diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5038efd..847c636 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -3,4 +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..e6a6d44 100644
--- a/image.c
+++ b/image.c
@@ -1,39 +1,76 @@
-#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
     printf("Number it is supposed to be: %d\n", img->image_label);
 }
 
-void img_free (Img* img) {
+void img_free (Image* img) {
     //frees the matrix of image (deep free)
     matrix_free(img->pixel_values);
     //frees the rest of img
     free(img);
 }
 
-void images_free (Img** images, int quantity){
+void images_free (Image** images, int quantity){
     //frees every single image
     for(int i=0;i<quantity;i++){
         img_free(images[i]);
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
diff --git a/matrix.c b/matrix.c
index 0d0cccd..e2f4416 100644
--- a/matrix.c
+++ b/matrix.c
@@ -2,6 +2,7 @@
 #include <stdlib.h>
 #include <stdio.h>
 #include <math.h>
+#define MAX_BYTES 100
 
 // operational functions
 Matrix* matrix_create(int rows, int columns) {
@@ -252,12 +253,40 @@ void matrix_save(Matrix* matrix, char* file_string){
         printf("Unable to get handle for \"%s\"", file_string);
         exit(1);
     }
+    fprintf(fptr, "%d\n", matrix->rows);
+    fprintf(fptr, "%d\n", matrix->columns);
+
     for(int i = 0; i < matrix->rows; i++){
         for(int j = 0; j < matrix->columns; j++){
-            fprintf(fptr, "%f.12 ", matrix->numbers[i][j]);
+            fprintf(fptr, "%.10f\n", matrix->numbers[i][j]);
         }
-        fputc('\n', fptr);
     }
+    printf("saved matrix to %s", file_string);
+    fclose(fptr);
+}
+
+Matrix* matrix_load(char* file_string){
+    FILE *fptr = fopen(file_string, "r");
+    if(!fptr){
+        printf("Could not open \"%s\"", file_string);
+        exit(1);
+    }
+    char buffer[MAX_BYTES];
+
+    fgets(buffer, MAX_BYTES, fptr);
+    int rows = (int)strtol(buffer, NULL, 10);
+    fgets(buffer, MAX_BYTES, fptr);
+    int cols = (int)strtol(buffer, NULL, 10);
+
+    Matrix *matrix = matrix_create(rows, cols);
+
+    for(int i = 0; i < rows; i++){
+        for(int j = 0; j < cols; j++){
+            fgets(buffer, MAX_BYTES, fptr);
+            matrix->numbers[i][j] = strtod(buffer, NULL);
+        }
+    }
+    return matrix;
 }
 
 
diff --git a/matrix.h b/matrix.h
index d460731..f3ba4be 100644
--- a/matrix.h
+++ b/matrix.h
@@ -11,10 +11,9 @@ void matrix_fill(Matrix* matrix, double value);
 void matrix_free(Matrix* matrix);
 void matrix_print(Matrix *matrix);
 Matrix* matrix_copy(Matrix *matrix);
-
-// TODO:
 void matrix_save(Matrix* matrix, char* file_string);
 Matrix* matrix_load(char* file_string);
+
 void matrix_randomize(Matrix* matrix, int n); // don't understand the usage of the n
 int matrix_argmax(Matrix* matrix);
 Matrix* matrix_flatten(Matrix* matrix, int axis);