diff --git a/CMakeLists.txt b/CMakeLists.txt
index 5de581b..2b46de0 100644
--- a/CMakeLists.txt
+++ b/CMakeLists.txt
@@ -29,17 +29,24 @@ else()
   message("Building for target host application: " ${GMIC_QT_HOST})
 endif()
 
-if(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../src/gmic.cpp")
-  set (GMIC_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../src" CACHE STRING "Define the path to the gmic headers")
+option(ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC "Find GMIC shared library installed on the system" ON)
+
+if (ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+  option(ENABLE_DYNAMIC_LINKING "Dynamically link the binaries to the GMIC shared library" ON)
 else()
+  option(ENABLE_DYNAMIC_LINKING "Dynamically link the binaries to the GMIC shared library" OFF)
+
+  set (GMIC_LIB_PATH "${GMIC_PATH}" CACHE STRING "Define the path to the GMIC shared library")
+  if(EXISTS "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../src/gmic.cpp")
+  set (GMIC_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../src" CACHE STRING "Define the path to the gmic headers")
+  else()
   set (GMIC_PATH "${CMAKE_CURRENT_SOURCE_DIR}/../gmic/src" CACHE STRING "Define the path to the gmic headers")
-endif()
+  endif()
 
-message("G'MIC path: " ${GMIC_PATH})
+  message("G'MIC path: " ${GMIC_PATH})
+endif()
 
-option(ENABLE_DYNAMIC_LINKING "Dynamically link the binaries to the GMIC shared library" OFF)
 option(ENABLE_CURL "Add support for curl" ON)
-set (GMIC_LIB_PATH "${GMIC_PATH}" CACHE STRING "Define the path to the GMIC shared library")
 
 option(ENABLE_ASAN "Enable -fsanitize=address (if debug build)" ON)
 option(ENABLE_FFTW3 "Enable FFTW3 library support" ON)
@@ -61,55 +68,57 @@ if (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "Debug")
 endif()
 
 
-#
-# Look for G'MIC repository
-#
-get_filename_component(GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH ${GMIC_PATH} ABSOLUTE BASEDIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})
-if (EXISTS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/gmic.cpp)
-  message("Found G'MIC repository")
-else()
-  get_filename_component(TARGET_CLONE_DIR ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/.. ABSOLUTE)
-  message("")
-  message("Cannot find G'MIC repository in " ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH} )
-  message("")
-  message("You should try:")
-  message("")
-  message("   git clone https://github.com/dtschump/gmic.git " ${TARGET_CLONE_DIR}/gmic )
-  message("")
-  message(FATAL_ERROR "\nG'MIC repository not found")
-endif()
+if (NOT ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+  #
+  # Look for G'MIC repository
+  #
+  get_filename_component(GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH ${GMIC_PATH} ABSOLUTE BASEDIR ${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR})
+  if (EXISTS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/gmic.cpp)
+    message("Found G'MIC repository")
+  else()
+    get_filename_component(TARGET_CLONE_DIR ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/.. ABSOLUTE)
+    message("")
+    message("Cannot find G'MIC repository in " ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH} )
+    message("")
+    message("You should try:")
+    message("")
+    message("   git clone https://github.com/dtschump/gmic.git " ${TARGET_CLONE_DIR}/gmic )
+    message("")
+    message(FATAL_ERROR "\nG'MIC repository not found")
+  endif()
 
-#
-# Look for CImg.h and gmic_stdlib_community.h
-#
-set(GMIC_FILES CImg.h gmic_stdlib_community.h)
-foreach(F ${GMIC_FILES})
+  #
+  # Look for CImg.h and gmic_stdlib_community.h
+  #
+  set(GMIC_FILES CImg.h gmic_stdlib_community.h)
+  foreach(F ${GMIC_FILES})
   if(EXISTS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/${F})
-    message("Found " ${GMIC_PATH}/${F})
+      message("Found " ${GMIC_PATH}/${F})
   else()
-    message(${F} " not found")
-    execute_process(COMMAND make -C ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH} ${F})
-    if(EXISTS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/${F})
+      message(${F} " not found")
+      execute_process(COMMAND make -C ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH} ${F})
+      if(EXISTS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/${F})
       message("Found " ${GMIC_PATH}/${F})
-    else()
+      else()
       message(FATAL_ERROR "\nCannot obtain " ${GMIC_PATH}/${F})
-    endif()
+      endif()
   endif()
-endforeach()
+  endforeach()
 
-#
-# Ensure that gmic and CImg are the same version
-#
-file(STRINGS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/CImg.h CIMG_VERSION REGEX "cimg_version ")
-string(REGEX REPLACE ".*cimg_version " "" CIMG_VERSION ${CIMG_VERSION})
-message("CImg version is [" ${CIMG_VERSION} "]")
+  #
+  # Ensure that gmic and CImg are the same version
+  #
+  file(STRINGS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/CImg.h CIMG_VERSION REGEX "cimg_version ")
+  string(REGEX REPLACE ".*cimg_version " "" CIMG_VERSION ${CIMG_VERSION})
+  message("CImg version is [" ${CIMG_VERSION} "]")
 
-file(STRINGS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/gmic.h GMIC_VERSION REGEX "gmic_version ")
-string(REGEX REPLACE ".*gmic_version " "" GMIC_VERSION ${GMIC_VERSION})
-message("G'MIC version is [" ${GMIC_VERSION} "]")
+  file(STRINGS ${GMIC_ABSOLUTE_PATH}/gmic.h GMIC_VERSION REGEX "gmic_version ")
+  string(REGEX REPLACE ".*gmic_version " "" GMIC_VERSION ${GMIC_VERSION})
+  message("G'MIC version is [" ${GMIC_VERSION} "]")
 
-if (NOT(${GMIC_VERSION} EQUAL ${CIMG_VERSION}))
+  if (NOT(${GMIC_VERSION} EQUAL ${CIMG_VERSION}))
   message(FATAL_ERROR "\nVersion numbers of files 'gmic.h' (" ${GMIC_VERSION} ") and 'CImg.h' (" ${CIMG_VERSION} ") mismatch")
+  endif()
 endif()
 
 
@@ -128,6 +137,13 @@ endif()
 
 # Required packages
 
+#
+# Gmic
+#
+if (ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+  find_package(Gmic REQUIRED CONFIG)
+endif (ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+
 #
 # Threads
 #
@@ -281,7 +297,6 @@ if(ENABLE_CURL)
     endif()
 endif()
 
-add_definitions(-Dgmic_build)
 add_definitions(-Dgmic_community)
 add_definitions(-Dcimg_use_abort)
 add_definitions(-Dgmic_is_parallel)
@@ -360,14 +375,19 @@ elseif (CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE STREQUAL "RelWithDebInfo")
     else()
       string(REPLACE "-O2" "" CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELWITHDEBINFO "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELWITHDEBINFO}")
       string(REPLACE "-O3" "" CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELWITHDEBINFO "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELWITHDEBINFO}")
-      set_source_files_properties(${GMIC_PATH}/gmic.cpp PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-Ofast")
+      if (NOT ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+          set_source_files_properties(${GMIC_PATH}/gmic.cpp PROPERTIES COMPILE_FLAGS "-Ofast")
+      endif (NOT ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
       set(CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELWITHDEBINFO "${CMAKE_CXX_FLAGS_RELWITHDEBINFO} -O2")
     endif()
 else()
     message(FATAL_ERROR "Build type not recognized (${CMAKE_BUILD_TYPE})")
 endif()
 
-include_directories(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src ${GMIC_PATH})
+if (NOT ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+    include_directories(${GMIC_PATH})
+endif (NOT ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+include_directories(${CMAKE_SOURCE_DIR}/src)
 
 set (gmic_qt_SRCS
 
@@ -443,11 +463,19 @@ set (gmic_qt_SRCS
   src/Widgets/ProgressInfoWindow.h
   src/Widgets/VisibleTagSelector.h
   src/ZoomConstraint.h
+)
 
-  ${GMIC_PATH}/gmic.h
-  ${GMIC_PATH}/CImg.h
-  ${GMIC_PATH}/gmic_stdlib_community.h
+if (NOT ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+    set(gmic_qt_SRCS
+        ${gmic_qt_SRCS}
+        ${GMIC_PATH}/gmic.h
+        ${GMIC_PATH}/CImg.h
+        ${GMIC_PATH}/gmic_stdlib_community.h
+    )
+endif()
 
+set(gmic_qt_SRCS
+  ${gmic_qt_SRCS}
   src/ClickableLabel.cpp
   src/Common.cpp
   src/OverrideCursor.cpp
@@ -540,7 +568,9 @@ if(ENABLE_DYNAMIC_LINKING)
     ${gmic_qt_LIBRARIES}
     "gmic"
     )
-  link_directories(${GMIC_LIB_PATH})
+  if (NOT ENABLE_SYSTEM_GMIC)
+    link_directories(${GMIC_LIB_PATH})
+  endif()
 else(ENABLE_DYNAMIC_LINKING)
   set(gmic_qt_SRCS
     ${gmic_qt_SRCS}
diff --git a/gmic_qt.pro b/gmic_qt.pro
index 53308cd..bb4ae61 100644
--- a/gmic_qt.pro
+++ b/gmic_qt.pro
@@ -68,7 +68,7 @@ equals( HOST, "gimp3" ) {
 
