PIXTILE(1)

📦
version 7.44.0 · 2 versions
, in nixpkgs unstable

💖 PIXTILE(1) — paste small images together into one big image 💖

🌸 NAME 🌸

pixtile — paste small images together into one large image. That’s the whole NAME section, bestie: tiny pics in, one big tiled image out. 💅

✨ SYNOPSIS ✨

Two flavors, same tiling energy:

pixtile [-s squareinsize] [-w file_width] [-n file_height] [-S squareoutsize] [-W out_width] [-N out_height] [-o startframe] basename > file.pix
pixtile [-s squareinsize] [-w file_width] [-n file_height] [-S squareoutsize] [-W out_width] [-N out_height] file1 file2 ... fileN > file.pix

💅 DESCRIPTION 💅

Okay so pixtile takes a collection of small images and places them side by side in one larger image, written to standard output. Input and output files are assumed to be in pix(5) format. By default the input images are 64x64 pixels and the output image is 512x512 pixels. Slay. ✨

Images are placed from lower left to upper right. The program keeps reading small files until the next one does not exist or the output image is full. The progress of the composition is displayed on standard error. Yes bestie, the progress updates go to stderr — that’s just where the group chat lives. 🫶

Two modes of operation are supported. If a single basename is given, the input files are expected to be named basename.num, where num is a consecutive series of integers starting at 0 (or at the value of -o). If a basename of "-" is given (preceded by "—" to terminate bu_getopt(3) processing — yep, keeping that quoted exactly, no cap), the stream of images is read from standard input instead, and may be split apart again with pixbustup(1). Alternatively, if more than one filename is supplied, those files are used explicitly and the -o flag is not valid.

Heads up, bestie: when you give an explicit list of filenames, -o is not valid. Periodt.

Tiling many small low-resolution frames into a single image allows the collection to serve as an animation preview for a higher-resolution sequence. It’s giving storyboard era, and honestly? Iconic. 🦋

🎀 OPTIONS 🎀

  • -s squareinsize — Set both the width and height of the input images, in pixels. The default is 64.
  • -w file_width — Set the width (pixels per scanline) of the input images. The default is 64.
  • -n file_height — Set the height (number of scanlines) of the input images. The default is 64.
  • -S squareoutsize — Set both the width and height of the output image, in pixels. The default is 512.
  • -W out_width — Set the width (pixels per scanline) of the output image. The default is 512.
  • -N out_height — Set the height (number of scanlines) of the output image. The default is 512.
  • -o startframe — Set the starting frame number, substituted for num in basename.num. The default is 0. Not valid when an explicit list of filenames is given.
  • -h, -? — Print a usage message and exit.

🦋 EXAMPLES 🦋

Example 1. Tile numbered frames into a large preview image

pixtile -S 1024 -s 128 -o 2 anim > out.pix

Reads files anim.2 through anim.65, placing each 128x128 image from lower left to upper right into a 1024x1024 out.pix image suitable for previewing an animation sequence. Literally the preview pipeline, bestie. 🔥

Example 2. Combine four explicitly named tiles

pixtile -s 256 lowerleft lowerright upperleft upperright > out.pix

Reads the four named 256x256 images and arranges them from lower left to upper right into a 512x512 out.pix image. Four little icons, one big vibe check. 💖

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

brlcad(1), pixbustup(1), pix(5) — go say hi, they’re all in the manual-verse together. ✨

👑 AUTHOR 👑

BRL-CAD Team — iconic, no notes. 👑

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

Legal text stays intact, bestie — that’s not a vibe to paraphrase. 💜

🐛 BUG REPORTS 🐛

Reports of bugs or problems should be submitted via electronic mail to devs@brlcad.org. Snitch on the bugs, kindly. 🐛

Okay that’s the whole page, bestie 💖 — footer check: source/version is BRL-CAD, the manual name is PIXTILE(1), and the date is not printed on this page, so we’re calling the vibe timeless 🎀✨🦋

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