XBM (.xbm)

Background & Context

    • MIME type: image/x-xbitmap
    • X Window bitmap format.
    • Used in the X11 windowing system for storing icons, cursors, and other graphics resources.
    • ASCII format.
    • Stores a monochrome bitmap as C language source code.
    • XBM is an acronym derived from X BitMap.
    • Developed in the 1980s at MIT.

Import & Export

  • Import["file.xbm"] imports an XBM file, returning an Image object.
  • Import["file.xbm",elem] imports the specified element from an XBM file.
  • The import format can be specified with Import["file","XBM"] or Import["file",{"XBM",elem,}].
  • Export["file.xbm",expr] exports graphics or any other expression as an image to XBM.
  • When exporting Wolfram Language graphics or arbitrary expressions, the resulting image has the same raster size as its displayed form.
  • Because XBM is a raster image format, all fonts are rasterized on export.
  • See the following reference pages for full general information:
  • Import, Exportimport from or export to a file
    CloudImport, CloudExportimport from or export to a cloud object
    ImportString, ExportStringimport from or export to a string
    ImportByteArray, ExportByteArrayimport from or export to a byte array

Import Elements

  • General Import elements:
  • "Elements" list of elements and options available in this file
    "Summary"summary of the file
    "Rules"list of rules for all available elements
  • Data representation elements:
  • "Data"array of color values
    "Graphics"Graphics object representing an image
    "Image"raster image represented as an Image object
  • Import and Export by default use the "Image" element for XBM files.
  • Advanced Import elements:
  • "BitDepth"bits used to represent each color channel in the file
    "Channels"the number of color channels used in the file
    "ColorSpace"color encoding used in the file
    "ImageSize"raster dimensions
    "Summary"summary of the file

Options

Examples

Basic Examples  (3)

Import an XBM file:

Summary of an image:

Export an image to XBM: