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
picttoppm: convert Macintosh PICT 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
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
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
pnmcat: 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
ppmbrighten: 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 ppmbrighten
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
pamoil: turn a PNM or PAM image into an oil painting
ppmtv: make an image lined so it looks like an old TV
ppmchange: change all of one color to another in PPM 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
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)
ppmtorgb3: separate a PPM into three PGMs
rgb3toppm: combine three PGMs into one PPM
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

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
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
pampick: pick images out of a multi-image Netpbm image stream
pamsplit: split a multi-image Netpbm file into multiple 1-image files
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: