Reference

XPM

XPM (X PixMap) is a color image format from the X Window System, also written as C source code. It maps each character in a text grid to a color, letting developers embed small color icons directly into programs.

Files & formatsGeneral

XPM

Also known as: X PixMap, .xpm file, X11 pixmap

Color X11 image written as C code
Maps characters to colors in a text grid
Successor to XBM; replaced by PNG and SVG

How XPM works

An XPM file is a C array of strings: a color table assigns characters to colors, then rows of characters draw the image. This made it readable and editable as plain text.

It extends the older XBM from black-and-white to full color, and even supports a transparent color, so it was widely used for X11 application icons.

XPM today

XPM still turns up in older Linux and Unix software, but new projects use PNG or SVG for icons. Convert legacy XPM artwork to PNG when you need it elsewhere.

Related terms

Keep reading the reference.

Files & formatsXBMXBM (X BitMap) is a monochrome image format from the X Window System that is written as C source code. The file is literally a small C array defining a 1-bit image, which made it easy to compile icons directly into programs.General Files & formatsPNGPNG (.png) is a lossless image format that keeps every pixel exact and supports transparency. That makes it ideal for screenshots, logos, and graphics, but files are much larger than JPEG or WebP — so a folder full of PNG screenshots can quietly fill storage.General Files & formatsSVGSVG (.svg) is a vector image format that stores shapes as math rather than pixels, so it scales to any size without losing sharpness. For logos and icons it is usually tiny, but it is unsuited to photographs, which it cannot represent efficiently.General