Convert G4 to PPM

The G4 file extension, standing for CCITT Group 4 Fax Image, is a specialized format used primarily for storing black-and-white facsimile (fax) images. Its origins trace back to the Consultative Committee for International Telegraphy and Telephony (CCITT), now known as the ITU-T, which developed the Group 4 standard in the 1980s to improve fax transmission efficiency over digital networks. This format employs a high compression ratio to reduce file size while maintaining image quality, making it ideal for archiving documents and transmitting faxes in professional and business environments.

The Portable Pixmap (PPM) file extension, an image format within the Netpbm family, stores simple, uncompressed images. Introduced in the late 1980s, PPM supports RGB color and grayscale images, making it suitable for basic image processing and conversion tasks. Its plain text encoding simplifies debugging and data manipulation, although its lack of compression results in larger file sizes compared to modern formats. As such, PPM finds limited use in contemporary applications, mainly in educational and experimental settings where ease of implementation and readability are prioritized.