Netpbm Program Directory

We have the programs divided into these categories:

Converters
Editors
Generators
Analyzers
Miscellaneous

Converters

pnmtopnm: convert PNM image to PNM raw or plain
pgmtopgm: convert PGM or PBM image to PGM
ppmtoppm: convert PPM, PGM, or PBM image to PPM
pamtopam: convert PAM image to PAM
pbmtopgm: convert PBM image to PGM by averaging areas
pgmtoppm: colorize a PGM into a PPM
ppmtopgm: convert PPM image to PGM
pamtopnm: convert a PAM image to PBM, PGM, or PPM
pamtogif: convert PAM or PNM to GIF
giftopnm: convert GIF to PNM
pnmtojpeg: convert PNM to JPEG/JFIF/EXIF format
jpegtopnm: convert JFIF/JPEG/EXIF file to Netpbm format
pamtojpeg2k: convert PNM/PAM to JPEG-2000 code stream
jpeg2ktopam: convert JPEG-2000 code stream to PAM/PNM
pamtopng: convert Netpbm format to Portable Network Graphics
pnmtopng: convert Netpbm format to Portable Network Graphics
pngtopam: convert PNG (Portable Network Graphics) to Netpbm formats
pnmtops: convert Netpbm formats to Postscript
pstopnm: convert Postscript to Netpbm formats
pamtotiff: convert Netpbm formats to TIFF RGB file
tifftopnm: convert TIFF file to PNM
pnmtotiffcmyk: convert Netpbm formats to TIFF CMYK file
ppmtobmp: convert PPM to Windows or OS/2 Bitmap file
bmptopnm: convert Windows or OS/2 Bitmap file to PPM or PGM
pbmtog3: convert PBM to Group 3 FAX
g3topbm: convert Group 3 FAX to PBM
pnmtojbig: convert PNM to JBIG BIE (compressed bitmap)
jbigtopnm: convert JBIG BIE (compressed bitmap) to PNM
pnmtoxwd: convert Netpbm formats to X11 window dump
xwdtopnm: convert X10 or X11 window dump to Netpbm formats
pbmtoxbm: convert PBM to X10 or X11 bitmap
xbmtopbm: convert X10 or X11 bitmap to PBM
ppmtoxpm: convert PPM to XPM format
xpmtoppm: convert XPM format to PPM
pbmto10x: convert PBM to Gemini 10x printer graphics
411toppm: convert 411 (Sony Mavica) to PPM
pbmto4425: Display PBM image on AT&T 4425 ASCII terminal with gfx chars
ppmtoacad: convert PPM to AutoCAD database or slide
ppmtoapplevol: convert PPM to Apple volume label image
pbmtoascii: convert PBM to ASCII graphic form
ppmtoascii: convert PPM to ASCII graphics with ANSI terminal color control
asciitopgm: convert ASCII character graphics to PGM
pbmtoatk: convert PBM to Andrew Toolkit raster object
atktopbm: convert Andrew Toolkit raster object to PBM
pamtoavs: convert Netpbm image to Stardent AVS
avstopam: convert Stardent AVS image to PAM
pbmtobbnbg: convert PBM to BBN BitGraph graphics
bioradtopgm: convert Biorad confocal image to PGM
brushtopbm: convert Xerox doodle brushes to PBM
cameratopam: convert raw camera image to PAM
pbmtocis: convert PBM to Compuserve RLE image
cistopbm: convert Compuserve RLE image to PBM
pbmtocmuwm: convert PBM to CMU window manager format
cmuwmtopbm: convert CMU window manager format to PBM
ddbugtopbm: convert Palm DiddleBug image to PBM
pnmtoddif: convert from Netpbm formats to DDIF
pamtodjvurle: convert PNM/PAM to DjVu Color RLE format
pbmtodjvurle: convert PBM to DjVu Bitonal RLE format
pbmtoepsi: convert a PBM image to encapsulated Postscript preview bitmap
pbmtoepson: convert PBM to Epson 9-pin printer graphics
pbmtoescp2: convert PBM to Epson ESC/P2 printer graphics
escp2topbm: convert Epson ESC/P2 printer graphics to PBM
ppmtoeyuv: convert PPM to Encoder/Berkeley YUV format
eyuvtoppm: convert Encoder/Berkeley YUV format to PPM
pnmtofiasco: convert Netpbm image to Fiasco (wfa) highly compressed format
fiascotopnm: convert Fiasco (wfa) highly compressed format to Netpbm image
