NAME
import - capture some or all of an X server screen and save
the image to a file.
SYNOPSIS
import [ options ... ] file
DESCRIPTION
import reads an image from any visible window on an X server
and outputs it as an image file. You can capture a single
window, the entire screen, or any rectangular portion of the
screen. Use display (see display(1)) for redisplay,
printing, editing, formatting, archiving, image processing,
etc. of the captured image.
The target window can be specified by id, name, or may be
selected by clicking the mouse in the desired window. If
you press a button and then drag, a rectangle will form
which expands and contracts as the mouse moves. To save the
portion of the screen defined by the rectangle, just
release the button. The keyboard bell is rung once at the
beginning of the screen capture and twice when it completes.
EXAMPLES
To select an X window with the mouse and save it in the MIFF
image format to a file titled window.miff, use:
import window.miff
To select an X window and save it in the Encapsulated
Postscript format to include in another document, use:
import figure.eps
To capture the entire X server screen in the JPEG image
format in a file titled root.jpeg, use:
import -window root root.jpeg
OPTIONS
import options can appear on the command line or in your X
resources file (see X(1)). Options on the command line
supersede values specified in your X resources file.
-border
include image borders in the output image. -colors
value preferred number of colors in the image.
The actual number of colors in the image may be less
than your request, but never more. Note, this is a
color reduction option. Images with less unique colors
than specified with this option will remain unchanged.
Refer to quantize(9) for more details.
Note, options -dither, -colorspace, and -treedepth
affect the color reduction algorithm.
-colorspace value
the type of colorspace: GRAY, OHTA, RGB, XYZ, YCbCr,
YIQ, YPbPr, or YUV.
Color reduction, by default, takes place in the RGB
color space. Empirical evidence suggests that
distances in color spaces such as YUV or YIQ correspond
to perceptual color differences more closely than do
distances in RGB space. These color spaces may give
better results when color reducing an image. Refer to
quantize(9) for more details.
The -colors or -monochrome option is required for this
option to take effect.
-comment string
annotate an image with a comment.
By default, each image is commented with its file name.
Use this option to assign a specific comment to the
image. Optionally you can include the image filename,
type, width, height, or scene number by embedding
special format characters. Embed %f for filename, %m
for magick, %w for width, %h for height, %s for scene
number, or \n for newline. For example,
-comment "%m:%f %wx%h"
produces an image comment of MIFF:bird.miff 512x480 for
an image titled bird.miff and whose width is 512 and
height is 480.
If the first character of string is @, the image
comment is read from a file titled by the remaining
characters in the string.
-compress type
the type of image compression: QEncoded or
RunlengthEncoded. See miff(5) for details.
Specify +compress to store the binary image in an
uncompressed format. The default is the compression
type of the specified image file.
-crop <width>{%}x<height>{%}{+-}<x offset>{+-}<y offset>
preferred size and location of the cropped image. See
X(1) for details about the geometry specification.
To specify a percentage width or height instead, append
%. For example to crop the image by ten percent on all
sides of the image, use -crop 10%.
Use cropping to crop a particular area of an image.
Use -crop 0x0 to remove edges that are the background
color.
-delay seconds
pause before selecting target window.
This option is useful when you need time to ready the
target window before it is captured to a file.
-density <width>x<height>
vertical and horizontal resolution in pixels of the
image.
This option specifies an image density for a Postscript
page. The default is 72 pixels per inch in the
horizontal and vertical direction. The density is
given to Ghostscript as the -r option when decoding a
Postscript image. See gs(1) for details.
-descend
obtain image by descending window hierarchy.
This option reads each subwindow and its colormap of
the chosen window. The final image is guaranteed to
have the correct colors but obtaining the image is
significantly slower.
-display host:display[.screen]
specifies the X server to contact; see X(1).
-dither
apply Floyd/Steinberg error diffusion to the image.
The basic strategy of dithering is to trade intensity
resolution for spatial resolution by averaging the
intensities of several neighboring pixels. Images
which suffer from severe contouring when reducing
colors can be improved with this option.
The -colors option is required for dithering to take
effect.
-frame
include window manager frame.
-geometry <width>{%}x<height>{%}{!}
the width and height of the image.
By default, the width and height are maximum values.
That is, the image is expanded or contracted to fit the
width and height value while maintaining the aspect
ratio of the image. Append an exclamation point to the
geometry to force the image size to exactly the size
you specify. For example, if you specify 640x480! the
image width is set to 640 pixels and height to 480. If
only one factor is specified, both the width and height
assume the value.
To specify a percentage width or height instead, append
%. The image size is multiplied by the width and
height percentages to obtain the final image
dimensions. To increase the size of an image, use a
value greater than 100 (e.g. 125%). To decrease an
image's size, use a percentage less than 100.
-interlace type
the type of interlacing scheme: NONE, LINE, or PLANE.
This option is used to specify the type of interlacing
scheme for raw image formats such as RGB or YUV. NONE
means do not interlace (RGBRGBRGBRGBRGBRGB...), LINE
uses scanline interlacing
(RRR...GGG...BBB...RRR...GGG...BBB...), and PLANE uses
plane interlacing (RRRRRR...GGGGGG...BBBBBB...).
