asciitopgm

asciitopgm(1)               General Commands Manual              asciitopgm(1)

NAME
       asciitopgm - convert ASCII graphics into a portable graymap

SYNOPSIS
       asciitopgm [-d divisor] height width [asciifile]

DESCRIPTION
       Reads ASCII data as input.  Produces a portable graymap with pixel val-
       ues which are an approximation of the "brightness" of the ASCII charac-
       ters, assuming black-on-white printing.  In other words, a capital M is
       very dark, a period is ver light, and a space is  white.   Input  lines
       which  are  fewer  than  width characters are automatically padded with
       spaces.

       The divisor argument is a floating-point number  by  which  the  output
       pixels  are divided; the default value is 1.0.  This can be used to ad-
       just the brightness of the graymap: for example, if the  image  is  too
       dim, reduce the divisor.

       In  keeping  with  (I  believe) Fortran line-printer conventions, input
       lines beginning with a + (plus) character are assumed  to  "overstrike"
       the previous line, allowing a larger range of gray values.

       This  tool contradicts the message in the pbmtoascii manual: "Note that
       there is no asciitopbm tool - this transformation is one-way."

BUGS
       The table of ASCII-to-grey values is subject to interpretation, and, of
       course, depends on the typeface intended for the input.

SEE ALSO
       pbmtoascii(1), pgm(5)

AUTHOR
       Wilson H. Bent. Jr. (whb@usc.edu)

                               26 December 1994                  asciitopgm(1)