pamtofits: convert Netpbm formats to FITS format
fitstopnm: convert FITS format to PNM
pgmtofs: convert PGM to Usenix FaceSaver(tm) format
fstopgm: convert Usenix FaceSaver(tm) format to PGM
pbmtogem: convert PBM into GEM .img file
gemtopnm: convert GEM .img format to Netpbm format
pbmtogo: convert PBM to GraphOn graphics
gouldtoppm: convert Gould scanner file to PPM
pamtohdiff: convert PAM image to horizontal difference version of same
hdifftopam: convert horizontal difference PAM back to original image
hipstopgm: convert HIPS format to PGM
hpcdtoppm: convert photo CD to PPM
pamtohtmltbl: convert PNM/PAM to an HTML table with a colored cell for each pixel
pbmtoibm23xx: convert from PBM to IBM 23XX printer stream
ppmtoicr: convert PPM to NCSA ICR graphics
ppmtoilbm: convert PPM to IFF ILBM
ilbmtoppm: convert IFF ILBM to PPM
imgtoppm: convert Img-whatnot to PPM
infotopam: convert Amiga .info icons to PAM
ppmtoleaf: convert PPM to Interleaf
leaftoppm: convert Interleaf to PPM
pgmtolispm: convert PGM into Lisp Machine format
lispmtopgm: convert a Lisp Machine bitmap file into PGM format
pbmtolj: convert PBM to HP LaserJet black and white graphics
ppmtolj: convert PPM to HP LaserJet color graphics (PCL 5)
pbmtoln03: convert PGM image to Dec LN03+ Sixel image
pbmtolps: convert PBM image to Postscript using lines
pbmtomacp: convert PBM to MacPaint
macptopbm: convert MacPaint to PBM
pbmtomatrixorbital: convert a PBM image to a Matrix Orbital LCD image
pbmtomda: convert from PBM to Microdesign (for Amstrad PCWs)
mdatopbm: convert from Microdesign (for Amstrad PCWs) to PBM
pbmtomgr: convert PBM to MGR format
mgrtopbm: convert MGR format to PBM
ppmtomitsu: convert from PPM to Mitsubishi S340-10 printer stream
ppmtompeg: convert series of PPM frames to an MPEG movie
pamtompfont: convert Netpbm image to Mplayer bitmap font
pbmtomrf: convert PBM image to MRF (compressed bitmap)
mrftopbm: convert MRF (compressed bitmap) to PBM
mtvtoppm: convert MTV ray-tracer output to PPM
ppmtoneo: convert PPM image to Atari Neochrome (.neo)
neotoppm: convert Atari Neochrome (.neo) image to PPM
pbmtonokia: convert PBM to Nokia Smart Messaging Format (SMF)
pamtooctaveimg: convert PNM/PAM to Gnu Octave image
pnmtopalm: convert Netpbm formats to Palm pixmap
palmtopnm: convert Palm pixmap to Netpbm formats
pc1toppm: convert Atari Degas .pc1 (compressed pi1) to PPM
pcdovtoppm: convert a photo CD PCD overview file to PPM
pnmtopclxl: convert PNM to HP PCL-XL (PCL 6) printer language
ppmtopcx: convert PPM to PC Paintbrush format
pcxtoppm: convert PC Paintbrush format to PPM
pamtopdbimg: convert Netpbm formats to Palm Pilot Image Viewer format
pdbimgtopam: convert Palm Pilot Image Viewer format to Netpbm formats.
pamtopfm: convert PAM/PNM to HDRshop PFM (Portable Float Map)
pfmtopam: convert HDRshop PFM (Portable Float Map) to PAM
ppmtopi1: convert PPM to Atari Degas .pi1
pi1toppm: convert Atari Degas .pi1 to PPM
pbmtopi3: convert PBM to Atari Degas .pi3
pi3topbm: convert Atari Degas .pi3 to PBM
ppmtopict: convert PPM to Macintosh PICT (aka Picture aka Quickdraw)
picttoppm: convert Macintosh PICT (aka Picture aka Quickdraw) to PPM
ppmtopj: convert PPM to HP PaintJet file
pjtoppm: convert HP PaintJet file to PPM
ppmtopjxl: convert from PPM to HP Paintjet XL PCL printer stream
pbmtopk: convert PBM image to packed format (PK) font
pktopbm: convert packed format (PK) font to PBM image
pbmtoplot: convert PBM into Unix plot file
