Loading images in SDL could not be easier:

SDL_Surface *IMG_Load(const char *file)

file

Image file name to load a surface from.

Load file for use as an image in a new surface. This actually calls IMG_LoadTyped_RW, with the file extension used as the type string. This can load all supported image files, including TGA as long as the filename ends with ".tga". It is best to call this outside of event loops, and rather keep the loaded images around until you are really done with them, as disk speed and image conversion to a surface is not that speedy. Don't forget to SDL_FreeSurface the returned surface pointer when you are through with it.

Returns: a pointer to the image as a new SDL_Surface. NULL is returned on errors, such as no support built for the image, or a file reading error.

// load sample.png into image SDL_Surface *image; image=IMG_Load("sample.png"); if(!image) { printf("IMG_Load: %s\n", IMG_GetError()); // handle error }

Check out http://jcatki.no-ip.org/SDL_image/SDL_image_frame.html for more great info