pbmtozinc

Convert a PBM image to a Zinc bitmap

$ pbmtozinc [path/to/image.pbm] > [path/to/output.zinc]

pbmtozinc [pbmfile]

pbmfile
    The name of the PBM file to convert. If omitted, pbmtozinc reads the PBM image from standard input.

pbmtozinc is a utility from the Netpbm image manipulation toolkit. It converts a Portable BitMap (PBM) image into the proprietary Zinc format. The PBM format represents a monochrome image where each pixel is either black or white.

pbmtozinc takes this PBM input and produces a corresponding monochrome bitmap output in the Zinc format, which was historically used by certain typesetters and display systems. This command is particularly useful for integrating PBM images into workflows that require this specific, often niche, image format. If no input file is specified, pbmtozinc reads the PBM image data from standard input.

The Zinc format is a proprietary and relatively obscure format, primarily used by older typesetters and display systems. The output is always a monochrome bitmap, as per the nature of PBM and the Zinc format it targets. This command is part of the larger Netpbm suite, which often requires piping commands together for complex operations.

pbmtozinc was written by Arthur Smith. The Netpbm package is currently maintained by Bryan Henderson.

pbmtozinc is part of the Netpbm project, a comprehensive toolkit for image manipulation. Netpbm originated from the pbmplus package, created by Jef Poskanzer in 1988. Over time, pbmplus evolved and was renamed Netpbm, incorporating many new utilities while maintaining backward compatibility. pbmtozinc has been a part of this suite, serving the specific purpose of converting PBMs to the less common Zinc format, demonstrating Netpbm's broad support for various image standards, even niche ones.

pbm(5), netpbm(1), pbmtoepsi(1), pbmtopgm(1), pbmtopnm(1)