bitmap, bmtoa, atobm - bitmap editor and converter utilities for
the X Window System
bitmap [ -options ... ] [ filename ] [
basename ]
bmtoa [ -chars ... ] [ filename ]
atobm [ -chars cc ] [ -name
variable ] [ -xhot number ] [ -yhot
number ] [ filename ]
The bitmap program is a rudimentary tool for creating or
editing rectangular images made up of 1's and 0's. Bitmaps are used in X for
defining clipping regions, cursor shapes, icon shapes, and tile and stipple
patterns.
The bmtoa and atobm filters convert bitmap
files (FILE FORMAT) to and from ASCII strings. They are most commonly used
to quickly print out bitmaps and to generate versions for including in
text.
Bitmap supports the standard X Toolkit command line
arguments (see X(7)). The following additional arguments are
supported as well.
- -size
WIDTHxHEIGHT
- Specifies size of the grid in squares.
- -sw
dimension
- Specifies the width of squares in pixels.
- -sh
dimension
- Specifies the height of squares in pixels.
- -gt
dimension
- Grid tolerance. If the square dimensions fall below the specified value,
grid will be automatically turned off.
- -grid, +grid
- Turns on or off the grid lines.
- -axes, +axes
- Turns on or off the major axes.
- -dashed,
+dashed
- Turns on or off dashing for the frame and grid lines.
- -stippled,
+stippled
- Turns on or off stippling of highlighted squares.
- -proportional,
+proportional
- Turns proportional mode on or off. If proportional mode is on, square
width is equal to square height. If proportional mode is off,
bitmap will use the smaller square dimension, if they were initially
different.
- -dashes
filename
- Specifies the bitmap to be used as a stipple for dashing.
- -stipple
filename
- Specifies the bitmap to be used as a stipple for highlighting.
- -hl color
- Specifies the color used for highlighting.
- -fr color
- Specifies the color used for the frame and grid lines.
- filename
- Specifies the bitmap to be initially loaded into the program. If the file
does not exist, bitmap will assume it is a new file.
- basename
- Specifies the basename to be used in the C code output file. If it is
different than the basename in the working file, bitmap will change
it when saving the file.
Bmtoa accepts the following option:
- -chars
cc
- This option specifies the pair of characters to use in the string version
of the bitmap. The first character is used for 0 bits and the second
character is used for 1 bits. The default is to use dashes (-) for 0's and
sharp signs (#) for 1's.
Atobm accepts the following options:
- -chars
cc
- This option specifies the pair of characters to use when converting string
bitmaps into arrays of numbers. The first character represents a 0 bit and
the second character represents a 1 bit. The default is to use dashes (-)
for 0's and sharp signs (#) for 1's.
- -name
variable
- This option specifies the variable name to be used when writing out the
bitmap file. The default is to use the basename of the filename
command line argument or leave it blank if the standard input is
read.
- -xhot
number
- This option specifies the X coordinate of the hotspot. Only positive
values are allowed. By default, no hotspot information is included.
- -yhot
number
- This option specifies the Y coordinate of the hotspot. Only positive
values are allowed. By default, no hotspot information is included.
Bitmap displays grid in which each square represents a
single bit in the picture being edited. Actual size of the bitmap image, as
it would appear normally and inverted, can be obtained by pressing
Meta-I key. You are free to move the image popup out of the way to
continue editing. Pressing the left mouse button in the popup window or
Meta-I again will remove the real size bitmap image.
If the bitmap is to be used for defining a cursor, one of the
squares in the images may be designated as the hot spot. This determines
where the cursor is actually pointing. For cursors with sharp tips (such as
arrows or fingers), this is usually at the end of the tip; for symmetric
cursors (such as crosses or bullseyes), this is usually at the center.
Bitmaps are stored as small C code fragments suitable for
including in applications. They provide an array of bits as well as symbolic
constants giving the width, height, and hot spot (if specified) that may be
used in creating cursors, icons, and tiles.
To edit a bitmap image simply click on one of the buttons with
drawing commands (Point, Curve, Line, Rectangle, etc.) and move the
pointer into the bitmap grid window. Press one of the buttons on your mouse
and the appropriate action will take place. You can either set, clear or
invert the gird squares. Setting a grid square corresponds to setting a bit
in the bitmap image to 1. Clearing a grid square corresponds to setting a
bit in the bitmap image to 0. Inverting a grid square corresponds to
changing a bit in the bitmap image from 0 to 1 or 1 to 0, depending what its
previous state was. The default behavior of mouse buttons is as specified
below.
MouseButton1 Set
MouseButton2 Invert
MouseButton3 Clear
MouseButton4 Clear
MouseButton5 Clear
This default behavior can be changed by setting the button
function resources. An example is provided below.
bitmap*button1Function: Set
bitmap*button2Function: Clear
bitmap*button3Function: Invert
etc.
