import(1)

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 outputs 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 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 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 document, 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 corner.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 <color>
    the border color

-cache <threshold>
    (This option has been replaced by the -limit option)

-colors <value>
    preferred number of colors in the image

-colorspace <value>
    the type of colorspace

-comment <string>
    annotate an image with a comment

-crop <width>x<height>{+-}<x>{+-}<y>{%}
    preferred size and location of the cropped image

-debug <events>
    enable debug printout

-define <key>{=<value>},...
    add coder/decoder specific options

-delay <1/100ths of a second>
    display the next image after pausing

-density <width>x<height>
    horizontal and vertical resolution in pixels of the image

-depth <value>
    depth of the image

-descend
    obtain image by descending window hierarchy

-display <host:display[.screen]>
    specifies the X server to contact

-dispose <method>
    GIF disposal method

-dither
    apply Floyd/Steinberg error diffusion to the image

-encoding <type>
    specify the text encoding

-endian <type>
    specify endianness (MSB or LSB) of the image

-frame
    include the X window frame in the imported image

-geometry <width>x<height>{+-}<x>{+-}<y>{%}{@} {!}{<}{>}
    preferred size and location of the Image window.

-help
    print usage instructions

-interlace <type>
    the type of interlacing scheme

-label <name>
    assign a label to an image

-limit <type> <value>
    Area, Disk, File, Map, or Memory resource limit

-log <string>
    Specify format for debug log

-monochrome
    transform the image to black and white

-negate
    replace every pixel with its complementary color

-page <width>x<height>{+-}<x>{+-}<y>{%}{!}{<}{>}
    size and location of an image canvas

-pause <seconds>
    pause between snapshots [import]

-ping
    efficiently determine image characteristics

-pointsize <value>
    pointsize of the PostScript, OPTION1, or TrueType font

-quality <value>
    JPEG/MIFF/PNG compression level

-resize <width>x<height>{%}{@}{!}{<}{>}
    resize an image

-rotate <degrees>{<}{>}
    apply Paeth image rotation to the image

-sampling-factor <horizontal_factor>x<vertical_factor>
    sampling factors used by JPEG or MPEG-2 encoder and YUV decoder/encoder.

-scene <value>
    set scene number

-screen
    specify the screen to capture

-silent
    operate silently

-snaps <value>
    number of screen snapshots

-strip
    strip the image of any profiles or comments

-thumbnail <width>x<height>{%}{@}{!}{<}{>}
    create a thumbnail of the image

-transparent <color>
    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 MAGICK_FILTER_MODULE_PATH if more flexibility is needed.

MAGICK_CODER_MODULE_PATH
    Search path to use when searching for image format coder modules. This path allows the user to arbitrarily extend the image formats supported by ImageMagick 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_CONFIGURE_PATH
    Search path to use when searching for configuration (.xml) files. 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_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 arbitrarily 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.xml 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 location 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 applications should write temporary files. Overridden by MAGICK_TMPDIR if it is set.

CONFIGURATION FILES
ImageMagick uses a number of XML format configuration files:

colors.xml
    colors configuration file
      <?xml version="1.0"?>
      <colormap>
        <color name="AliceBlue" red="240" green="248" blue="255"
               compliance="SVG, X11, XPM" />
      </colormap>

delegates.xml
    delegates configuration file

log.xml
    logging configuration file
      <?xml version="1.0"?>
      <magicklog>
        <log events="None" />
        <log output="stdout" />
        <log filename="Magick-%d.log" />
        <log generations="3" />
        <log limit="2000" />
        <log format="%t %r %u %p %m/%f/%l/%d:\n %e" />
      </magicklog>

magic.xml
    file header magic test configuration file
      <?xml version="1.0"?>
      <magicmap>
        <magic name="AVI" offset="0" target="RIFF" />
      </magicmap>

modules.xml
    loadable modules configuration file
      <?xml version="1.0"?>
      <modulemap>
        <module magick="8BIM" name="META" />
      </modulemap>

type.xml
    master type (fonts) configuration file
      <?xml version="1.0"?>
      <typemap>
        <include file="type-windows.xml" />
        <type
          name="AvantGarde-Book"
          fullname="AvantGarde Book"
          family="AvantGarde"
          foundry="URW"
          weight="400"
          style="normal"
          stretch="normal"
          format="type1"
          metrics="/usr/local/share/ghostscript/fonts/a010013l.afm"
          glyphs="/usr/local/share/ghostscript/fonts/a010013l.pfb"
        />
      </typemap>

SEE ALSO
animate(1), display(1), composite(1), conjure(1), convert(1), identify(1), mogrify(1), montage(1), ImageMagick(1)

COPYRIGHT
Copyright (C) 1999-2005 ImageMagick Studio LLC. Additional copyrights and licenses apply to this software, see http://www.imagemagick.org/www/Copyright.html