfaces for: readers, writers, transcoders;
and includes a runtime registry.
- javax.imageio.stream
- classes and interfaces for low-level I/O from files and
streams.
Tutorials and Programmer's Guides
The Java Image I/O API
Guide describes the API in more detail and demonstrates how
to use Java Image I/O to read and write images and write custom
plug-ins.
API Enhancements
More Information