.TH asciitopgm 1 "26 December 1994"
.\".IX asciitopgm
.SH NAME
asciitopgm - convert ASCII graphics into a portable graymap
.SH SYNOPSIS
.B asciitopgm
.IR [ -d
.RI divisor ]
.I height width
.RI [ asciifile ]
.SH DESCRIPTION
Reads ASCII data as input.
Produces a portable graymap with pixel values which are an approximation
of the "brightness" of the ASCII characters,
assuming black-on-white printing.
In other words, a capital M is very dark, a period is ver light,
and a space is white.
Input lines which are fewer than
.I width
characters are automatically padded with spaces.
.PP
The
.I divisor
argument is a floating-point number by which the output pixels are
divided; the default value is 1.0.
This can be used to adjust the brightness of the graymap:
for example, if the image is too dim, reduce the divisor.
.PP
In keeping with (I believe) Fortran line-printer conventions,
input lines beginning with a + (plus) character are assumed
to "overstrike" the previous line, allowing a larger range of gray values.
.PP
This tool contradicts the message in the
.I pbmtoascii
manual: "Note that there is no asciitopbm tool - this
transformation is one-way."
.SH BUGS
The table of ASCII-to-grey values is subject to interpretation,
and, of course, depends on the typeface intended for the input.
.SH "SEE ALSO"
pbmtoascii(1), pgm(5)
.SH AUTHOR
Wilson H. Bent. Jr. (whb@usc.edu)