Xcftools is a quick and efficient command-line software package that enables the retrieval of data from Gimp's native XCF file format.
Xcftools is a powerful set of command-line tools designed to extract information from the Gimp's native file format XCF quickly. These tools make it possible to use layered XCF files efficiently as sources in a build system that utilizes software like "make" and similar tools for automatic graphics processing. Additionally, these tools work independently of the Gimp engine, so they don't require Gimp installation to function.
One tool contained in Xcftools is xcf2pnm, which can convert XCF files to ppm, pgm, or pbm formats, even flattening layers if necessary. Alpha maps can be written to a separate file if the original image contains transparency, or a background color can be specified on the command line.
Another useful tool is xcf2png, which can also convert XCF files to flattened layers if necessary, with the option to leave transparency in the image or specify a background color on the command line.
Xcfinfo is a third tool included in the set, which lists information about layers in an XCF file. These tools can either flatten the XCF file as given or extract specific layers named on the command line.
Installation is straightforward, provided you already have GNU make, a C compiler, and Perl. Once you have extracted the source archive, execute the command sequence "./configure," "make all," "make install" to compile and install the tools in /usr/local.
The "configure" script, generated by GNU autoconf, accepts commonly used arguments for scripts of this type. To precompute lookup tables for pixel composing at compile time, add the argument "--enable-precomputed-scaletable." Precomputing these tables may improve performance by a few percent, doubling the binary size's cost.
This latest Xcftools version includes a work-around for older Gimp releases that would save the wrong length word of a Colormap property.
One tool contained in Xcftools is xcf2pnm, which can convert XCF files to ppm, pgm, or pbm formats, even flattening layers if necessary. Alpha maps can be written to a separate file if the original image contains transparency, or a background color can be specified on the command line.
Another useful tool is xcf2png, which can also convert XCF files to flattened layers if necessary, with the option to leave transparency in the image or specify a background color on the command line.
Xcfinfo is a third tool included in the set, which lists information about layers in an XCF file. These tools can either flatten the XCF file as given or extract specific layers named on the command line.
Installation is straightforward, provided you already have GNU make, a C compiler, and Perl. Once you have extracted the source archive, execute the command sequence "./configure," "make all," "make install" to compile and install the tools in /usr/local.
The "configure" script, generated by GNU autoconf, accepts commonly used arguments for scripts of this type. To precompute lookup tables for pixel composing at compile time, add the argument "--enable-precomputed-scaletable." Precomputing these tables may improve performance by a few percent, doubling the binary size's cost.
This latest Xcftools version includes a work-around for older Gimp releases that would save the wrong length word of a Colormap property.
What's New
Version 1.0.4: N/A