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IMPORT
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 out-
puts it as an image file. You can capture a single window, the entire
screen, or any rectangular portion of the screen. Use display 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 rectan-
gle, 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 or an area of the screen with the mouse and save
it in the MIFF image format to a file entitled window.miff, use:
import window.miff
To select an X window or an area of the screen with the mouse and save
it in the Encapsulated PostScript format to include in another docu-
ment, use:
import figure.eps
To capture the entire X server screen in the JPEG image format in a
file entitled root.jpeg, without using the mouse, use:
import -window root root.jpeg
To capture the 512x256 area at the upper right corner of the X server
screen in the PNG image format in a well-compressed file entitled cor-
ner.png, without using the mouse, use:
import -window root -crop 512x256-0+0 -quality 90
corner.png
OPTIONS
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.
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.
For a more detailed description of each option, see Options, above.
ImageMagick(1).
-bordercolor
the border color
-cache
(This option has been replaced by the -limit option)
-colors
preferred number of colors in the image
-colorspace
the type of colorspace
-comment
annotate an image with a comment
-crop x{+-}{+-}{%}
preferred size and location of the cropped image
-debug
enable debug printout
-define {=},...
add coder/decoder specific options
-delay <1/100ths of a second>
display the next image after pausing
-density x
horizontal and vertical resolution in pixels of the image
-depth
depth of the image
-descend
obtain image by descending window hierarchy
-display
specifies the X server to contact
-dispose
GIF disposal method
-dither
apply Floyd/Steinberg error diffusion to the image
-encoding
specify the text encoding
-endian
specify endianness (MSB or LSB) of the image
-frame include the X window frame in the imported image
-geometry x{+-}{+-}{%}{@} {!}{<}{>}
preferred size and location of the Image window.
-help print usage instructions
-interlace
the type of interlacing scheme
-label
assign a label to an image
-limit
Area, Disk, File, Map, or Memory resource limit
-log
Specify format for debug log
-monochrome
transform the image to black and white
-negate
replace every pixel with its complementary color
-page x{+-}{+-}{%}{!}{<}{>}
size and location of an image canvas
-pause
pause between snapshots [import]
-ping efficiently determine image characteristics
-pointsize
pointsize of the PostScript, OPTION1, or TrueType font
-quality
JPEG/MIFF/PNG compression level
-resize x{%}{@}{!}{<}{>}
resize an image
-rotate {<}{>}
apply Paeth image rotation to the image
-sampling-factor x
sampling factors used by JPEG or MPEG-2 encoder and YUV
decoder/encoder.
-scene
set scene number
-screen
specify the screen to capture
-silent
operate silently
-snaps
number of screen snapshots
-strip strip the image of any profiles or comments
-thumbnail x{%}{@}{!}{<}{>}
create a thumbnail of the image
-transparent
make this color transparent within the image
-trim trim an image
-verbose
print detailed information about the image
-version
print ImageMagick version string
For a more detailed description of each option, see Options,
above. ImageMagick(1).
ENVIRONMENT
COLUMNS
Output screen width. Used when formatting text for the screen.
Many Unix systems keep this shell variable up to date, but it
may need to be explicitly exported in order for ImageMagick to
see it.
DISPLAY
X11 display ID (host, display number, and screen in the form
hostname:display.screen).
HOME Location of user's home directory. ImageMagick searches for
configuration files in $HOME/.magick if the directory exists.
See MAGICK_CODER_MODULE_PATH, MAGICK_CONFIGURE_PATH, and MAG-
ICK_FILTER_MODULE_PATH if more flexibility is needed.
MAGICK_CODER_MODULE_PATH
Search path to use when searching for image format coder mod-
ules. This path allows the user to arbitrarily extend the
image formats supported by ImageMagick by adding loadable mod-
ules to an arbitrary location rather than copying them into the
ImageMagick installation directory. The formatting of the
search path is similar to operating system search paths (i.e.
colon delimited for Unix, and semi-colon delimited for
Microsoft Windows). This user specified search path is used
before trying the default search path.
MAGICK_CONFIGURE_PATH
Search path to use when searching for configuration (.mgk)
files. The formatting of the search path is similar to operat-
ing system search paths (i.e. colon delimited for Unix, and
semi-colon delimited for Microsoft Windows). This user speci-
fied search path is used before trying the default search path.
MAGICK_DEBUG
Debug options (see -debug for details)
MAGICK_FILTER_MODULE_PATH
Search path to use when searching for filter process modules
(invoked via -process). This path allows the user to arbitrar-
ily extend ImageMagick's image processing functionality by
adding loadable modules to an arbitrary location rather than
copying them into the ImageMagick installation directory. The
formatting of the search path is similar to operating system
search paths (i.e. colon delimited for Unix, and semi-colon
delimited for Microsoft Windows). This user specified search
path is used before trying the default search path.
MAGICK_FONT_PATH
Directory where ImageMagick should look for TrueType and
Postscript Type1 font files if the font file is not found in
the current directory. It is preferred to define the available
fonts via type.mgk rather than use MAGICK_FONT_PATH.
MAGICK_HOME
Path to top of ImageMagick installation directory. Only
observed by "uninstalled" builds of ImageMagick which do not
have their location hard-coded or set by an installer.
MAGICK_DISK_LIMIT
Maximum amount of disk space allowed for use by the pixel
cache.
MAGICK_FILES_LIMIT
Maximum number of open files.
MAGICK_MAP_LIMIT
Maximum size of a memory map.
MAGICK_MEMORY_LIMIT
Maximum amount of memory to allocate from the heap.
MAGICK_TMPDIR
Path to directory where ImageMagick should write temporary
files. The default is to use the system default, or the loca-
tion set by TMPDIR.
TMPDIR For POSIX-compatible systems (Unix-compatible), the path to the
directory where all applications should write temporary files.
Overridden by MAGICK_TMPDIR if it is set.
TMP or TEMP
For Microsoft Windows, the path to the directory where applica-
tions should write temporary files. Overridden by MAGICK_TMPDIR
if it is set.
CONFIGURATION FILES
ImageMagick uses a number of XML format configuration files:
colors.mgk
colors configuration file
delegates.mgk
delegates configuration file
log.mgk
logging configuration file
magic.mgk
file header magic test configuration file
modules.mgk
loadable modules configuration file
type.mgk
master type (fonts) configuration file
SEE ALSO
animate(1), display(1), composite(1), conjure(1), convert(1), iden-
tify(1), mogrify(1), montage(1), ImageMagick(1)
COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1999-2004 ImageMagick Studio LLC. Additional copyrights
and licenses apply to this software, see http://www.imagemag-
ick.org/www/Copyright.html
ImageMagick Date: 2004/01/01 01:00:00 import(1)
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