How to Install OpenCV for C++ on MacOS?

OpenCV stands for Open Source Computer and Vision Library. It is a huge open-source library with more than 2500 algorithms that are optimized to perform various operations like computer vision, image processing, and machine learning in real-time. It performs all these operations in real-time which gives it an edge over all other similar libraries. With the help of OpenCV, one can process/modify videos and images of different formats and fonts. It has support for various interfaces like C/C++, Java, and python and it also provides support for various operating systems like Linux, Mac OS, Windows, IOS, and Android. In this article, we will see how to install OpenCV in C++ on MacOS.

Installing OpenCV in C++ on MacOS

Steps for downloading and Installation of OpenCV in C++ on MacOS:

Step 1: To start any kind of C/C++ development work on a MacOS. Firstly we need to download and install Xcode. It is Apple’s IDE (Integrated Development Environment). Without Xcode, we cannot perform a compilation of our code, because currently, we do not have any compiler (i.e. G++ or GCC). To install Xcode go to App Store -> Search bar -> Type Xcode -> Click Download. 

 

Step 2: Now after the successful installation of Xcode, Next we have to install the command-line tool for Xcode. To install the command-line tool for Xcode, open the terminal and copy-paste the following code into your Terminal.

xcode-select –install

 

Step 3: Now we have to install a package manager called Homebrew (Homebrew is a free and open-source package manager that allows installing apps and software in macOS, depending on the user’s desire). To install homebrew, open your terminal and copy-paste the following code into your terminal, and hit Enter this may take a significant amount of time depending upon the speed of your internet connection so be patient.

/bin/bash -c “$(curl -fsSL https://raw.githubusercontent.com/Homebrew/install/HEAD/install.sh)”

 

Step 4: Now finally let’s install OpenCV, To install OpenCV, Open your terminal and copy-paste the following code into your terminal, and hit Enter this can also take a significant amount of time depending upon the speed of your internet connection so be patient.

brew install opencv

Once successfully installed, You can use OpenCV in your MacOS and Xcode IDE.

 

Step 5: Now, OpenCV has successfully installed on our system and we can start building our projects too but, to avoid any kind of problems and to make sure that all the important settings of the linker and compiler are done properly, Run the following command in the terminal and after then we are good to go.

brew install pkg-config

Step 6: To test if OpenCV has been successfully installed or not, Create a C++ project in the Xcode IDE Right-click on the name of your project folder that you have created in the Xcode. After that click on Add files button as shown below

 

 This will redirect you to your file manager, In your file manager on the top right corner Click on the search button or just type ‘/ ‘. This will open a search tab as shown in the below images.

 

After clicking on the search button type the following path in the search bar as shown below in the image, This is the path where OpenCV has been downloaded by our homebrew package manager.

/usr/local/Cellar/opencv

 

After typing the above path in the search bar Click on the go button. Now after clicking on the go button the following screen should pop up with a folder and a particular version number written on it as shown in the image below. This is the version of OpenCV that we have downloaded through the homebrew package manager and inside this, we have all of our dynamic libraries. This shows that our OpenCV has been downloaded and installed successfully and we can use it to build our projects. 

Note: Version number may vary in your case.

 

Inside this folder, we have another folder with the name lib which has tons of dynamic libraries, that can be imported and used in our projects just copy the once whichever you need for your project, and pasted it into your project folder.

 

If there is any error while running the code, or you are unable to see any folder inside the path mentioned above, Then OpenCV is not downloaded or installed properly. 

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