<!DOCTYPE html PUBLIC "-//W3C//DTD HTML 3.2//EN">
<HTML><HEAD><TITLE>Svgtopam User Manual</TITLE></HEAD>
<BODY>
<H1>svgtopam</H1>
Updated: 28 June 2017
<BR>
<A HREF="#index">Table Of Contents</A>
<H2>NAME</H2>
svgtopam - convert an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) image to Netpbm format
<H2 id="synopsis">SYNOPSIS</H2>
<B>svgtopam</B>
[<b>-trace</b>]
[<I>pnmfile</I>]
<P>Minimum unique abbreviation of option is acceptable. You may use
double hyphens instead of single hyphen to denote options. You may use
white space in place of the equals sign to separate an option name
from its value.
<H2 id="description">DESCRIPTION</H2>
<p>This program is part of <a href="index.html">Netpbm</a>.
<p><b>svgtopam</b> reads an SVG (Scalable Vector Graphics) image as input and
produces a PAM image as output.
<p><b>svgtopam</b> is so weak that it is probably not useful in general for
converting SVG images. It understands only <path> SVG elements which
use only the "M", "L", and "z" commands, and only those that use whole number
arguments. This is sufficient for converting most of what comes out of
<b>pamtosvg</b> (not by coincidence - the program was developed for the
specific task of testing <b>pamtosvg</b>), but the main reason it is part of
Netpbm is to provide a base for someone to create a full SVG to Netpbm
converter.
<p>SVG is a vector image format, which means it describes curves that
compose an image. By contrast, PNM is a raster format, which means it
describes dots that compose an image. The main practical difference
between the two types is that you can scale vector images better. A
vector image also takes a lot less data to describe an image if the
image is composed of simple curves.
<p>That means it is really an understatement to say that <b>svgtopam</b>
is an image format converter. It's really an image drawer, not unlike
<b>ppmdraw</b>.
<p>For more information on SVG, see <a
href="http://www.w3.org/Graphics/SVG/">the Worldwide Web Consortium's
SVG web page</a>.
<H2 id="options">OPTIONS</H2>
<DL COMPACT>
<dt><b>-trace</b>
<dd>This option makes <b>svgtopam</b> issue messages describing the drawing.
</DL>
<H2 id="seealso">SEE ALSO</H2>
<B><A HREF="pamtosvg.html">pamtosvg</A></B>,
<A HREF="pam.html">pam</A>,
<h2 id="history">HISTORY</h2>
<p><b>svgtopam</b> was added to Netpbm in Version 10.34 (May 2006).
<p>Bryan Henderson created <b>svgtopam</b> to test <b>pamtosvg</b>.
<HR>
<A NAME="index"> </A>
<H2>Table Of Contents</H2>
<UL>
<LI><A HREF="#synopsis">SYNOPSIS</A>
<LI><A HREF="#description">DESCRIPTION</A>
<LI><A HREF="#options">OPTIONS</A>
<LI><A HREF="#seealso">SEE ALSO</A>
<LI><A HREF="#history">HISTORY</A>
</UL>
</BODY>
</HTML>