What is a PPM / PNM file?
PPM, PGM, PBM and PNM are the Netpbm formats: deliberately simple, uncompressed image files from the 1980s. They store pixels as plain numbers, which makes them easy for programs to read and write.
You'll mostly meet them in scientific computing, image-processing scripts and developer tools - rarely in everyday use.
How to open a PPM / PNM file
GIMP, IrfanView, XnView and Photoshop open Netpbm files, as do Linux image viewers. Windows Photos and browsers can't, so convert to PNG for a lossless, much smaller copy.
- Extensions
- .ppm, .pgm, .pbm, .pnm
- Compression
- None
- Best for
- Scientific and developer tools
- Family
- Netpbm