bioradtopgm

Convert a Biorad confocal file to PGM

$ bioradtopgm [bioradfile.pic] > [output.pgm]

$ bioradtopgm -imagenum [0] [bioradfile.pic] > [output.pgm]

$ bioradtopgm -truegrayscale [bioradfile.pic] > [output.pgm]

$ cat [bioimage.pic] | bioradtopgm | pnmtojpeg > [output.jpg]

$ bioradtopgm [bioradfile.pic]

bioradtopgm [-imagenum n] [-truegrayscale] [bioradfile]

bioradtopgm converts Biorad confocal microscope image files (PIC format) to PGM (Portable GrayMap) format. It is part of the Netpbm package of image manipulation utilities.
If no file argument is provided, the program reads from standard input. Output is written to standard output. For multi-image files, running without -imagenum displays information about the file's dimensions and image count.
By default, intensity values are scaled to span the full 0-255 range for better visual contrast.

-imagenum n

Select which image to extract from a multi-image file. Images are numbered starting at zero.

Preserve original intensity values without scaling. Important for scientific applications requiring photometric accuracy.

If the output image appears upside down, pipe it through pamflip -tb to correct orientation. Output is in PGM format; use additional Netpbm tools like pnmtojpeg or pnmtopng to convert to common formats.

Part of the Netpbm toolkit, bioradtopgm was developed to enable conversion of proprietary Bio-Rad confocal microscope data into open, interchangeable formats for scientific and medical research workflows.

pamflip(1), pnmtojpeg(1), pnmtopng(1), netpbm(1)