 DEFINES += cimg_use_cpp11=1
 DEFINES += cimg_use_fftw3 cimg_use_zlib
-DEFINES += gmic_build cimg_use_abort gmic_is_parallel cimg_use_curl cimg_use_png
+DEFINES += cimg_use_abort gmic_is_parallel cimg_use_curl cimg_use_png
 DEFINES += cimg_appname="\\\"gmic\\\""
 
 equals(TIMING, "on") {
diff --git a/src/CroppedActiveLayerProxy.cpp b/src/CroppedActiveLayerProxy.cpp
index a5ae94e..eaf3b8e 100644
--- a/src/CroppedActiveLayerProxy.cpp
+++ b/src/CroppedActiveLayerProxy.cpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <QDebug>
 #include "Common.h"
 #include "Host/GmicQtHost.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/CroppedImageListProxy.cpp b/src/CroppedImageListProxy.cpp
index b1ae9f6..a2482d0 100644
--- a/src/CroppedImageListProxy.cpp
+++ b/src/CroppedImageListProxy.cpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <cmath>
 #include "Common.h"
 #include "Host/GmicQtHost.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/FilterSelector/FavesModelReader.cpp b/src/FilterSelector/FavesModelReader.cpp
index 184c95b..dfed485 100644
--- a/src/FilterSelector/FavesModelReader.cpp
+++ b/src/FilterSelector/FavesModelReader.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "FilterSelector/FavesModel.h"
 #include "Logger.h"
 #include "Utils.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/FilterSelector/FiltersModelReader.cpp b/src/FilterSelector/FiltersModelReader.cpp
index 871efb0..277274b 100644
--- a/src/FilterSelector/FiltersModelReader.cpp
+++ b/src/FilterSelector/FiltersModelReader.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "LanguageSettings.h"
 #include "Logger.h"
 #include "Utils.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/FilterSyncRunner.cpp b/src/FilterSyncRunner.cpp
index 1b40c4a..5d1e19a 100644
--- a/src/FilterSyncRunner.cpp
+++ b/src/FilterSyncRunner.cpp
@@ -30,6 +30,7 @@
 #include "GmicStdlib.h"
 #include "Logger.h"
 #include "Misc.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/FilterThread.cpp b/src/FilterThread.cpp
index de4c2c7..aad0964 100644
--- a/src/FilterThread.cpp
+++ b/src/FilterThread.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "GmicStdlib.h"
 #include "Logger.h"
 #include "Misc.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/GmicProcessor.cpp b/src/GmicProcessor.cpp
index e0bf1f1..98879b3 100644
--- a/src/GmicProcessor.cpp
+++ b/src/GmicProcessor.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 #include "Logger.h"
 #include "Misc.h"
 #include "OverrideCursor.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/GmicQt.cpp b/src/GmicQt.cpp
index e836072..5925e94 100644
--- a/src/GmicQt.cpp
+++ b/src/GmicQt.cpp
@@ -45,6 +45,7 @@
 #include "Updater.h"
 #include "Widgets/InOutPanel.h"
 #include "Widgets/ProgressInfoWindow.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 #ifdef _IS_MACOS_
 #include <libgen.h>
diff --git a/src/GmicStdlib.cpp b/src/GmicStdlib.cpp
index 4abe758..02ab2d0 100644
--- a/src/GmicStdlib.cpp
+++ b/src/GmicStdlib.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include <QStringList>
 #include "Common.h"
 #include "Utils.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/HeadlessProcessor.cpp b/src/HeadlessProcessor.cpp
index 446d1a8..930facb 100644
--- a/src/HeadlessProcessor.cpp
+++ b/src/HeadlessProcessor.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include "ParametersCache.h"
 #include "Updater.h"
 #include "Widgets/ProgressInfoWindow.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 #ifdef _IS_WINDOWS_
diff --git a/src/Host/8bf/host_8bf.cpp b/src/Host/8bf/host_8bf.cpp
index 816f10b..7bc7b09 100644
--- a/src/Host/8bf/host_8bf.cpp
+++ b/src/Host/8bf/host_8bf.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 #include "Host/GmicQtHost.h"
 #include "ImageTools.h"
 #include "GmicQt.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 struct Gmic8bfLayer
diff --git a/src/Host/Gimp/host_gimp.cpp b/src/Host/Gimp/host_gimp.cpp
index cd19443..cd0c9c6 100644
--- a/src/Host/Gimp/host_gimp.cpp
+++ b/src/Host/Gimp/host_gimp.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "Host/GmicQtHost.h"
 #include "ImageTools.h"
 #include "GmicQt.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/Host/Krita/host_krita.cpp b/src/Host/Krita/host_krita.cpp
index afb2a64..0cfc031 100644
--- a/src/Host/Krita/host_krita.cpp
+++ b/src/Host/Krita/host_krita.cpp
@@ -41,6 +41,7 @@
 #include "Common.h"
 #include "Host/GmicQtHost.h"
 #include "GmicQt.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/Host/None/ImageDialog.cpp b/src/Host/None/ImageDialog.cpp
index 973c0ae..55bac48 100644
--- a/src/Host/None/ImageDialog.cpp
+++ b/src/Host/None/ImageDialog.cpp
@@ -31,6 +31,7 @@
 #include <QStringList>
 #include "Common.h"
 #include "JpegQualityDialog.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace gmic_qt_standalone
diff --git a/src/Host/None/host_none.cpp b/src/Host/None/host_none.cpp
index 35b68ea..300e69a 100644
--- a/src/Host/None/host_none.cpp
+++ b/src/Host/None/host_none.cpp
@@ -40,6 +40,7 @@
 #include "GmicQt.h"
 #include "Host/GmicQtHost.h"
 #include "Host/None/ImageDialog.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 #define STRINGIFY(X) #X
diff --git a/src/Host/PaintDotNet/host_paintdotnet.cpp b/src/Host/PaintDotNet/host_paintdotnet.cpp
index 60bdab7..fe5eb3c 100644
--- a/src/Host/PaintDotNet/host_paintdotnet.cpp
+++ b/src/Host/PaintDotNet/host_paintdotnet.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "Host/GmicQtHost.h"
 #include "MainWindow.h"
 #include "GmicQt.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 #include <Windows.h>
 
