GdkPixbufLoader provides a way for applications to drive the process of loading an image, by letting them send the image data directly to the loader instead of having the loader read the data from a file. Applications can use this functionality instead of gdk_pixbuf_new_from_file() or gdk_pixbuf_animation_new_from_file() when they need to parse image data in small chunks. For example, it should be used when reading an image from a (potentially) slow network connection, or when loading an extremely large file.