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<p class="navigation-index">[<a href="#usage">Example Usage</a> • <a href="#options">Option Summary</a>]</p>
<p>Use the <kbd>import</kbd> program to capture some or all of an X server screen and save the image to a file. See <a href="../www/command-line-processing.html">Command Line Processing</a> for advice on how to structure your <kbd>import</kbd> command or see below for example usages of the command.</p>
<div style="margin: auto;">
<h2><a name="usage"></a>Example Usage</h2>
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<p>We list a few examples of the <kbd>import</kbd> command here to illustrate its usefulness and ease of use. To get started, lets import an image in the JPEG format:</p>
<pre class="text">
import rose.jpg
</pre>
<p>To capture the entire X server screen in the Postscript image format:</p>
<pre class="text">
import -window root screen.ps
</pre>
<p>You can find additional examples of using <kbd>import</kbd> in <a href="http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-graf/?ca=dnt-428" target="1411135218">Graphics from the Command Line</a>. Further discussion is available in <a href="http://www-106.ibm.com/developerworks/library/l-graf2/?ca=dgr-lnxw15GraphicsLine" target="133777330">More Graphics from the Command Line</a> and <a href="http://www.imagemagick.org/Usage/" target="1561883388">Examples of ImageMagick Usage</a>.</p>
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<h2><a name="options"></a>Option Summary</h2>
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<p>The <kbd>import</kbd> command recognizes these options. Click on an option to get more details about how that option works.</p>
<table id="table" cellpadding="2" cellspacing="0" style="width: 93%">
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<th align="left">Option</th>
<th align="left">Description</th>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#adjoin" target="magick-options">-adjoin</a></td>
<td valign="top">join images into a single multi-image file</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#annotate" target="magick-options">-annotate <em class="option">geometry text</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">annotate the image with text</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#border" target="magick-options">-border</a></td>
<td valign="top">include image borders in the output image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#channel" target="magick-options">-channel <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">apply option to select image channels</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#colors" target="magick-options">-colors <em class="option">value</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">preferred number of colors in the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#colorspace" target="magick-options">-colorspace <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">set image colorspace</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#comment" target="magick-options">-comment <em class="option">string</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">annotate image with comment</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#compress" target="magick-options">-compress <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">image compression type</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#contrast" target="magick-options">-contrast</a></td>
<td valign="top">enhance or reduce the image contrast</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#crop" target="magick-options">-crop <em class="option">geometry</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">preferred size and location of the cropped image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#debug" target="magick-options">-debug <em class="option">events</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">import copious debugging information</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#define" target="magick-options">-define <em class="option">format:option</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">define one or more image format options</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#delay" target="magick-options">-delay <em class="option">value</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">import the next image after pausing</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#density" target="magick-options">-density <em class="option">geometry</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">horizontal and vertical density of the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#depth" target="magick-options">-depth <em class="option">value</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">image depth</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#despeckle" target="magick-options">-descend</a></td>
<td valign="top">obtain image by descending window hierarchy</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#display" target="magick-options">-display <em class="option">server</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">get image or font from this X server</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#dispose" target="magick-options">-dispose <em class="option">method</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">layer disposal method</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#dither" target="magick-options">-dither</a></td>
<td valign="top">apply Floyd/Steinberg error diffusion to image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#encipher" target="magick-options">-encipher <em class="option">filename</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">convert plain pixels to cipher pixels</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#encoding" target="magick-options">-encoding <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">text encoding type</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#endian" target="magick-options">-endian <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">endianness (MSB or LSB) of the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#filter" target="magick-options">-filter <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">use this filter when resizing an image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#frame" target="magick-options">-frame</a></td>
<td valign="top">include window manager frame</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#geometry" target="magick-options">-geometry <em class="option">geometry</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">preferred size or location of the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#gravity" target="magick-options">-gravity <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">horizontal and vertical text placement</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#help" target="magick-options">-help</a></td>
<td valign="top">print program options</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#identify" target="magick-options">-identify</a></td>
<td valign="top">identify the format and characteristics of the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#interlace" target="magick-options">-interlace <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">type of image interlacing scheme</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#interpolate">-interpolate <em class="option">method</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">pixel color interpolation method</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#label" target="magick-options">-label <em class="option">name</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">assign a label to an image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#limit" target="magick-options">-limit <em class="option">type value</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">pixel cache resource limit</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#log" target="magick-options">-log <em class="option">format</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">format of debugging information</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#monitor" target="magick-options">-monitor</a></td>
<td valign="top">monitor progress</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#monochrome" target="magick-options">-monochrome</a></td>
<td valign="top">transform image to black and white</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#negate" target="magick-options">-negate</a></td>
<td valign="top">replace every pixel with its complementary color </td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#page" target="magick-options">-page <em class="option">geometry</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">size and location of an image canvas (setting)</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#quality" target="magick-options">-quality <em class="option">value</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">JPEG/MIFF/PNG compression level</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#quantize" target="magick-options">-quantize <em class="option">colorspace</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">reduce image colors in this colorspace</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#quiet" target="magick-options">-quiet</a></td>
<td valign="top">suppress all warning messages</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#quiet" target="magick-options">-quiet</a></td>
<td valign="top">suppress all warning messages</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#repage" target="magick-options">-repage <em class="option">geometry</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">size and location of an image canvas</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#resize" target="magick-options">-resize <em class="option">geometry</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">resize the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#rotate" target="magick-options">-rotate <em class="option">degrees</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">apply Paeth rotation to the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#sampling-factor" target="magick-options">-sampling-factor <em class="option">geometry</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">horizontal and vertical sampling factor</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#scene" target="magick-options">-scene <em class="option">value</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">image scene number</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#screen" target="magick-options">-screen</a></td>
<td valign="top">select image from root window</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#seed" target="magick-options">-seed <em class="option">value</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">seed a new sequence of pseudo-random numbers</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#set" target="magick-options">-set <em class="option">attribute value</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">set an image attribute</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#sharpen" target="magick-options">-silent</a></td>
<td valign="top">operate silently, i.e. don't ring any bells</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#strip" target="magick-options">-strip</a></td>
<td valign="top">strip image of all profiles and comments</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#transparent-color" target="magick-options">-transparent-color <em class="option">color</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">transparent color</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#trim" target="magick-options">-trim</a></td>
<td valign="top">trim image edges</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#update" target="magick-options">-type <em class="option">type</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">image type</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#verbose" target="magick-options">-verbose</a></td>
<td valign="top">print detailed information about the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#version" target="magick-options">-version</a></td>
<td valign="top">print version information</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#virtual-pixel" target="magick-options">-virtual-pixel <em class="option">method</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">access method for pixels outside the boundaries of the image</td>
</tr>
<tr>
<td valign="top"><a href="../www/command-line-options.html#write" target="magick-options">-window <em class="option">id</em></a></td>
<td valign="top">select window with this id or name</td>
</tr>
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