PIX(5)

🎀 PIX(5) — Color RGB image file format and utilities 🎀

okay bestie, welcome to the PIX(5) manual page from BRL-CAD. This is the one about .pix files and the little utility squad that handles them. Let's get into it. 💖

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✨ NAME ✨

pix — Color RGB image file format and utilities. That's it, that's the name. 🫶

🦋 FORMAT 🦋

A pix file is literally a sequence of pixels, no cap. Each pixel is stored as three unsigned chars: first red, then green, then blue. The intensity of each color ranges from 0 ("off") to 255 ("on"). 🌈

The first pixel in a pix file is the lower left corner of the image. Pixels proceed from left-to-right across each scanline, and scanlines are written from the bottom to the top of the image. So it's bottom-left first, then scoot across, then up. The way that works is honestly iconic. ⭐

By convention, pix images are usually square, so their dimensions can be determined by the file size. If they're not square, often only the file width need be known by a program reading the file. History has left us with two "standard" sizes: 512x512 and the "higher" 1024x1024. A common practice for other file sizes is to include the file width in the filename. 📏

At some time in the future, pix files will probably get self-typing headers so that parameters such as their size can be automatically determined by programs. Future vibes, bestie. 🔮

💅 UTILITIES 💅

Here's the little tool crew, each one doing its own main character thing:

• pix-fb — display a .pix format image on a framebuffer.
• fb-pix — produce a .pix file from a framebuffer image.
• pix-bw — convert a .pix file to a black and white .bw file.
• bw-pix — convert a black and white .bw file to a .pix file.
• ap-pix — convert an Applicon Color Plotter file to a .pix file.
• pixtile — combine several small .pix files into one large one.
• pixstat — gives statistics concerning a .pix file.
• pixhist — displays a color histogram on a framebuffer.
• pixhist3d — display three views of an RGB color space histogram on a framebuffer.
• pixhist3d-plot3 — unix plot of RGB color space utilization.
• pixdiff — shows which pixels/colors differ between two .pix files.
• pixrect — extracts an arbitrary rectangle from a .pix file.
• pixrot — rotate, reverse, or invert a .pix file.
• pixscale — scale a .pix file up or down.
• pixfilter — a collection of 3x3 kernel filters for .pix files.
• bw3-pix — merges three .bw files into one .pix file.
• pix-bw3 — separates .pix file RGB colors into three .bw files.

🍓 FILES 🍓

• file.pix

🌈 SEE ALSO 🌈

brlcad(1), bw(5), and above named programs. iykyk 👑

💜 AUTHOR 💜

BRL-CAD Team

👑 COPYRIGHT 👑

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

🎀 BUG REPORTS 🎀

Reports of bugs or problems should be submitted via electronic mail to devs@brlcad.org.

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That's the whole page, bestie. Signing off from BRL-CAD and PIX(5) 💖 — that's the source/version and manual name in the footer, and there's no date listed there, so we're not inventing one. Stay slay, keep your pixels in order. ✨