FB2 to SIXEL Converter

FictionBook to SIXEL terminal graphic — free online

Drop files here. 1 GB maximum file size or Sign Up
to
Facebook Amazon Microsoft Tesla Nestle Walmart L'Oreal

Terminal-Native Images

SIXEL graphics render directly in compatible terminals — browse your converted FB2 pages without leaving the command line.

FB2 to Retro Format

Convert FictionBook ebooks to SIXEL — the DEC graphics protocol enjoying renewed interest among terminal power users.

Server-Side Rendering

All processing runs on cloud servers. Your local machine handles nothing — conversion works smoothly on any device.

How to convert FB2 to SIXEL

1

Select files from Computer, Google Drive, Dropbox, URL or by dragging it on the page.

2

Choose sixel or any other format you need as a result (more than 200 formats supported)

3

Let the file convert and you can download your sixel file right afterwards

About formats

FB2 (FictionBook) is an XML-based ebook format created by Dmitry Gribov in 2004, designed to provide a clean semantic description of a book's content independent of its visual presentation. Unlike page-layout formats, FB2 encodes structure — title, authors, chapters, annotations, genres, epigraphs, poems, footnotes, and binary attachments (typically cover images) — within a single well-formed XML document. This structural approach means reading applications have full control over rendering, allowing the same file to adapt perfectly to a small phone screen or a large e-ink reader. FB2 became enormously popular in Russia and Eastern Europe, serving as the dominant format on major Russian digital libraries and ebook distribution platforms. One significant advantage is metadata richness: the format's schema mandates detailed bibliographic information including author, translator, series position, publication date, and genre classification, making library management and discovery straightforward. The plain-text XML foundation is another strength — FB2 files are human-readable, easy to validate, and simple to transform using standard XML tools like XSLT. The format specification is freely available on GitHub, and a wide ecosystem of readers, editors, and converters supports it across all major platforms, from desktop applications like Calibre to dedicated e-readers with native FB2 rendering.
Developer: Dmitry Gribov
Initial release: 2004
SIXEL (Six Pixel) is a bitmap graphics encoding format created by Digital Equipment Corporation (DEC) in 1983 for rendering images on character-cell printers and video terminals. The name derives from the encoding's fundamental unit: a column of six pixels represented by a single ASCII character. Each printable character in the sixel data stream (ASCII 63-126) encodes a 6-pixel vertical column, with the character's binary value determining which pixels are on or off. Color is specified through register-based palette control: a Select Color Sequence assigns an HLS or RGB color value to a numbered register, and subsequent sixel characters use that color until another register is selected. The encoding supports raster attributes for specifying pixel aspect ratio and image dimensions, repeat sequences (! followed by a count and character) for run-length compression of identical columns, and $ (carriage return) and - (new line) for navigating the sixel grid. DEC implemented SIXEL support in their VT240, VT241, VT330, and VT340 terminals, as well as multiple printer models. One advantage of the SIXEL encoding is its ASCII-clean nature: the data stream consists entirely of printable characters and standard control sequences, meaning SIXEL graphics can be transmitted through any text-based communication channel — serial terminals, SSH sessions, telnet connections — without requiring binary-safe transport or protocol modifications. The format's modern renaissance provides another remarkable dimension: after decades of obscurity, SIXEL support has been implemented in numerous contemporary terminal emulators, enabling inline image display in command-line workflows. SIXEL output can be generated by ImageMagick, libsixel, chafa, and various plotting libraries.
Initial release: 1983

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert FB2 to SIXEL?

SIXEL lets you render images in text terminals. Converting FB2 to SIXEL creates terminal-viewable previews of your ebook pages.

What terminals support SIXEL?

xterm (with SIXEL enabled), mlterm, WezTerm, foot terminal, and mintty all render SIXEL graphics inline within the console.

Is SIXEL limited in colors?

SIXEL supports up to 256 colors per image. For ebook text pages, this palette is more than sufficient for readable output.

Is the conversion free?

Yes, Convertio offers FB2 to SIXEL conversion at no charge. Paid tiers provide batch conversion and higher size limits.

Can I view the result in a browser?

SIXEL is a terminal format, not a web format. You need a SIXEL-compatible terminal emulator to display the output properly.