will answer your questions

What

Created	Updated	Code size	License
2026-01	2026-09-26	< 50 K	LGPL3

Converts any file to grayscale image.

No data is lost, that's byte-to-pixel conversion.

Lua executable as image:

Combined tool code as image:

Usage

Converts any file to image

Usage:

  <image_format> <input_file> <output_file>

  <image_format>: -- output image format. One of:

    png -- (p)ortable (n)etwork (g)raphics
    pgm -- (p)ortable (g)ray(m)ap

  <input_file> -- input file name

  <output_file> -- output file name

-- Martin, 2026-09

Reads given file and writes .png or .pgm image file.

Shipment

Repository contains

• Compiled code in deploy/
• Sample output in extras/
• Complete source code in src/
• Rebuild script and tools in builder/

Requirements

• Linux
• Lua 5.5 (5.4, 5.3) ($ sudo apt install lua)
• pnmtopng tool to convert image to PNG ($ sudo apt install netpbm)

Install/remove

• Copy file file_to_img from deploy/.

Notes

• Practical data file size is several megabytes

  I've tested it on 30 MB file.

  Tool value diminishes with data size. It is not designed to be fast or efficient for large files.

• This is data exploration tool

  You can grasp data structure from image. You can feel size relationships from two images.

• Implementation uses spiral filling

  For spiral filling I wrote "ant" class and coded spiral movement for that ant.

  Feel free to experiment with another filling algorithms

See also

• meld -- my tool to combine Lua files
• workshop -- my personal Lua framework
• My other projects