NAME

       ppmtosixel - convert a PPM image to DEC sixel format

SYNOPSIS

       ppmtosixel

       [-raw]

       [-margin]

       [-7bit]

       [ppmfile]

DESCRIPTION

       This program is part of Netpbm(1).

       ppmtosixel  reads  a  PPM  image  as  input  and  produces sixel commands (SIX) as output.  The output is
       formatted for color printing (e.g. for a DEC LJ250 color inkjet printer) or for color display on  DEC  VT
       terminals and terminal emulators (VT240 and beyond).

       If  RGB  values  from  the  PPM  file  do not have maxval=100, ppmtosixel rescales them to maxval 100.  A
       printer control header and a color assignment table begin the SIX file.  Image data is  in  a  compressed
       format by default.  A printer control footer ends the image file.

OPTIONS

       In  addition  to  the options common to all programs based on libnetpbm (most notably -quiet, see  Common
       Options ), ppmtosixel recognizes the following command line options:

       -raw   If you specify this, each pixel will be explicitly described in the image file.  If  -raw  is  not
              specified,  output  will  default  to  compressed  format  in  which identical adjacent pixels are
              replaced by "repeat pixel" commands.  A raw file is often an order  of  magnitude  larger  than  a
              compressed file and prints much slower.

       -margin
              If  you  don't  specify -margin, the image will start at the left margin (of the window, paper, or
              whatever).  If you do specify -margin, a 1.5 inch left margin will offset the image.

       -7bit  If you don't specify -7bit, each control code will be expressed as a single, 8-bit "C1" character.
              If you do specify -7bit, each control code will be expressed using  two,  7-bit  "C0"  characters.
              (See C0 and C1 control codes  for more information.)  In other words, -7bit produces more portable
              sixel files, and its absence produces smaller sixel files.

              This option was new in Netpbm 11.04 (September 2023).

PRINTING

       Generally,  sixel  files  must  reach  the  printer  unfiltered.  Use the lpr -x option or cat filename >
       /dev/tty0?.

LIMITATIONS

       Upon rescaling, truncation of the least  significant  bits  of  RGB  values  may  result  in  poor  color
       conversion.   If  the  original  PPM maxval was greater than 100, rescaling also reduces the image depth.
       While the actual RGB values from the ppm file are more or less retained, the color palette of  the  LJ250
       may not match the colors on your screen.  This seems to be a printer limitation.

SEE ALSO

       ppm(1)

AUTHOR

       Copyright (C) 1991 by Rick Vinci.

DOCUMENT SOURCE

       This  manual  page was generated by the Netpbm tool 'makeman' from HTML source.  The master documentation
       is at

              http://netpbm.sourceforge.net/doc/ppmtosixel.html

netpbm documentation                              1 August 2023                        Ppmtosixel User Manual(1)