pix2asc < file.pix > file.ascPIX2ASC(1)
NAME
pix2asc - encode a binary color pixel file as portable ASCII
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SYNOPSIS
DESCRIPTION
pix2asc is a simple filter that converts a color pix(5) file from its binary form into a portable ASCII form. It reads the binary image from standard input and writes the ASCII representation to standard output. The companion tool asc2pix(1) performs the reverse conversion.
The binary input consists of a sequence of three-byte tuples of unsigned chars representing the red, green, and blue intensities of each pixel. The ASCII output has one RGB pixel per newline-terminated line, with each pixel written as six uppercase hexadecimal digits (two per color channel).
This conversion is useful when transporting images to non-UNIX machines where a raw byte stream may not survive intact.
pix2asc takes no options.
EXAMPLES
Example 1. Convert a rendered image to ASCII for safe transport
rt -s 512 -o moss.pix moss.g all.g
pix2asc < moss.pix > moss.ascRender a 512x512 image of the all.g object with rt(1), then encode the
resulting binary pix(5) file as ASCII so it can be safely moved across
systems that might corrupt a raw byte stream. Restore the binary image
later with asc2pix < moss.asc > moss.pix.
SEE ALSO
brlcad(1), asc2pix(1), rt(1), pix(5), bw(5)
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