diff --git a/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/IImageReader.java b/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/IImageReader.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..5bfcaeb0f491848cd3652f83b604eaae86e36fef
--- /dev/null
+++ b/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/IImageReader.java
@@ -0,0 +1,40 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 ETH Zuerich, CISD
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package ch.systemsx.cisd.imagereaders;
+
+import java.awt.image.BufferedImage;
+import java.io.File;
+
+import ch.systemsx.cisd.base.exceptions.IOExceptionUnchecked;
+import ch.systemsx.cisd.base.io.IRandomAccessFile;
+
+/**
+ * @author Bernd Rinn
+ */
+public interface IImageReader
+{
+    public String getLibraryName();
+
+    public String getName();
+
+    public BufferedImage readImage(File file, int page) throws IOExceptionUnchecked;
+
+    public BufferedImage readImage(String filename, IRandomAccessFile handle, int page)
+            throws IOExceptionUnchecked;
+
+    public BufferedImage readImage(String filename, byte[] bytes, int page);
+}
diff --git a/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/IImageReaderLibrary.java b/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/IImageReaderLibrary.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..6eb42df6c460f24dafee0e91f0d26fdc15126ff0
--- /dev/null
+++ b/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/IImageReaderLibrary.java
@@ -0,0 +1,36 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 ETH Zuerich, CISD
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package ch.systemsx.cisd.imagereaders;
+
+import java.util.List;
+
+/**
+ * 
+ *
+ * @author Bernd Rinn
+ */
+public interface IImageReaderLibrary
+{
+    public String getName();
+    
+    public List<String> getReaderNames();
+    
+    public IImageReader tryGetReader(String readerName);
+    
+    public IImageReader tryGetReaderForFile(String fileName);
+    
+}
diff --git a/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/ImageReaderFactory.java b/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/ImageReaderFactory.java
new file mode 100644
index 0000000000000000000000000000000000000000..0043a792cb47b7867f050f984f1622f7ceacae55
--- /dev/null
+++ b/image_readers/source/java/ch/systemsx/cisd/imagereaders/ImageReaderFactory.java
@@ -0,0 +1,31 @@
+/*
+ * Copyright 2011 ETH Zuerich, CISD
+ *
+ * Licensed under the Apache License, Version 2.0 (the "License");
+ * you may not use this file except in compliance with the License.
+ * You may obtain a copy of the License at
+ *
+ *      http://www.apache.org/licenses/LICENSE-2.0
+ *
+ * Unless required by applicable law or agreed to in writing, software
+ * distributed under the License is distributed on an "AS IS" BASIS,
+ * WITHOUT WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, either express or implied.
+ * See the License for the specific language governing permissions and
+ * limitations under the License.
+ */
+
+package ch.systemsx.cisd.imagereaders;
+
+import java.util.ServiceLoader;
+
+/**
+ * A factory for image readers.
+ * <p>
+ * Uses {@link ServiceLoader}s underneath to find out about the available libraries and readers.
+ *
+ * @author Bernd Rinn
+ */
+public class ImageReaderFactory
+{
+
+}