std::ifstream my_file("padimage.png");
if (my_file.good())
{
    std::cout << "could read file n";
} else {
    std::cout << "could not read file n";
}

char wd[1024];
std::cout << getcwd(wd, sizeof(wd)) << std::endl;

./padimage.png

./ProjectName.app/Contents/Resources/padimage.png