pbmtoppa: convert PBM to HP PPA (Printer Performance Architecture) printer stream
pbmtopsg3: convert PBM images to Postscript using G3 fax compression.
psidtopgm: convert PostScript "image" data to PGM
pbmtoptx: convert PBM to Printronix graphics
ppmtopuzz: convert PPM to X11 "puzzle" file
qrttoppm: convert QRT ray-tracer output to PPM
pnmtorast: convert Netpbm formats to Sun raster file
rasttopnm: convert Sun raster file to Netpbm formats
rlatopam: convert Alias/Wavefront RLA and RPF to PAM
pnmtorle: convert PNM to Utah Raster Toolkit (urt/rle) file
rletopnm: convert Utah Raster Toolkit (urt/rle) file to PNM
sbigtopgm: convert Santa Barbara Instrument Group CCD file to PGM
pgmtosbig: convert PGM to Santa Barbara Instrument Group CCD file
st4topgm: convert Santa Barbara Instrument Group ST-4 camera CCD file to PGM
pgmtost4: convert PGM to Santa Barbara Instrument Group ST-4 camera CCD file
pnmtosgi: convert from Netpbm formats to SGI format
sgitopnm: convert from SGI format to Netpbm formats
pnmtosir: convert from Netpbm formats to Solitaire Image Recorder file (MGI Type 11 or 17)
sirtopnm: convert from Solitaire Image Recorder file to Netpbm formats.
ppmtosixel: convert PPM to DEC sixel format
sldtoppm: convert an AutoCAD slide file into a PPM
spctoppm: convert Atari compressed Spectrum to PPM
spottopgm: convert SPOT satellite image to PGM
ppmtospu: convert PPM to Atari uncompressed Spectrum
sputoppm: convert Atari uncompressed Spectrum to PPM
pamtosrf: convert Netpbm formats to SRF
srftopam: convert SRF to PAM
pbmtosunicon: convert PBM to Sun icon
sunicontopnm: convert Sun icon to Netpbm
pamtosvg: convert Netpbm image to Scalable Vector Graphics (SVG); trace image
svgtopam: convert an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) image to Netpbm format
ppmtoterm: display PPM image on ANSI standard text terminal
pamtotga: convert PAM to TrueVision Targa file
tgatoppm: convert TrueVision Targa file to PPM
thinkjettopbm: convert HP Thinkjet printer stream to PBM
pamtouil: convert PAM to Motif UIL icon file
vidtoppm: convert Parallax XVideo JPEG to sequence of PPM files
pbmtowbmp: convert PBM to WAP (Wireless App Protocol) Wireless Bitmap
wbmptopbm: convert WAP (Wireless App Protocol) Wireless Bitmap to PBM
pamtowinicon: convert PAM to Windows icon file
ppmtowinicon: convert PPM to Windows icon file (obsoleted by pamtowinicon).
winicontopam: convert Windows icon file to PAM
winicontoppm: convert Windows icon file to PPM (obsoleted by winicontoapm).
ximtoppm: convert Xim to PPM
pamtoxvmini: convert from Netpbm formats to Xv "thumbnail" picture
xvminitoppm: convert Xv "thumbnail" picture to PPM
pbmtoybm: convert PBM into Bennet Yee "face" file
ybmtopbm: convert Bennet Yee "face" file into PBM
ppmtoyuv: convert PPM to Abekas YUV format
yuvtoppm: convert Abekas YUV format to PPM
ppmtoyuvsplit: convert PPM to 3 subsampled raw Stanford MPEG YUV files
yuvsplittoppm: merge 3 subsampled raw YUV files to one PPM
yuy2topam: convert YUY2 format to PAM
zeisstopnm: convert a Zeiss confocal file to Netpbm format
pbmtozinc: convert PBM to Zinc Interface Library icon
pamtoqoi: convert from Netpbm formats to Quite OK Image format
qoitopam: convert from Quite OK Image format to PAM
rawtopgm: convert raw grayscale bytes to PGM
rawtoppm: convert raw RGB bytes to PPM
ppmtoarbtxt: convert PPM to just about any text-based format, using a grammar file
anytopnm: convert any graphics format to Netpbm format

