xwpick(1)
NAME
xwpick - pick images from an X11-screen and store in files
SYNOPSIS
xwpick [-local] [-window id] [-gray] [-reverse] [-pause]
[-format frmt] [<file>]
DESCRIPTION
Xwpick lets you pick an image from an arbitrary window or
rectangular area of an X11-server and write it to a file
in a variety of formats.
The output format is defined whether by the -format option
or by the extension in the file name. Possible for-
mats/extentions are:
ps An Encapsulated PostScript file with a compressed
image. The image is centered, rotated and scaled
to fill the maximum space on a page. It is dis-
played in color on viewers and printers that sup-
port color Postscript, otherwise it is displayed
as grayscale. This format is convenient for trans-
parency preparation.
eps Also an Encapsulated PostScript file with a com-
pressed image, but the image is only centered, not
rotated and scaled. It is intended for insertion
into a document.
epsi The same as eps, but contains a black and white
preview.
gif Graphics Interchange Format (GIF). Use this format
when you want to keep files or transfer them to
other computers. It is also convenient for visual-
isations, for example, with xv by John Bradley.
pcx PCX format for IBM PC.
pict PICT format for Macintosh. It is intended for
image transfer on Macintosh, but GIF format is
also convenient for this purpose (see Macintosh
GIFConverter by Kevin A. Mitchell).
ppm PPM format from the PBM Plus library by Jef
Poskanzer. Use it and a routine from the PBM Plus
library if you wish to have the image in a format
not mentioned above.
The main feature of xwpick is that it uses the Lempel-Ziv
Welch (LZW) compression scheme for image encoding in
Postscript, thus producing very compact files (4-5 times
less than files produced with Run-Length encoding (RLE)
and 10-20 times less than files produced without compres-
sion)
HOW IT WORKS
When xwpick is invoked, the user sees a blinking rectangle
surrounding the contents of the window in which the mouse
pointer is currently placed. When the mouse is moved to a
different window, the perimeter automatically changes to
the size of the new window. If the mouse pointer is
placed on the Window Manager border of a window, then the
blinking rectangle will surround the window together with
the Window Manager border. To select the image inside the
blinking rectangle it is sufficient to click the left
mouse button.
If a user-defined perimeter is required, then hold down
the left mouse button to choose the first corner of the
perimeter and then drag the mouse to define the opposite
corner. The blinking rectangle will expand with the move-
ment of the mouse.
If it is required to produce some changes inside the
selected area just before outputing to a file, for exam-
ple, to change the palette or display a pop-up menu, then
the -pause option can be used.
OPTIONS
-local When -local is in the parameter list, xwpick
picks an image from the window under the
mouse pointer. This option is intended to
pick images from pop-up menus, which are on
the screen only when a mouse button is
pressed and disappear immediately after the
button is released.
-window id Pick an image from the window with integer
identifier equal to id. The identifier for
a window can be obtained with the X Window
program xwininfo. To pick the entire screen
(root window) the user may use the word root
as an identifier.
-gray Transfer the image to grayscale. This option
can be used to optimize output on level 1
gray scale PostScript printers.
-reverse Transfer the image to reverse colors. This
option can help you to save the toner on
your printer in case when the image is too
dark.
-pause Do not output the image till the <SPACE> bar
will be pressed. This option allows to use
the mouse to produce some changes inside the
selected image just before outputing to a
file.
-format frmt Set output format. The format is defined by
frmt string. If this option is omited, then
the output format is defined by the exten-
sion in the file name. Possible frmt
strings/extensions are: ps, eps, epsi, gif,
pcx, pict, ppm. In case when -format is in
the parameter list and a file name is omited
the output is directed to the standard out-
put.
EXAMPLES
+o xwpick
This is the simplest form of use. You will be prompted to
input a file name.
+o xwpick image.ppm
ppmtoxpm image >image.xpm
This is an example of how to get an image in X11 pixmap
format. First you pick the image from the screen into the
file image.ppm and then convert it using the ppmtoxpm rou-
tine from the PBM PLUS library.
+o xwpick -local menu.epsi
This is an example of how to pick the image of a pop-up
menu window and store it in a file as encapsulated
Postscript with preview.
+o xwininfo
xwpick -w 0x8000c1 -g clock.ps
This is an example of how to pick an image from the window
by the window's identifier. First you find the identifier
using the xwininfo command and then pick an image from the
window and store it in a Postscript file as a grayscale
image.
+o xwpick -window root -format ps | lpr
This is an example of how to send an image of the root
window directly to the printer.
AUTHOR
Evgeni Chernyaev chernaev@mx.ihep.su
SEE ALSO
xwd(1) xv(1) xgrabsc(1) XtoPS(1) xwininfo(1) ppm(5)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1993, 1994 by Evgeni Chernyaev.