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PGM File Extension Description

Described as a Portable Gray Map image, the PGM file extension is an 8-bit grayscale image file that contains different shades of gray to transparent pixels written in text format.

The image data contained in the PGM file is composed of characters formatted in ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange), both text and numbers, which will represent the saturations and the intensity of each pixel.

PGM File Extension Originator

The PGM image file was originally created for the use of Netpbm, which is an application toolkit for the manipulation of images and graphics. This includes the conversion of images into different kinds of formats. The Netpbm application contains 300 toolkits for converting to any of the 100 graphic formats being used today.

How to Open PGM File Types

If .PGM files wont open on your computer then follow these steps:

1. Make sure you have one of the known applications above installed on your computer. If you do and the .PGM file extension still wont open then proceed to step two below.
2. Ensure Windows is set to open .PGM files with the appropriate program. The easiest way to do this is to download Filecure and then select the manage tab on the left. This feature is available free in the Filecure application.
3. If the problem persists then download Filecure if you haven't already, and Click the big green "Start Scan" Button. It takes about 30 seconds to scan your computer for all file extension associations. Once the scan is finished you will see if any problems are detected. If so then Click the Green "Fix Now" Button.
4. Try to open your .PGM File again, The problem should be fixed.

(If you still have issues with this file, please click the Ask a Question button at the top right corner of this page)

Details about PGM File Format

Using the Netpbm application, the PGM format is employed when the application incorporates transparency masks into the selected image. This type of image format consists of the following:

• This file types uses a ?magic number? as a header to describe this image format. Two characters are ?P5?
• Width of the image in the form of ASCII characters (in decimal format)
• Height of the image, also written in ASCII characters (also in decimal format)
• The ?Maxval? code is the maximum gray value used in the image. The value should be more than zero and less than 65536 (still in ASCII decimal format)
• Raster of height in rows, wherein each row is composed of width gray values from left to right

Another PGM file is also used by the Netpbm application and is defined in plain format. The difference with the Portable Gray Map version is:

• Only one image can be stored in a single PGM file
• The magic number used for the plain format PGM file is ?P2?, instead of ?P5?
• Each pixel in the raster (height and width) are all in ASCII decimal numbers

• Properties:

• Common Path:
  (user defined)
• Associated Applications:
  Adobe Photoshop (with CartaPGM plug-in), Netpbm

Additional PGM File Info:

(not applicable) , PGM File Created by: (not applicable)

Files that wont open may be caused by out-dated device drivers. Get latest Driver Updates for your PC.

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