Image Generators

All of these generate Netpbm format output.

pbmmake: create a blank PBM image of a specified size
pgmmake: create a PGM image of a specified size and shade of gray
ppmmake: create a PPM image of a specified size and color
pgmramp: generate a grayscale ramp (gradient)
pamgradient: create a four-corner gradient image
pampaintspill: smoothly spill colors into the background
ppmpat: create a pretty PPM image
ppmrainbow: create a spectrum-like image with colors fading together.
ppmrough: create PPM image of two colors with a ragged border between them
pamcrater: create cratered terrain by fractal forgery
ppmforge: fractal forgeries of clouds, planets, and starry skies
pbmnoise: create a PBM image of white noise
pgmnoise: create a PGM image of white noise
pbmtext: render text into a PBM image
pbmtextps: render text into a PBM image using a Postscript interpreter
pbmupc: create a Universal Product Code PBM image
pamstereogram: create a single image stereogram from a height map
pamsistoaglyph: convert a single-image stereogram to a red/cyan anaglyphic image
ppmwheel: generate a hue-value color wheel
ppmcie: generate a CIE color map PPM image
pbmpage: create a printer test pattern page in PBM format
pamseq: create a PAM image of all possible tuple values. E.g. a color map containing all possible colors of given maxval
pamgauss: create a PAM image of a Gaussian (bell curve; normal curve) function.
ppm3d: generate a blue/green 3D glasses image from two images

Image Editors

All of these work on the Netpbm formats

pamdepth: change the maxval in an image
pamscale: scale/resample an image with high precision
pnmscalefixed: scale an image quickly with low precision
pamstretch: scale up an image by inserting interpolated pixels
pamstretch-gen: scale by non-integer values using pamstretch and pamscale
pamenlarge: enlarge an image N times
pbmpscale: enlarge a PBM image with edge smoothing
pbmreduce: reduce a PBM N times, using Floyd-Steinberg
pamcut: select a rectangular region from an image
pnmcrop: crop all like-colored borders off an image
pnmpad: add borders to an image
pnmmargin: add a margin to an image
pamflip: perform one or more flip operations on an image
pnmrotate: rotate an image
pamcat: concatenate images
pamcomp: create composite (overlay) of images
pnmcomp: obsolete version of pamcomp (kept because it may have fewer bugs)
pnmpaste: paste a rectangle into an image
pnmstitch: stitch together panoramic (side-by-side) photographs
pamarith: apply simple arithmetic binary function to samples in two images
pammixmulti: mix multiple images.
ppmmix: mix (overlay) two images.
pamfunc: apply simple arithmetic function to samples in an image
pambrighten: brighten or dim an image -- change saturation and value
ppmflash: brighten an image
pamaltsat: change saturation of an image in alternative way
ppmdim: dim an image - different way from pambrighten
ppmdist: map colors to high contrast grayscales arbitrarily
pnmhisteq: histogram equalize image to increase contrast
pnmnorm: normalize contrast (adjust levels)
pamlevels: adjust levels of color components
pamrecolor: alter colors without affecting luminance
ppmntsc: adjust colors so they are legal for NTSC or PAL television
pnminvert: invert an image (exchange black and white)
pnmgamma: perform gamma correction on an image
ppmdither: ordered dither for color images
pamditherbw: dither a grayscale image to black and white (convert PGM to PBM)
pbmclean: remove lone pixels (snow) from a PBM image
pamthreshold: threshold a grayscale image to black and white (convert PGM to PBM)
pnmnlfilt: filter an image by replacing each pixel with a function of nearby pixels
pnmconvol: general MxN convolution on an image. Can blur an image.
pnmsmooth: smooth an image
pgmmedian: apply a median filter to an image
pammasksharpen: sharpen an image via an unsharp mask
pnmalias: antialias an image
pamedge: edge-detect (outline) an image
ppmrelief: run a Laplacian Relief filter on a PPM
pamshadedrelief: generate shaded relief image from an elevation map
pgmenhance: edge-enhance a PGM image
pgmmorphconv: perform morphological convolutions on a PGM image: dilation and erosion.
pgmbentley: bentleyize a PGM image
ppmchange: change all of one color to another in PPM image
pamhue: shift all the hues in an image
pnmquant: quantize colors/shades in a color or grayscale image down to fewer
pnmquantall: quantize colors on many files
pnmremap: replace colors in an image with those from a color map
pamlookup: map an image to a new image by using it as indices into a table
pamunlookup: inverse of pamlookup - generates the index image
ppmshift: shift lines of PPM image left or right a random amount
ppmspread: move pixels of PPM image a random amount
pnmshear: shear an image
pamrubber: rubber sheet deforming, distortion, stretching of an image
pamhomography: stretch/shrink a quadrilateral region of an image to another quadrilateral shape
pamaddnoise: add noise to an image
pamwipeout: replace detail with smooth gradient from one edge to the other
pamperspective: change perspective distortion in an image
pgmabel: create cross-section of an image using Abel integration for deconvolution
pnmmercator: turn a rectangular projection map into a Mercator projection
ppmglobe: turn a cylindrical projection into strips that can be glued onto a sphere
pnmtile: replicate an image into a specified size
pamdice: slice an image into many horizontally and/or vertically
pamundice: assemble an image from tiles (opposite of pamdice)
pammixinterlace: mix adjacent lines to merge interlaced images
pamdeinterlace: remove every other row from an image
ppmshadow: add a shadow to an image so it looks like it's floating
pgmdeshadow: deshadow a PGM image
ppmdraw: draw text, lines, shapes, etc. on an image
ppmlabel: add text to an image
pamtris: triangle rasterizer
pamsummcol: summarize (sum, average, etc) an image by column
ppmfade: produce series of images fading from one to another
pamshuffle: move pixels around randomly
pamoil: turn a PNM or PAM image into an oil painting
ppmtv: make an image lined so it looks like an old TV