diff --git a/src/ImageTools.cpp b/src/ImageTools.cpp
index f27ce72..ff592b0 100644
--- a/src/ImageTools.cpp
+++ b/src/ImageTools.cpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #include <QImage>
 #include <QPainter>
 #include "GmicStdlib.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 /*
diff --git a/src/Logger.cpp b/src/Logger.cpp
index ddff5d9..81a4af4 100644
--- a/src/Logger.cpp
+++ b/src/Logger.cpp
@@ -29,6 +29,7 @@
 #include "Common.h"
 #include "Utils.h"
 #include "GmicQt.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/MainWindow.cpp b/src/MainWindow.cpp
index 33db6e4..4f5e650 100644
--- a/src/MainWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/MainWindow.cpp
@@ -61,6 +61,7 @@
 #include "Utils.h"
 #include "Widgets/VisibleTagSelector.h"
 #include "ui_mainwindow.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace
diff --git a/src/Misc.cpp b/src/Misc.cpp
index 3a4148b..c59b272 100644
--- a/src/Misc.cpp
+++ b/src/Misc.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "Globals.h"
 #include "HtmlTranslator.h"
 #include "Logger.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace
diff --git a/src/ParametersCache.cpp b/src/ParametersCache.cpp
index c7bcad8..8d2fc45 100644
--- a/src/ParametersCache.cpp
+++ b/src/ParametersCache.cpp
@@ -35,6 +35,7 @@
 #include "Globals.h"
 #include "Logger.h"
 #include "Utils.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/Updater.cpp b/src/Updater.cpp
index 47f6882..2f8e7de 100644
--- a/src/Updater.cpp
+++ b/src/Updater.cpp
@@ -33,6 +33,7 @@
 #include "Logger.h"
 #include "Misc.h"
 #include "Utils.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/Utils.cpp b/src/Utils.cpp
index dc0e1e4..ee6a119 100644
--- a/src/Utils.cpp
+++ b/src/Utils.cpp
@@ -36,6 +36,7 @@
 #include "Common.h"
 #include "Host/GmicQtHost.h"
 #include "Logger.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 #ifdef _IS_WINDOWS_
diff --git a/src/Widgets/PreviewWidget.cpp b/src/Widgets/PreviewWidget.cpp
index 6415b46..f87edac 100644
--- a/src/Widgets/PreviewWidget.cpp
+++ b/src/Widgets/PreviewWidget.cpp
@@ -42,6 +42,7 @@
 #include "Logger.h"
 #include "Misc.h"
 #include "OverrideCursor.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt
diff --git a/src/Widgets/ProgressInfoWindow.cpp b/src/Widgets/ProgressInfoWindow.cpp
index 5095528..341e2e0 100644
--- a/src/Widgets/ProgressInfoWindow.cpp
+++ b/src/Widgets/ProgressInfoWindow.cpp
@@ -38,6 +38,7 @@
 #include "HeadlessProcessor.h"
 #include "Updater.h"
 #include "ui_progressinfowindow.h"
+#include "CImg.h"
 #include "gmic.h"
 
 namespace GmicQt