Working with images in C++?

Question

C++ / C#

Welcome all! I need advice on working with images in C++. There is an image, let's say 100x100. I need to get a two-dimensional array, each cell of which will contain the brightness of a pixel (in my case, R = G = B = brightness, from 0 to 255). After I perform smoothing according to the given algorithm, I need to write the result to the output file.
Actually, in which direction to dig? Apparently, I need the simplest library for working with images, which will allow me to get the brightness of a pixel, create a new image and write it to a separate file.
PS I plan to get by with a console application compiled with MinGW. But if there are much simpler ways to accomplish my task, please note.

Answer 1

Look towards libgd .
By the way, habratopic: habrahabr.ru/blogs/cpp/52775/

Answer 2

Comrade svnbt suggested the CImg library on Twitter, it comes in the form of a single .h file, that's what you need. Thank you all for your help, thank you all :)

Answer 3

habrahabr.ru/qa/4808/

Answer 4

OpenCV - maybe redundant for this task, but with a huge reserve for the future :)
a series of lessons on OpenCV

Answer 5

I recommend the ImageMagick library .
For C++, it has an OOP interface called Magick++ . I really only had experience with the classic MagickWand , although I was writing a C++ application.
In any case, the library has a lot of possibilities, there are builds for different platforms, it is simple and pleasant to use.