Use LINE, or PLANE to create an interlaced GIF image.
-label name assign a label to an image.
Use this option to assign a specific label to the
image. Optionally you can include the image filename,
type, width, height, or scene number in the label by
embedding special format characters. Embed %f for
filename, %m for magick, %w for width, %h for height,
or %s for scene number. For example,
-label "%m:%f %wx%h"
produces an image label of MIFF:bird.miff 512x480 for
an image titled bird.miff and whose width is 512 and
height is 480.
If the first character of string is @, the image label
is read from a file titled by the remaining characters
in the string.
When converting to Postscript, use this option to
specify a header string to print above the image.
-monochrome
transform image to black and white.
-negate
apply color inversion to image.
The red, green, and blue intensities of an image are
negated.
-page <width>x<height>{+-}<x offset>{+-}<y offset>
preferred size and location of the Postscript page.
Use this option to specify the dimensions of the
Postscript page in pixels per inch or a TEXT page in
pixels. The default for a Postscript page is to center
the image on a letter page 612 by 792 pixels. The
margins are 1/2" (i.e. 612x792+36+36). Other common
sizes are:
Letter 612x 792
Tabloid 792x1224
Ledger 1224x 792
Legal 612x1008
Statement 396x 612
Executive 540x 720
A3 842x1190
A4 595x 842
A5 420x 595
B4 729x1032
B5 516x 729
Folio 612x 936
Quarto 610x 780
10x14 720x1008
For convenience you can specify the page size by media
(e.g. A4, Ledger, etc.).
The page geometry is relative to the vertical and
horizontal density of the Postscript page. See
-density for details.
The default page dimensions for a TEXT image is
612x792.
-quality value
JPEG quality setting.
Quality is 0 (worst) to 100 (best). The default is 85.
-rotate degrees
apply Paeth image rotation to the image.
Empty triangles left over from rotating the image are
filled with the color defined as bordercolor (class
borderColor). See X(1) for details.
-scene value
image scene number.
-screen
This option indicates that the GetImage request used to
obtain the image should be done on the root window,
rather than directly on the specified window. In this
way, you can obtain pieces of other windows that
overlap the specified window, and more importantly, you
can capture menus or other popups that are independent
windows but appear over the specified window.
-transparency color
make this color transparent within the image.
-treedepth value
Normally, this integer value is zero or one. A zero or
one tells convert to choose a optimal tree depth for
the color reduction algorithm.
An optimal depth generally allows the best
representation of the source image with the fastest
computational speed and the least amount of memory.
However, the default depth is inappropriate for some
images. To assure the best representation, try values
between 2 and 8 for this parameter. Refer to
quantize(9) for more details.
The -colors option is required for this option to take
effect.
-verbose
print detailed information about the image.
This information is printed: image scene number; image
name; image size; the image class (DirectClass or
PseudoClass); the total number of unique colors; and
the number of seconds to read and write the image.
-window id
select window with this id or name.
With this option you can specify the target window by
id or name rather than using the mouse. Specify 'root'
to select X's root window as the target window.
Options are processed in command line order. Any option you
specify on the command line remains in effect until it is
explicitly changed by specifying the option again with a
different effect.
Change - to + in any option above to reverse its effect.
For example +frame means do include window manager frame.
file specifies the image filename. By default, the image is
written in the Postscript image format. To specify a
particular image format, precede the filename with an image
format name and a colon (i.e. ps:image) or specify the
image type as the filename suffix (i.e. image.ps). See
convert(1) for a list of valid image formats.
Specify file as - for standard output. If file has the
extension .Z or .gz, the file size is compressed using with
compress or gzip respectively. Precede the image file name
| to pipe to a system command. If file already exists, you
will be prompted as to whether it should be overwritten.
ENVIRONMENT
display
To get the default host, display number, and screen.
SEE ALSO
display(1), animate(1), montage(1), mogrify(1), convert(1),
segment(1), combine(1), xtp(1)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright 1995 E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company
Permission to use, copy, modify, distribute, and sell this
software and its documentation for any purpose is hereby
granted without fee, provided that the above copyright
notice appear in all copies and that both that copyright
notice and this permission notice appear in supporting
documentation, and that the name of E. I. du Pont de Nemours
and Company not be used in advertising or publicity
pertaining to distribution of the software without specific,
written prior permission. E. I. du Pont de Nemours and
Company makes no representations about the suitability of
this software for any purpose. It is provided "as is"
without express or implied warranty.
E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company disclaims all
warranties with regard to this software, including all
implied warranties of merchantability and fitness, in no
event shall E. I. du Pont de Nemours and Company be liable
for any special, indirect or consequential damages or any
damages whatsoever resulting from loss of use, data or
profits, whether in an action of contract, negligence or
other tortuous action, arising out of or in connection with
the use or performance of this software.
AUTHORS
John Cristy, E.I. du Pont De Nemours and Company
Incorporated