| Extension | .pbm |
| Category | images |
| Description | The PBM (Portable Bitmap) format is a binary image file format that is used to store black and white (1-bit) images. It is part of the Netpbm family of image formats, which are commonly used for storing and transmitting digital images. PBM files are uncompressed and can be easily created and edited using text editors or image manipulation software. |
| Technical details | The PBM format represents images using a simple and efficient raster format, where each pixel is represented by a single bit, indicating whether it is black or white. The image data is stored as a series of ASCII characters, with each row of pixels separated by a newline character. PBM files can also be stored in binary format, which is more efficient for large images. PBM files can be easily converted to other Netpbm formats, such as PGM (Portable Graymap) and PPM (Portable Pixmap), which allow for the storage of grayscale and color images, respectively. |
