About XBM Files
X BitMap
XBM (X BitMap) is a monochrome image format used in the X Window System for cursor and icon bitmaps. The format stores pixel data as C source code arrays, making it directly includable in X11 programs.
Family
Raster & Vector Images
Extension
.xbm
MIME Type
image/x-xbitmap
Can Use As
58 42 4D 46 00 01 00 00 4B 41 49 4A
ASCII: XBMF....KAIJ
📈 Target Minimum File Size (Guaranteed ≥ KB)
Lossless JPEG Q100 + standard COM segment padding for government & exam portals
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HOW XBM CAME TO BE.
XBM — X Bitmap — is the 1-bit ancestor of XPM, shipped with X11 in 1989. An .xbm file is literally a valid C header declaring a character array that represents a black-and-white bitmap. X Window System used XBM for cursors, mouse pointers, and small icons during the era when displays were monochrome or 2-color. Mozilla briefly supported XBM in early browsers (Navigator 2.0, 1996) as a web image format.
Today XBM is a footnote. Every other format — PNG, SVG, even PBM — does what XBM does with color and better compression. .xbm files appear occasionally in legacy X11 distributions and in text-art archives where "image is literally C source code" has nostalgic appeal.
Technical Specifications
- MIME type
- image/x-xbitmap
- Extension
- .xbm
- Bit depth
- 1-bit
- Format
- C source code
Typical Sizes & Weights
Mouse cursor (16×16)
< 1 KB
STRENGTHS & LIMITATIONS.
Strengths
- Valid C source — embeddable.
- Text-editable.
- Tiny files.
- X11-native since 1989.
Limitations
- 1-bit monochrome only.
- Legacy — modern UIs use PNG/SVG.
- No compression.
CURIOSITIES & TRIVIA.
XBM files are valid C header code — `#include "cursor.xbm"` defines an array your program can blit to the screen.
Mozilla Navigator 2.0 (1996) briefly supported XBM as a web image format — the browser parsed C source to render pixels.
XBM predates XPM (1989 vs 1990) and is restricted to 1-bit monochrome.
X Window System's default mouse cursor in 1990 was distributed as an .xbm file.
A small .xbm can fit in a tweet — the format is text-editable and compact for simple bitmaps.
Specialized Utilities for .XBM Files
Compress Image to 20KB
Compress signature scans, stamp images, and ID photos to strictly ≤ 20 KB (20,000 bytes) for strict online exam and government application portals using binary-search JPEG quantization.
Compress Image to 50KB
Compress JPG, PNG, or WebP photos to strictly under 50 KB (50,000 bytes) for passport portals, university admissions, civil service forms, and KYC uploads without changing pixel dimensions.
Compress JPG to 100 KB
Upload a JPG and download a decodable JPG at or below 100,000 bytes. If the limit cannot be reached, no output is offered.
Crop Image & Photo Resizer
Crop and resize JPG, PNG, WEBP, and AVIF images to exact pixel dimensions, social media aspect ratios, or custom print DPI online for free.
Resize Image
Resize images to exact dimensions or scale by percentage. Lock aspect ratio to prevent distortion. Supports all common image formats.
PNG Compressor — Reduce PNG Size Preserving Transparency
Compress PNG images up to 80% while preserving full alpha-channel transparency, or lock exact file size targets (20 KB, 50 KB, 100 KB).
WEBP Compressor — Optimize WebP for Core Web Vitals
Compress WEBP images for ultra-fast page loads and Lighthouse scores with fine-grained quality sliders and exact byte targets.
Favicon Generator — Multi-Resolution .ICO from PNG, SVG or WEBP
Generate a production-ready multi-resolution favicon.ico containing 16x16, 32x32, 48x48, 64x64, 128x128, and 256x256 alpha layers from any logo.
EXIF Metadata Remover
Strip hidden GPS coordinates, camera serial numbers, timestamps, and XMP/IPTC metadata from JPG, PNG, WebP, and TIFF photos before sharing online.
Image to Text (OCR)
Extract text from images using optical character recognition. Supports photos of documents, screenshots, receipts, and handwritten notes in 100+ languages.
JPG to Word Converter (OCR)
Convert scanned JPG, PNG, and WEBP images into editable Microsoft Word (DOCX) documents using 12-language optical character recognition (OCR).
CONVERT FROM XBM
Common Use Cases
X Window system cursors, icon design, embedded bitmap resources
Related Formats
Popular comparisons
XBM vs JPG
Differences, file size, and when to choose each format.
XBM vs PNG
Differences, file size, and when to choose each format.
XBM vs WEBP
Differences, file size, and when to choose each format.
XBM vs AVIF
Differences, file size, and when to choose each format.
XBM vs GIF
Differences, file size, and when to choose each format.
XBM vs BMP
Differences, file size, and when to choose each format.
Popular XBM conversions
The most-requested destinations when starting from XBM.
Frequently Asked Questions
XBM (X BitMap) is an image format used to store raster graphics — a two-dimensional grid of pixels describing a picture. It is part of the raster & vector images family and designed around a specific trade-off between file size, visual fidelity, and feature support (transparency, colour depth, compression type). Photographers, web designers, and content creators choose XBM when its particular strengths match the publishing target.
Most desktop photo viewers (Windows Photos, macOS Preview, GIMP, Photoshop, Affinity Photo) open XBM natively. On mobile, iOS Photos and Google Photos display XBM in the gallery when supported by the OS. If the format is rare or new, convert to JPG or PNG first — both are universally readable — using our XBM to JPG or XBM to PNG converter.
Upload the XBM to KaijuConverter and pick a target format (JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC, TIFF, BMP, SVG, PDF). The conversion runs in the browser via ImageMagick and returns a download in seconds. No account or installation required; both input and output delete automatically within two hours.
It depends on the task. JPG is the smallest file size for photographs; PNG is lossless with transparency; XBM has its own niche that may favour colour depth, animation, or encoding efficiency over one or both of those. For the final web publish, test all three and measure file size plus visible quality on real content.
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