pbmtoascii (1) Linux Manual Page
NAME
pbmtoascii – convert a portable bitmap into ASCII graphics
SYNOPSIS
pbmtoascii [-1×2|-2×4] [pbmfile]
DESCRIPTION
Reads a portable bitmap as input. Produces a somewhat crude ASCII graphic as output.
Note that there is no asciitopbm tool – this transformation is one-way.
OPTIONS
The -1×2 and -2×4 flags give you two alternate ways for the bits to get mapped to characters. With 1×2, the default, each character represents a group of 1 bit across by 2 bits down. With -2×4, each character represents 2 bits across by 4 bits down. With the 1×2 mode you can see the individual bits, so it’s useful for previewing small bitmaps on a non-graphics terminal. The 2×4 mode lets you display larger bitmaps on a standard 80-column display, but it obscures bit-level details. 2×4 mode is also good for displaying graymaps – "pnmscale -width 158 | pgmnorm | pgmtopbm -thresh" should give good results.
SEE ALSO
pbm(5)
AUTHOR
Copyright (C) 1988, 1992 by Jef Poskanzer.