The button function applies to all drawing commands, including
copying, moving and pasting, flood filling and setting the hot spot.
Here is the list of drawing commands accessible through the
buttons at the left side of the application's window. Some commands can be
aborted by pressing A inside the bitmap window, allowing the user to select
different guiding points where applicable.
- Clear
- This command clears all bits in the bitmap image. The grid squares will be
set to the background color. Pressing C inside the bitmap window has the
same effect.
- Set
- This command sets all bits in the bitmap image. The grid squares will be
set to the foreground color. Pressing S inside the bitmap window has the
same effect.
- Invert
- This command inverts all bits in the bitmap image. The grid squares will
be inverted appropriately. Pressing I inside the bitmap window has the
same effect.
- Mark
- This command is used to mark an area of the grid by dragging out a
rectangular shape in the highlighting color. Once the area is marked, it
can be operated on by a number of commands (see Up, Down, Left,
Right, Rotate, Flip, Cut, etc.) Only one marked area can be present
at any time. If you attempt to mark another area, the old mark will
vanish. The same effect can be achieved by pressing
Shift-MouseButton1 and dragging out a rectangle in the grid window.
Pressing Shift-MouseButton2 will mark the entire grid area.
- Unmark
- This command will cause the marked area to vanish. The same effect can be
achieved by pressing Shift-MouseButton3.
- Copy
- This command is used to copy an area of the grid from one location to
another. If there is no marked grid area displayed, Copy behaves
just like Mark described above. Once there is a marked grid area
displayed in the highlighting color, this command has two alternative
behaviors. If you click a mouse button inside the marked area, you will be
able to drag the rectangle that represents the marked area to the desired
location. After you release the mouse button, the area will be copied. If
you click outside the marked area, Copy will assume that you wish
to mark a different region of the bitmap image, thus it will behave
like Mark again.
- Move
- This command is used to move an area of the grid from one location to
another. Its behavior resembles the behavior of Copy command,
except that the marked area will be moved instead of copied.
- Flip
Horizontally
- This command will flip the bitmap image with respect to the horizontal
axes. If a marked area of the grid is highlighted, it will operate only
inside the marked area. Pressing H inside the bitmap window has the same
effect.
- Up
- This command moves the bitmap image one pixel up. If a marked area of the
grid is highlighted, it will operate only inside the marked area. Pressing
UpArrow inside the bitmap window has the same effect.
- Flip
Vertically
- This command will flip the bitmap image with respect to the vertical axes.
If a marked area of the grid is highlighted, it will operate only inside
the marked area. Pressing V inside the bitmap window has the same
effect.
- Left
- This command moves the bitmap image one pixel to the left. If a marked
area of the grid is highlighted, it will operate only inside the marked
area. Pressing LeftArrow inside the bitmap window has the same
effect.
- Fold
- This command will fold the bitmap image so that the opposite corners
become adjacent. This is useful when creating bitmap images for tiling.
Pressing F inside the bitmap window has the same effect.
- Right
- This command moves the bitmap image one pixel to the right. If a marked
area of the grid is highlighted, it will operate only inside the marked
area. Pressing RightArrow inside the bitmap window has the same
effect.
- Rotate
Left
- This command rotates the bitmap image 90 degrees to the left (counter
clockwise.) If a marked area of the grid is highlighted, it will operate
only inside the marked area. Pressing L inside the bitmap window has the
same effect.
- Down
- This command moves the bitmap image one pixel down. If a marked area of
the grid is highlighted, it will operate only inside the marked area.
Pressing DownArrow inside the bitmap window has the same effect.
- Rotate
Right
- This command rotates the bitmap image 90 degrees to the right (clockwise.)
If a marked area of the grid is highlighted, it will operate only inside
the marked area. Pressing R inside the bitmap window has the same
effect.
- Point
- This command will change the grid squares underneath the mouse pointer if
a mouse button is being pressed down. If you drag the mouse button
continuously, the line may not be continuous, depending on the speed of
your system and frequency of mouse motion events.
- Curve
- This command will change the grid squares underneath the mouse pointer if
a mouse button is being pressed down. If you drag the mouse button
continuously, it will make sure that the line is continuous. If your
system is slow or bitmap receives very few mouse motion events, it
might behave quite strangely.
- Line
- This command will change the gird squares in a line between two squares.
Once you press a mouse button in the grid window, bitmap will
highlight the line from the square where the mouse button was initially
pressed to the square where the mouse pointer is located. By releasing the
mouse button you will cause the change to take effect, and the highlighted
line will disappear.
- Rectangle
- This command will change the gird squares in a rectangle between two
squares. Once you press a mouse button in the grid window, bitmap
will highlight the rectangle from the square where the mouse button was
initially pressed to the square where the mouse pointer is located. By
releasing the mouse button you will cause the change to take effect, and
the highlighted rectangle will disappear.
