escp2topbm

Convert a ESC/P2 printer file to a PBM image

$ escp2topbm [path/to/image.escp2] > [path/to/output.pbm]

escp2topbm [-xresolution=pixels_per_inch] [-yresolution=pixels_per_inch] [-width=pixels] [-height=pixels] [-r|-g|-b] [-gray] [-maxrow=N] [printer_data_file]

-xresolution=pixels_per_inch
    Specifies the horizontal resolution in pixels per inch for the output image. The default is 360.

-yresolution=pixels_per_inch
    Specifies the vertical resolution in pixels per inch for the output image. The default is 360.

-width=pixels
    Sets the output image width in pixels. If not specified, the width is inferred from the ESC/P2 data.

-height=pixels
    Sets the output image height in pixels. If not specified, the height is inferred from the ESC/P2 data.

-r
    Selects and outputs only the red component of a color image as a grayscale PBM.

-g
    Selects and outputs only the green component of a color image as a grayscale PBM.

-b
    Selects and outputs only the blue component of a color image as a grayscale PBM.

-gray
    Forces the output to be grayscale. If the input contains color information, the RGB components are averaged.

-maxrow=N
    Specifies a maximum row size for printer commands. This can be useful for handling potentially malformed or broken ESC/P2 streams. The default is 2000.

The escp2topbm command is a utility within the Netpbm suite, designed to convert data streams formatted for Epson ESC/P2 printers into a Portable Bitmap (PBM) image. Epson ESC/P2 is a common printer command language used by many dot matrix and inkjet printers to describe raster graphics. This command reads the binary ESC/P2 data, typically from standard input or a specified file, and translates the embedded graphic commands into a PBM image, which is then written to standard output.

It's particularly useful for extracting and viewing graphical content that would otherwise only be rendered on a printer. The output PBM image can then be further processed, converted to other formats, or displayed using other Netpbm tools or image viewers.

This command is specific to the Epson ESC/P2 printer language and will not work with data from other printer command languages (e.g., PostScript, PCL).
It primarily focuses on the raster graphics portions of the ESC/P2 stream; text commands may not be rendered or may appear inconsistently.
The quality and completeness of the output depend heavily on the accuracy of the resolution and dimension parameters, especially if not explicitly provided in the input stream.
Input streams with errors or non-standard ESC/P2 sequences may lead to malformed or incomplete PBM output.

escp2topbm is part of the Netpbm project, a widely used suite of graphics conversion tools for Unix-like systems. Netpbm originated from the pbmplus package, developed by Jef Poskanzer in the late 1980s. The suite provides a common set of tools for manipulating various image formats, primarily using the "portable anymap" (PBM, PGM, PPM, PAM) formats as an interchange medium. Converters like escp2topbm were developed to integrate specific niche formats, such as printer command languages, into this versatile framework, allowing users to extract and process graphical data from diverse sources.

pbm(5), escp2(5), netpbm(1), pbmtoescp2(1)