PIX-PNG(1)

📦
version 7.44.0 · 2 versions
, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 PIX-PNG(1) — the girlies' guide to turning PIX into PNG 💖

okay so bestie, you've got a BRL-CAD pix-png situation and I'm gonna walk you through it, no cap. This is the pix-png page from the BRL-CAD manual set, and by the end you'll be converting images like it's nothing. ✨

🌸 NAME 🌸

pix-png — turns a BRL-CAD PIX image into a PNG image. that's it, that's the whole vibe. 🎀

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

pix-png [-a] [-w file_width] [-n file_height] [-s squaresize] [-g gamma] [-o file.png] [file.pix] [> file.png]

like, look at her. iconic. 💅

🦋 DESCRIPTION 🦋

pix-png takes a pix(5) format image — read either from standard input or from file.pix — and converts it into a PNG (Portable Network Graphics) image written to standard output (or to whatever file you named with -o). The output is an 8-bit RGB PNG. periodt. 🌈

here's the thing though, and it's lowkey important: PIX files carry no dimension information. none. zero. so if your input isn't the default 512x512, you have to tell pix-png the size yourself. you do that with -w and -n, or the shorthand -s if your image is a square, or -a if you want it to read the size right off the file name. main character energy is knowing your own dimensions, and PIX simply does not. 😭

by default, no gAMA chunk is written. if you want a source gamma recorded in the PNG, you gotta supply -g. that's the whole tea. 🍓

💜 OPTIONS 💜

  • -a — autosize the input by deriving its width and height from the file.pix name. heads up bestie: this requires a named input file, not a pipe. so don't try it with stdin, she won't play that game. 🙈
  • -w file_width — set the input width, in pixels.
  • -n file_height — set the input height, in scanlines.
  • -s squaresize — set both the width and the height to squaresize. one number, two dimensions, we love efficiency. ✨
  • -g gamma — write the given gamma value into the PNG gAMA chunk. a value of 0.6 approximates PC display monitors. a negative value disables the gAMA chunk entirely — which is also the default, so, yeah, that's a thing. 💀
  • -o file.png — write the PNG image to file.png. and listen: if standard output is also redirected or piped, the same image gets written to both destinations. cute, right? but pix-png will not write binary image data to a terminal — she has boundaries. 🫶

🔥 EXAMPLES 🔥

Example 1. Convert a non-default-size PIX image to PNG 👑

pix-png -w 1280 -n 1024 render.pix > render.png

converts a 1280x1024 PIX rendering to a PNG file, telling pix-png the input dimensions since — say it with me — PIX files do not store them. 🎤

Example 2. Render a model and save it directly as PNG 🧚

rt -s 512 -o render.pix model.g component
pix-png -a render.pix -o render.png

ray traces a region of model.g with rt(1) to a 512x512 PIX file, then converts it to PNG. the -a flag autosizes from the file name, so the width and height need not be repeated. literally chef's kiss. 💋

⭐ SEE ALSO ⭐

brlcad(1), rt(1), png-pix(1), pix-fb(1), pix(5) — go read your sisters' pages, they're all family here. 💖

🌸 AUTHOR 🌸

BRL-CAD Team — the actual legends.

This software is Copyright (c) 1989-2026 by the United States Government as represented by U.S. Army Research Laboratory.

🦋 BUG REPORTS 🦋

found a bug or a problem? spill it via electronic mail to devs@brlcad.org — they want to hear it, fr fr. 📬

and that's the page, bestie! this lil' beauty comes to you from BRL-CAD (source) and is the PIX-PNG(1) manual page — stay slay, stay converting, and remember: always tell her your dimensions. 💅✨🫶

📦 where this page comes from