- Filled
Rectangle
- This command is identical to Rectangle, except at the end the
rectangle will be filled rather than outlined.
- Circle
- This command will change the gird squares in a circle between two squares.
Once you press a mouse button in the grid window, bitmap will
highlight the circle from the square where the mouse button was initially
pressed to the square where the mouse pointer is located. By releasing the
mouse button you will cause the change to take effect, and the highlighted
circle will disappear.
- Filled
Circle
- This command is identical to Circle, except at the end the circle
will be filled rather than outlined.
- Flood Fill
- This command will flood fill the connected area underneath the mouse
pointer when you click on the desired square. Diagonally adjacent squares
are not considered to be connected.
- Set Hot Spot
- This command designates one square in the grid as the hot spot if this
bitmap image is to be used for defining a cursor. Pressing a mouse button
in the desired square will cause a diamond shape to be displayed.
- Clear Hot Spot
- This command removes any designated hot spot from the bitmap image.
- Undo
- This command will undo the last executed command. It has depth one, that
is, pressing Undo after Undo will undo itself.
The File menu commands can be accessed by pressing the File button
and selecting the appropriate menu entry, or by pressing Ctrl key with
another key. These commands deal with files and global bitmap parameters,
such as size, basename, filename etc.
- New
- This command will clear the editing area and prompt for the name of the
new file to be edited. It will not load in the new file.
- Load
- This command is used to load a new bitmap file into the bitmap editor. If
the current image has not been saved, user will be asked whether to save
or ignore the changes. The editor can edit only one file at a time. If you
need interactive editing, run a number of editors and use cut and paste
mechanism as described below.
- Insert
- This command is used to insert a bitmap file into the image being
currently edited. After being prompted for the filename, click inside the
grid window and drag the outlined rectangle to the location where you want
to insert the new file.
- Save
- This command will save the bitmap image. It will not prompt for the
filename unless it is said to be <none>. If you leave the filename
undesignated or -, the output will be piped to stdout.
- Save As
- This command will save the bitmap image after prompting for a new
filename. It should be used if you want to change the filename.
- Resize
- This command is used to resize the editing area to the new number of
pixels. The size should be entered in the WIDTHxHEIGHT format. The
information in the image being edited will not be lost unless the new size
is smaller that the current image size. The editor was not designed to
edit huge files.
- Rescale
- This command is used to rescale the editing area to the new width and
height. The size should be entered in the WIDTHxHEIGHT format. It will not
do antialiasing and information will be lost if you rescale to the smaller
sizes. Feel free to add you own algorithms for better rescaling.
- Filename
- This command is used to change the filename without changing the basename
nor saving the file. If you specify - for a filename, the output will be
piped to stdout.
- Basename
- This command is used to change the basename, if a different one from the
specified filename is desired.
- Quit
- This command will terminate the bitmap application. If the file was not
saved, user will be prompted and asked whether to save the image or not.
This command is preferred over killing the process.
The Edit menu commands can be accessed by pressing the Edit button
and selecting the appropriate menu entry, or by pressing Meta key with
another key. These commands deal with editing facilities such as grid, axes,
zooming, cut and paste, etc.
- Image
- This command will display the image being edited and its inverse in its
actual size in a separate window. The window can be moved away to continue
with editing. Pressing the left mouse button in the image window will
cause it to disappear from the screen.
- Grid
- This command controls the grid in the editing area. If the grid spacing is
below the value specified by gridTolerance resource (8 by default), the
grid will be automatically turned off. It can be enforced by explicitly
activating this command.
- Dashed
- This command controls the stipple for drawing the grid lines. The stipple
specified by dashes resource can be turned on or off by activating this
command.
- Axes
- This command controls the highlighting of the main axes of the image being
edited. The actual lines are not part of the image. They are provided to
aid user when constructing symmetrical images, or whenever having the main
axes highlighted helps your editing.
- Stippled
- This command controls the stippling of the highlighted areas of the bitmap
image. The stipple specified by stipple resource can be turned on or off
by activating this command.
- Proportional
- This command controls the proportional mode. If the proportional mode is
on, width and height of all image squares are forced to be equal,
regardless of the proportions of the bitmap window.
- Zoom
- This command controls the zoom mode. If there is a marked area of the
image already displayed, bitmap will automatically zoom into it.
Otherwise, user will have to highlight an area to be edited in the zoom
mode and bitmap will automatically switch into it. One can use all the
editing commands and other utilities in the zoom mode. When you zoom out,
undo command will undo the whole zoom session.
- Cut
- This commands cuts the contents of the highlighted image area into the
internal cut and paste buffer.
- Copy
- This command copies the contents of the highlighted image area into the
internal cut and paste buffer.
- Paste
- This command will check if there are any other bitmap applications with a
highlighted image area, or if there is something in the internal cut and
paste buffer and copy it to the image. To place the copied image, click in
the editing window and drag the outlined image to the position where you
want to place i, and then release the button.
Bitmap supports two cut and paste mechanisms; the internal cut and
paste and the global X selection cut and paste. The internal cut and paste
is used when executing copy and move drawing commands and also cut and copy
commands from the edit menu. The global X selection cut and paste is used
whenever there is a highlighted area of a bitmap image displayed anywhere on
the screen. To copy a part of image from another bitmap editor simply
highlight the desired area by using the Mark command or pressing the shift
key and dragging the area with the left mouse button. When the selected area
becomes highlighted, any other applications (such as xterm, etc.) that use
primary selection will discard their selection values and unhighlight the
appropriate information. Now, use the Paste command for the Edit menu or
control mouse button to copy the selected part of image into another (or the
same) bitmap application. If you attempt to do this without a visible
highlighted image area, the bitmap will fall back to the internal cut and
paste buffer and paste whatever was there stored at the moment.
Below is the widget structure of the bitmap application.
Indentation indicates hierarchical structure. The widget class name is given
first, followed by the widget instance name. All widgets except the bitmap
widget are from the standard Athena widget set.
Bitmap bitmap
TransientShell image
Box box
Label normalImage
Label invertedImage
TransientShell input
Dialog dialog
Command okay
Command cancel
TransientShell error
Dialog dialog
Command abort
Command retry
TransientShell qsave
Dialog dialog
Command yes
Command no
Command cancel
Paned parent
Form formy
MenuButton fileButton
SimpleMenu fileMenu
SmeBSB new
SmeBSB load
SmeBSB insert
SmeBSB save
SmeBSB saveAs
SmeBSB resize
SmeBSB rescale
SmeBSB filename
SmeBSB basename
SmeLine line
SmeBSB quit
MenuButton editButton
SimpleMenu editMenu
SmeBSB image
SmeBSB grid
SmeBSB dashed
SmeBSB axes
SmeBSB stippled
SmeBSB proportional
SmeBSB zoom
SmeLine line
SmeBSB cut
SmeBSB copy
SmeBSB paste
Label status
Pane pane
Bitmap bitmap
Form form
Command clear
Command set
Command invert
Toggle mark
Command unmark
Toggle copy
Toggle move
Command flipHoriz
Command up
Command flipVert
Command left
Command fold
Command right
Command rotateLeft
Command down
Command rotateRight
Toggle point
Toggle curve
Toggle line
Toggle rectangle
Toggle filledRectangle
Toggle circle
Toggle filledCircle
Toggle floodFill
Toggle setHotSpot
Command clearHotSpot
Command undo
If you would like bitmap to be viewable in color, include the
following in the #ifdef COLOR section of the file you read with xrdb:
*customization: -color
This will cause bitmap to pick up the colors in the app-defaults
color customization file:
/etc/X11/app-defaults/Bitmap-color
Bitmap widget is a stand-alone widget for editing raster images.
It is not designed to edit large images, although it may be used in that
purpose as well. It can be freely incorporated with other applications and
used as a standard editing tool. The following are the resources provided by
the bitmap widget.
| Bitmap Widget |
| Header file |
Bitmap.h |
| Class |
bitmapWidgetClass |
| Class Name |
Bitmap |
| Superclass |
Bitmap |
All the Simple Widget resources plus ...
| Name |
Class |
Type |
Default Value |
| foreground |
Foreground |
Pixel |
XtDefaultForeground |
| highlight |
Highlight |
Pixel |
XtDefaultForeground |
| framing |
Framing |
Pixel |
XtDefaultForeground |
| gridTolerance |
GridTolerance |
Dimension |
8 |
| size |
Size |
String |
32x32 |
| dashed |
Dashed |
Boolean |
True |
| grid |
Grid |
Boolean |
True |
| stippled |
Stippled |
Boolean |
True |
| proportional |
Proportional |
Boolean |
True |
| axes |
Axes |
Boolean |
False |
| squareWidth |
SquareWidth |
Dimension |
16 |
| squareHeight |
SquareHeight |
Dimension |
16 |
| margin |
Margin |
Dimension |
16 |
| xHot |
XHot |
Position |
NotSet (-1) |
| yHot |
YHot |
Position |
NotSet (-1) |
| button1Function |
Button1Function |
DrawingFunction |
Set |
| button2Function |
Button2Function |
DrawingFunction |
Invert |
| button3Function |
Button3Function |
DrawingFunction |
Clear |
| button4Function |
Button4Function |
DrawingFunction |
Invert |
| button5Function |
Button5Function |
DrawingFunction |
Invert |
| filename |
Filename |
String |
None ("") |
| basename |
Basename |
String |
None ("") |
Davor Matic, MIT X Consortium