XLS to PGM Converter

Save XLS spreadsheet data as PGM grayscale images

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

Simple Grayscale Format

PGM is a straightforward format for grayscale data — perfect for image processing scripts and Unix-based analysis workflows.

Online Conversion

No Unix tools needed for the conversion itself. Upload XLS on convertio.tools and get PGM back.

Secure Processing

XLS uploads are deleted immediately. PGM results are removed within 24 hours.

How to convert XLS to PGM

1

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

2

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

3

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

About formats

XLS is the binary spreadsheet format of Microsoft Excel, first introduced with Excel 1.0 for Macintosh in September 1985 and becoming the dominant spreadsheet format worldwide. The format stores workbooks as OLE2 compound document files using the Binary Interchange File Format (BIFF), organizing sheets, cells, formulas, formatting, charts, pivot tables, macros, and metadata across multiple internal streams. Each cell record encodes the cell's value (number, string, boolean, error, or formula), position, and formatting index, while shared string tables and style records reduce redundancy. The format evolved through BIFF versions (BIFF2 through BIFF8), with BIFF8 (Excel 97) establishing the structure used through Excel 2003. XLS supports up to 65,536 rows and 256 columns per sheet, a limit that drove the creation of XLSX. One advantage is universal spreadsheet compatibility — XLS files are recognized by every major spreadsheet application including LibreOffice Calc, Google Sheets, Apple Numbers, and dozens of programming libraries across all platforms. The format's mature feature set is another strength: XLS handles complex formulas, conditional formatting, data validation, named ranges, array formulas, external references, and VBA macros. Although XLSX replaced XLS as the default in Office 2007, the binary format persists in financial institutions, legacy reporting systems, and any environment where Excel 97-2003 compatibility is required.
Developer: Microsoft
Initial release: September 1985
PGM (Portable Graymap) is the grayscale member of the Netpbm image format family, created by Jef Poskanzer in 1988 as part of the Pbmplus toolkit for Unix systems. PGM stores single-channel intensity images where each pixel holds a gray value from 0 (black) to a user-specified maximum (typically 255 for 8-bit or 65535 for 16-bit). The format exists in ASCII (magic number P2), where pixel values are written as decimal text numbers separated by whitespace, and binary (magic number P5), where values are stored as raw bytes. Both variants begin with a header specifying the magic number, width, height, and maximum gray value. PGM was designed as the grayscale intermediate in Netpbm's convert-process-convert pipeline philosophy: source images from any format are converted to PGM, processed using Netpbm's extensive command-line tool library, then converted to the target format. One advantage is format transparency — the ASCII variant makes image data directly readable by humans and trivially processable by text tools like awk and grep, invaluable for debugging and education. The scientific and computer vision community's adoption is another strength: PGM's straightforward single-channel representation makes it a natural format for image analysis algorithms, and many academic papers and course materials use PGM examples. The format is supported by ImageMagick, GIMP, and countless image processing libraries, and remains standard input for many research tools and benchmarks.
Developer: Jef Poskanzer
Initial release: 1988

Frequently Asked Questions

Why convert XLS to PGM?

PGM is a simple grayscale format — converting XLS creates a lightweight image ideal for Unix scripting and image processing pipelines.

What opens PGM files?

GIMP, IrfanView, ImageMagick, Netpbm tools, and most Linux/Unix image viewers handle PGM files natively.

Is PGM grayscale only?

Yes — PGM stores only grayscale data. For color output, use PPM; for monochrome, use PBM.

Is XLS to PGM free?

Yes — convertio.tools provides free conversion. Premium plans unlock batch features and higher limits.

Can I batch-convert?

Upload multiple XLS files and convert them all to PGM in one session on convertio.tools.

XLS to PGM Quality Rating

4.2 (5 votes)
You need to convert and download at least 1 file to provide feedback!