pbmtoicon

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$ tldr pbmtosunicon

pbmtoicon [-iconname=name] [-left=xpos] [-top=ypos] [pbmfile]

-iconname=name
    Icon name string (default: icon)

-left=xpos
    Horizontal position of upper-left corner (default: 0)

-top=ypos
    Vertical position of upper-left corner (default: 0)

pbmtoicon is a utility from the Netpbm graphics package that transforms a portable bitmap (PBM) image into an Amiga ICON file, used by AmigaOS for desktop icons on the Workbench.

The input must be a strictly 64x64 pixel monochrome PBM (black pixels for foreground, white for background). It embeds the bitmap, along with metadata like name and position, into a binary .info file.

Output goes to stdout, so pipe or redirect it: pbmtoicon input.pbm > icon.info. Ideal for creating custom Amiga icons from modern tools or archiving legacy graphics.

This tool preserves the simplicity of PBM while adapting to Amiga's icon format, which supports positioning on the 640x400 Workbench screen. Black areas define the icon shape; white is transparent background.

Input PBM must be exactly 64x64 pixels, monochrome (0/1 values only). Grayscale, color, or wrong size causes errors or invalid icons. Output is binary; use redirection.

Developed by Jef Poskanzer in the late 1980s as part of the original Netpbm suite for Unix-like systems. Maintained in Netpbm project; supports legacy Amiga graphics conversion.

pbm(5), pnmtopbm(1), Netpbm(1)