Image Analyzers

These all work on the Netpbm formats as input.

pamfile: describe an image's vital characteristics
pamtable: print an image's raster in decimal
pamslice: print a row or column of an image in decimal
pamfind: tell where all tuples of a certain value are in an image
pnmpsnr: measure difference between two images
pgmhist: print a histogram of the values in a PGM image
ppmhist: print a histogram of a PPM
pnmhistmap: draw a histogram of a PGM or PPM
pnmcolormap: choose the N best colors to represent an image; create a colormap
pamsumm: summarize (sum, average, etc.) all samples in an image
pamgetcolor: display the average colors from specified regions in an image
pgmtexture: calculate textural features on a PGM image
pamsharpness: measure the sharpness of an image
pamsharpmap: create map of sharpness in an image
pamtilt: measure the tilt of an image, i.e. document skew
pgmminkowski: compute Minkowski integral over a PGM image
pbmminkowski: compute Minkowski integral over a PBM image
pammosaicknit: validate a mosaic knitting pattern

Miscellaneous

pamchannel: extract individual planes (channel, e.g. R, G, or B) from an image
pamstack: stack the planes of multiple PAM images into a single output image
ppmtorgb3: separate a PPM into three PGMs
rgb3toppm: combine three PGMs into one PPM
pampick: pick images out of a multi-image Netpbm image stream
pamsplit: split a multi-image Netpbm file into multiple 1-image files
pamrestack: rearrange (reflow) pixels into different size rows
pamexec: run a shell command on each image of a multi-image stream
pamendian: swap bytes in multi-byte samples of a PAM image
pamfix: salvage a Netpbm image whose file is truncated or has invalid sample values
pamvalidate: copy Netpbm image stream, if and only if entire stream is valid Netpbm.
pbmmask: create a mask bitmap from a regular bitmap
ppmcolormask: create mask of areas of a certain color in an image
pambackground: create mask of the background of an image
pambayer: interpret Bayer patterns
pnmmontage: build multiple Netpbm images into a single montage image
pbmlife: apply Conway's rules of Life to a PBM image
pampop9: simulate a multi-lens camera such as the Pop9
ppmdmkfont: create Ppmdfont "standard"
ppmddumpfont: dump a Ppmdfont file
ppmdcfont: turn a Ppmdfont file into C source for a builtin font
pnmindex: build a visual index of a bunch of Netpbm images
pgmkernel: generate a convolution kernel
ppmsvgalib: display a PPM image on a Linux virtual console using Svgalib
pamx: display a Netpbm image in an X Window System window

Obsolete Names

There used to be programs by the following names. Each has been either renamed to a more illustrative name, or superseded by a more general function. In most cases, Netpbm is installed with symbolic links that allow old programs and procedures to use these names but run the replacement programs. In some cases, programs by these names still exist but are just simple backward compatibility wrappers around the replacement program.