ximtoppm

Convert an XIM image to a PPM image

$ ximtoppm [path/to/input_file.xim] > [path/to/output_file.ppm]

$ ximtoppm [[-a|-alphaout]] [path/to/alpha_file.pbm] [path/to/input_file.xim] > [path/to/output_file.ppm]

ximtoppm [ximfile]
If ximfile is not specified, ximtoppm reads from standard input. The output PPM data is always written to standard output.

ximtoppm is a specialized utility from the Netpbm image processing toolkit. Its primary function is to convert image files in the Xim (X Image Format), often used in X Window System environments, into the PPM (Portable Pixmap) format. The Xim format is a simple, uncompressed image file format. PPM is one of the three core formats (along with PBM for bitmaps and PGM for greymaps) of the Netpbm suite. The PPM format is widely used due to its simplicity and ease of conversion to numerous other popular image formats using other Netpbm tools. ximtoppm typically reads the Xim data from standard input if no input file is specified as an argument, and always writes the resulting PPM data to standard output. This adherence to the Unix philosophy makes it an ideal tool for integration into command-line pipelines for various image processing workflows.

Requires the Netpbm package to be installed on the system.
The input file or stream must be a valid Xim format; ximtoppm does not perform error correction for malformed files.
This command is highly specialized for Xim to PPM conversion and offers no direct options for image manipulation (e.g., resizing, cropping, color adjustments). For such tasks, other Netpbm utilities or general image manipulation software should be used after conversion to PPM.

Like most Netpbm utilities, ximtoppm adheres to the Unix philosophy of filters. It can read input from a file specified as an argument or from standard input, and always writes its output to standard output. This allows it to be easily integrated into shell scripts and pipelines.

Examples:

Convert 'input.xim' to 'output.ppm':
ximtoppm input.xim > output.ppm

Convert data from a pipe to 'output.ppm':
cat some_xim_data.xim | ximtoppm > output.ppm

ximtoppm is a component of the Netpbm project, which is a significant successor to the original Pbmplus package created by Jef Poskanzer in the late 1980s. The Pbmplus toolkit was designed to provide a flexible and portable set of tools for manipulating bitmap, greymap, and pixmap images on Unix-like systems. Netpbm, maintaining the Unix philosophy of small, specialized tools, continued and expanded this legacy, offering a vast array of converters and manipulators for various image formats. ximtoppm specifically addresses the conversion from X Window System's Xim format, reflecting the toolkit's historical roots in Unix graphical environments.

ppmtoxim(1), netpbm(1), pnm(5), anytopnm(1), convert(1)