diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 1688010..847c636 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,5 +3,5 @@ project(c_net C)
 
 set(CMAKE_C_STANDARD 11)
 
-add_executable(c_net main.c matrix.c)
+add_executable(c_net main.c matrix.c image.c)
 target_link_libraries(c_net m)
diff --git a/image.c b/image.c
index e7d8862..ceb5d19 100644
--- a/image.c
+++ b/image.c
@@ -1,25 +1,62 @@
-#pragma once
-
-#include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdlib.h>
 
 #include "image.h"
 #include "matrix.h"
 
-Img** import_images(char* image_file_string, char* label_file_string, int number_of_images) {
+int endian_swap(int input) {
+    return ((input >> 24) & 0xff) |      // move byte 3 to byte 0
+           ((input << 8) & 0xff0000) |   // move byte 1 to byte 2
+           ((input >> 8) & 0xff00) |     // move byte 2 to byte 1
+           ((input << 24) & 0xff000000); // byte 0 to byte 3
+}
+
+int validate_files(FILE* image_file, FILE* label_file) {
+
+    // read magic number from files
+    int magic_number_label, magic_number_images;
+    fread(&magic_number_label, 4, 1, label_file);
+    fread(&magic_number_images, 4, 1, image_file);
+
+    // compare magic numbers with pre-defined value
+    if(endian_swap(magic_number_label) != 2049 || endian_swap(magic_number_images) != 2051) {
+        return 0;
+    }
+
+    return 1;
+}
+
+Image** import_images(char* image_file_string, char* label_file_string, int number_of_images) {
 
     // create file pointer for the image and label data
-    FILE* image_file = fopen(image_file_string, 'r');
-    FILE* label_file = fopen(label_file_string, 'r');
+    FILE* image_file = fopen(image_file_string, "r");
+    FILE* label_file = fopen(label_file_string, "r");
 
     // check if the file could be opened
     if(image_file == NULL || label_file == NULL) {
-        printf("ERROR: File could not be opened! ()");
+        printf("ERROR: File could not be opened! (import_images)");
+        exit(1);
     }
 
+    // check magic number of the files
+    if(validate_files(image_file, label_file)) {
+        printf("ERROR: File validation failed! (validate_files)");
+        exit(1);
+    }
+
+
+    // Jakob Section
+
+
+    // allocate memory for the storage of images
+    Image** images = malloc(sizeof(Image) * number_of_images);
+
+    fclose(image_file);
+    fclose(label_file);
 }
 
-void img_print (Img* img) {
+void img_print (Image* img) {
+
     //print the image
     matrix_print(img->pixel_values);
     //print the number of the image
diff --git a/image.h b/image.h
index ddd20d5..b80b4d9 100644
--- a/image.h
+++ b/image.h
@@ -1,10 +1,13 @@
 #pragma once
+#include "matrix.h"
+
+#include "matrix.h"
 
 typedef struct {
     Matrix* pixel_values;
     int image_label;
 } Image;
 
-Img** import_images(char* image_file_string, char* label_file_string, int number_of_images);
-void img_print (Img* img);
-void img_free (Img* img);
\ No newline at end of file
+Image** import_images(char* image_file_string, char* label_file_string, int number_of_images);
+void img_print (Image* image);
+void img_free (Image* image);
\ No newline at end of file
diff --git a/main.c b/main.c
index 5fdc7bf..82750fe 100644
--- a/main.c
+++ b/main.c
@@ -1,7 +1,10 @@
 #include <stdio.h>
+#include <stdio.h>
+
 #include "matrix.h"
-#include <stdio.h>
+#include "image.h"
 
 int main() {
+    Image** images = import_images("../data/train-images.idx3-ubyte", "../data/train-labels.idx1-ubyte", 20);
 
 }
\ No newline at end of file