bitmapbilder

BitmapBilder is a cross‑platform software library designed for the creation, manipulation, and rendering of bitmap images. It provides a low‑level API for pixel‑level access and procedural image generation, along with higher‑level utilities for drawing, compositing, and basic image processing. The project emphasizes simplicity, performance, and portability across desktop and embedded environments.

The library adopts a modular architecture centered on a bitmap buffer and a set of adapters for input/output. Core features include support for multiple color spaces and alpha channels, pixel formats, and efficient memory management. It offers drawing primitives (lines, rectangles, circles), transformations, and a range of image filters and dithering algorithms suitable for real‑time or batch workflows.

I/O and bindings: BitmapBilder supports common bitmap and compressed formats such as PNG, BMP, JPEG, GIF, TIFF, and WebP, with optional lossless or lossy options. It provides extensible decoders/encoders and bindings for C++, Python, and WebAssembly, enabling use in applications, games, or teaching environments.

Origins and licensing: BitmapBilder originated in the early 2010s within a German‑language developer community and has since grown into an open‑source project maintained by volunteers. The project is distributed under a permissive license (MIT), encouraging reuse in both commercial and academic settings.

Applications and reception: The library is widely used in game development for sprite generation, texture processing, and tooling, as well as in data visualization and computer vision prototypes. It is valued for its focus on pixel accuracy and performance, while remaining lighter than full image‑editing suites.

Further information is available on the BitmapBilder official website and its GitHub repository.