---
name: "img_cat"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "sleuthkit"
version: "4.15.0-1"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/img_cat"
---

# img\_cat(1)

Output contents of an image file.

## NAME

img\_cat - Output contents of an image file.

## SYNOPSIS

**img\_cat \[-i imgtype\] \[-b dev\_sector\_size\] \[-s start\_sector\] \[-e stop\_sector\] \[-vV\]** *image \[images\]*

## DESCRIPTION

**img\_cat** outputs the contents of an image file.  Image files that are not raw will have embedded data and metadata.  img\_cat will output only the data.  This allows you to convert  an embedded format to raw or to calculate the MD5 hash of the data by piping the output to the appropriate tool.

## ARGUMENTS

- \-i imgtype

  Identify the type of image file, such as raw or aff. Use '-i list' to list the supported types. If not given, autodetection methods are used.

- \-b dev\_sector\_size

  The size, in bytes, of the underlying device sectors.  If not given, the value in the image format is used (if it exists) or 512-bytes is assumed.

- \-s start\_sector

  The sector number to start at.

- \-e stop\_sector

  The sector number to stop at.

- \-v

  Verbose output of debugging statements to stderr

- \-V

  Display version

- image \[images\]

  The disk or partition image to read, whose format is given with '-i'. Multiple image file names can be given if the image is split into multiple segments. If only one image file is given, and its name is the first in a sequence (e.g., as indicated by ending in '.001'), subsequent image segments will be included automatically.

## AUTHOR

Brian Carrier \<carrier at sleuthkit dot org\>

Send documentation updates to \<doc-updates at sleuthkit dot org\>