###### (This function is part of SDL_image, a separate library from SDL.) # IMG_LoadTexture Load an image from a filesystem path into a GPU texture. ## Syntax ```c SDL_Texture * IMG_LoadTexture(SDL_Renderer *renderer, const char *file); ``` ## Function Parameters | | | | ---------------- | -------------------------------------------------- | | **renderer** | the SDL_Renderer to use to create the GPU texture. | | **file** | a path on the filesystem to load an image from. | ## Return Value Returns a new texture, or NULL on error. ## Remarks An SDL_Texture represents an image in GPU memory, usable by SDL's 2D Render API. This can be significantly more efficient than using a CPU-bound SDL_Surface if you don't need to manipulate the image directly after loading it. If the loaded image has transparency or a colorkey, a texture with an alpha channel will be created. Otherwise, SDL_image will attempt to create an SDL_Texture in the most format that most reasonably represents the image data (but in many cases, this will just end up being 32-bit RGB or 32-bit RGBA). There is a separate function to read files from an SDL_IOStream, if you need an i/o abstraction to provide data from anywhere instead of a simple filesystem read; that function is [IMG_LoadTexture_IO](IMG_LoadTexture_IO)(). If you would rather decode an image to an SDL_Surface (a buffer of pixels in CPU memory), call [IMG_Load](IMG_Load)() instead. When done with the returned texture, the app should dispose of it with a call to SDL_DestroyTexture(). ## Version This function is available since SDL_image 3.0.0. ## Related Functions * [IMG_LoadTextureTyped_IO](IMG_LoadTextureTyped_IO) * [IMG_LoadTexture_IO](IMG_LoadTexture_IO) ---- [CategoryAPI](CategoryAPI)