Convert PCX to PNM

The PCX file extension, standing for PiCture eXchange, is a raster image format developed by ZSoft Corporation in 1985 for its PC Paintbrush software. It became one of the first widely accepted DOS imaging standards, supporting palette-indexed images from 2 to 256 colors and later true-color (24-bit) images. PCX files use RLE (Run-Length Encoding) compression, making them smaller in size. Although largely replaced by formats like BMP, JPEG, and PNG, PCX was pivotal in early computer graphics and is still supported by various image processing software.

The PNM (Portable Anymap) file extension, developed by Jef Poskanzer in the 1980s, stands for Portable Any Map. It is an uncompressed raster graphics format designed for portable image storage and exchange, encompassing three sub-formats: PBM (Portable Bitmap), PGM (Portable Graymap), and PPM (Portable Pixmap). PNM files store image data in plain text or binary format, ensuring easy usage across different platforms and applications. This format is widely supported by various image editing software and is valued for its simplicity and lossless compression.