ppmtoxpm(1)                                                   General Commands Manual                                                  ppmtoxpm(1)

NAME

       ppmtoxpm - convert a portable pixmap into an X11 pixmap

SYNOPSIS

       ppmtoxpm [-name=xpmname] [-rgb=rgb-textfile] [-alphamask=pgmfile] [ppmfile]

       Minimum unique abbrevations are acceptable.

DESCRIPTION

       Reads a portable pixmap as input.  Produces X11 pixmap (version 3) as output which can be loaded directly by the XPM library.

       For example, to convert the file "dot" (found in /usr/include/X11/bitmaps), from xbm to xpm one could specify

              xbmtopbm dot | ppmtoxpm -name dot

       or, with a rgb text file (in the local directory)

              xbmtopbm dot | ppmtoxpm -name dot -rgb rgb.txt

OPTIONS

       -name=xpmname
              The  -name  option  allows  you  to  specify the prefix string which is printed in the resulting XPM output.  If not specified, will
              default to the filename (without extension) of the <ppmfile> argument.  If you do not specify -name or ppmfile, (i.e. your input  is
              from Standad Input), the prefix string defaults to the string noname.

       rgb=rgb-textfile
              The  -rgb option allows you to specify an X11 rgb text file for the lookup of color name mnemonics.  This rgb text file is typically
              the /usr/lib/X11/rgb.txt of the MIT X11 distribution, but any file using the same format may be used.   When  specified  and  a  RGB
              value  from  the ppm input matches a RGB value from the <rgb-textfile>, then the corresponding color name mnemonic is printed in the
              XPM's colormap.  If you don't specify -rgb or if the RGB values don't match, then ppmtoxpm produces the color specifications in  the
              #RGB, #RRGGBB, #RRRGGGBBB, or #RRRRGGGGBBBB hexadecimal format.

       -alphamask=pgmfile
              This  option  names  a  PGM  file to use as an alpha (transparency) mask.  The file must contain an image the same dimensions as the
              input image.  ppmtoxpm marks as transparent any pixel whose position in the alpha mask image is at most half white.

              If you don't specify -alphamask, ppmtoxpm makes all pixels in the output opaque.

              ppmcolormask is one way to generate an alpha mask file.  You might also generate it by extracting transparency information  from  an
              XPM file with the -alphaout option to xpmtoppm.  There are similar options on other Netpbm converters that convert from formats that
              include transparency information too.

LIMITATIONS

       An option to match the closest (rather than exact) color name mnemonic from the rgb text would be a desirable enhancement.

       Truncation of the least significant bits of a RGB value may result in nonexact matches when performing color name mnemonic lookups.

SEE ALSO

       ppmcolormask(1), xpmtoppm(1), ppm(5)
       XPM Manual by Arnaud Le Hors lehors@mirsa.inria.fr

AUTHOR

       Copyright (C) 1990 by Mark W. Snitily.

       Permission to use, copy, modify, and distribute this software and its documentation for any purpose and without fee is hereby granted, pro-
       vided  that  the  above copyright notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright notice and this permission notice appear in sup-
       porting documentation.  This software is provided "as is" without express or implied warranty.

       This tool was developed for Schlumberger Technologies, ATE Division, and with their permission is being made available to the  public  with
       the above copyright notice and permission notice.

       Upgraded to XPM2 by
          Paul Breslaw, Mecasoft SA, Zurich, Switzerland (paul@mecazh.uu.ch)
          Thu Nov  8 16:01:17 1990

       Upgraded to XPM version 3 by
          Arnaud Le Hors (lehors@mirsa.inria.fr)
          Tue Apr 9 1991

                                                                  Tue Apr 9 1991                                                       ppmtoxpm(1)