---
name: "pamtable"
section: "1"
platform: "linux"
package: "netpbm"
version: "10.86.51-2"
release: "Arch Linux 2026-11-01"
platforms: ["linux"]
url: "https://new.carta.tech/pamtable"
---

# pamtable(1)

print the raster as a table of numerical sample values

## NAME

pamtable - print the raster as a table of numerical sample values

## SYNOPSIS

**pamtable**

\[**-tuple**\] \[**-hex**\]

\[*netpbmfile*\]

## DESCRIPTION

This program is part of **Netpbm**(1) .

**pamtable** prints the raster of a Netpbm image as a table of numerical sample values.  For example, a 5-pixel wide, 2-pixel high rainbow (black, red, green, blue, white) PPM image with maxval 255 would appear as follows:

```
<span style="font-family: monospace">
        0   0   0|255   0   0|  0 255   0|  0   0 255|255 255 255
        0   0   0|255   0   0|  0 255   0|  0   0 255|255 255 255
</span>
```

There are other output formats possible.  See the command line options.

If you care to see only certain rows or columns, use **pamcut** to filter the input.

If you care to see only certain planes, use **pamchannel** to filter the input.

**pamtable** prints vertical bars between tuples, unless there is only one sample per tuple, in which case it prints a single space between tuples.

**pamtable** prints a single space between samples within a tuple.

For each sample, **pamtable** prints the numerical value from the Netpbm image, uninterpreted.  It prints it in decimal, right justified in the minimum number of spaces required to print the maxval of the image.

If you want the samples to print more densely, use **pamdepth** to reduce the maxval (thus making the decimal numbers for the samples narrower).

The **less** program (not part of Netpbm) is good for browsing through the table.  Use its **--chop-long-lines** option and use cursor movement keys to scroll around in the image.

## ARGUMENTS

The only possible argument is the name of the file containing the input Netpbm image.  This is optional; if you don't specify any arguments, the input comes from Standard Input.

## OPTIONS

In addition to the options common to all programs based on libnetpbm (most notably **-quiet**, see \
  Common Options ⟨index.html#commonoptions⟩ ), **pamtable** recognizes the following command line options:

- **-tuple**

  Print the tuple values in mathematical tuple notation, like this:

  ```
  <span style="font-family: monospace">
          (0, 0, 0) (255, 0, 0) (0, 255, 0) (0, 0, 255) (255, 255, 255)
          (0, 0, 0) (255, 0, 0) (0, 255, 0) (0, 0, 255) (255, 255, 255)
  </span>
  ```

  This option was new in Netpbm 10.11.00 (September 2022).

- **-hex**

  Display sample values in hexadecimal instead of decimal.

  This option is not valid with **-tuple**.

  This option was new in Netpbm 10.11.00 (September 2022).

- **-verbose**

  Print additional messages about the processing.

## SEE ALSO

[**pamfile**(1)](/pamfile/1.md) , [**pamcut**(1)](/pamcut/1.md) , [**pamchannel**(1)](/pamchannel/1.md) , **pnm**(1) , **pam**(1) , [**pamslice**(1)](/pamslice/1.md) , [**ppmtoarbtxt**(1)](/ppmtoarbtxt/1.md) , [**ppmtoterm**(1)](/ppmtoterm/1.md) ,

## HISTORY

**pamtable** was new in Netpbm 10.79 (June 2017).

## DOCUMENT SOURCE

This manual page was generated by the Netpbm tool 'makeman' from HTML source.  The master documentation is at

-

  **http://netpbm.sourceforge.net/doc/pamtable.html**