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NAME

       ppmtosixel - convert a portable pixmap into DEC sixel format

SYNOPSIS

       ppmtosixel [-raw] [-margin] [ppmfile]

DESCRIPTION

       Reads  a  portable  pixmap  as input.  Produces sixel commands (SIX) as
       output.  The output is formatted for color printing,  e.g.  for  a  DEC
       LJ250 color inkjet printer.

       If  RGB values from the PPM file do not have maxval=100, the RGB values
       are rescaled.  A printer control header and a  color  assignment  table
       begin  the  SIX  file.  Image data is written in a compressed format by
       default.  A printer control footer ends the image file.

OPTIONS

       -raw   If specified, each pixel will be  explicitly  described  in  the
              image  file.   If  -raw is not specified, output will default to
              compressed  format  in  which  identical  adjacent  pixels   are
              replaced  by  "repeat  pixel"  commands.  A raw file is often an
              order of magnitude larger than a compressed file and prints much
              slower.

       -margin
              If -margin is not specified, the image will be start at the left
              margin (of the window,  paper,  or  whatever).   If  -margin  is
              specified, a 1.5 inch left margin will offset the image.

PRINTING

       Generally,  sixel files must reach the printer unfiltered.  Use the lpr
       -x option or cat filename > /dev/tty0?.

BUGS

       Upon rescaling, truncation of the least significant bits of RGB  values
       may  result  in  poor color conversion.  If the original PPM maxval was
       greater than 100, rescaling also reduces the image  depth.   While  the
       actual  RGB  values  from  the  ppm file are more or less retained, the
       color palette of the LJ250 may not match the  colors  on  your  screen.
       This seems to be a printer limitation.

SEE ALSO

       ppm(5)

AUTHOR

       Copyright (C) 1991 by Rick Vinci.

                                 26 April 1991                   ppmtosixel(1)