PBM2PPA(1)

🌸 pbm2ppa — the manual, but make it make sense 💅

okay bestie, this is the manual page for pbm2ppa, section 1, and it's giving "ancient but iconic." she's been around since 5 Feb 2000 and she has one job. let's get into it 🫶

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✨ NAME ✨

pbm2ppa — convert portable bitmap (PBM) to HP's Printing Performance Architecture (PPA) file format

like. the name literally tells you. PBM in, PPA out. slay. 💖

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✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

pbm2ppa [options] [ <infile] > [ <outfile]> ] ]

yes the brackets are unhinged, no we are not touching them, they're part of the lore. 💀

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✨ DESCRIPTION ✨

So here's the vibe: this little icon reads portable bitmap (PBM) format as input, and spits out a stream that Hewlett-Packard's range of Printing Performance Architecture (PPA) printers can actually digest. she's not picky about company — pnm2ppa supports the HP 710c, 712c, 720c, 722c, 820c, and 1000c series printers. periodt. 👑

Little side quest for you: if you need PBM output and all you have is PostScript(tm) input, the GhostScript driver pbmraw is your girl. she'll hand you the PBM. 🎀

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✨ OPTIONS ✨

okay this is the part everyone scrolls to. buckle up, there's a lot of them, and they're all lowkey useful.

• infile — the input file. it's either a path to a file or a device, or - to mean stdin. if you don't say anything, it defaults to stdin. shy queen. 🙈
• outfile — the output file. either a path to a file or a device, or - to mean stdout. defaults to stdout. main character energy, honestly. ✨
• -b bottommargin — sets the bottom margin bottommargin in units of 1/600 inches. so like, -b 150 = 0.25". math is math bestie 📐
• -d — displays the current configuration. a little mirror moment. 🪞
• -f configfile — overrides reading the configuration from /etc/pnm2ppa.conf and uses configfile instead. "not that file, this file." 💅
• -h — displays program usage. she's helping! 🫶
• -l leftmargin — sets the left margin leftmargin in units of 1/600 inches (e.g. -l 150 = 0.25"). lefties rise up 🌸
• -r rightmargin — sets the right margin rightmargin in units of 1/600 inches (e.g. -r 150 = 0.25"). and the right side said "me too" 💖
• -s papersize — sets the paper size. possible values for papersize are a4 (A4), letter or us (US Letter, 8.5"x11"), and legal (US Legal, 8.5"x14"). the default is US Letter. 🗒️
• -t topmargin — sets the top margin topmargin in units of 1/600 inches (ie -t 150 = 0.25"). yes it says "ie" here, not "e.g." — we are quoting her exactly, no cap. ⭐
• -v printertype — selects the printer model. possible values of printertype are: 710, 712, 720, 722, 820 and 1000. the default is the HP DeskJet 7X0 Series (710, 712, 720, 722). pick your fighter 👑
• -x xoffset — sets the x-offset xoffset from the left of the page. units are 1/600 inches. ➡️
• -y yoffset — sets the y-offset yoffset from the top of the page. units are 1/600 inches. ⬇️

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✨ NOTES ✨

two things, and they MATTER, so listen up:

1. the configuration file gets read in first. then command line arguments modify the resulting definitions. order of operations, babes. 📋
2. the -x and -y options accumulate. but the -v option resets all definitions back to an inbuilt default for that printer, so you should use it before your subsequent -b, -l, -r, -t, -x, and -y arguments.

lowkey this is the number one way to mess yourself up. -v is a reset button. put it first or she'll undo all your cute little margins. 😭

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✨ SEE ALSO ✨

• pbm(5)

go read her too, she's the origin story 🦋

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✨ FILES ✨

• /etc/pbm2ppa.conf — Default configuration file. that's the one -f is gonna override, iykyk 🎀

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✨ AUTHOR ✨

This code is licensed under the GNU Public License version 2. See LICENSE for details.

(c) 1998 Tim Norman

give her her flowers 💐

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✨ HISTORY ✨

This program was written by Tim Norman. It originally supported black and white output on the 820 series.

and here's the sad part: this program is almost obsolete. its successor pnm2ppa will support color printing. so like, she's the prequel. respect the prequel. 😭👑

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✨ BUGS ✨

This is a stable driver, but it does not support color printing. that's the whole bug report. black and white only, bestie, she's doing her best 🖤🤍

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and that's the whole page!! you made it, I'm so proud of you 🌈💖

signing off — this was pnm2ppa, dated 5 Feb 2000, and she's still out here converting bitmaps like the legend she is. no cap. periodt. 💅✨