XWD

File Format
Name	XWD
Ontology	Electronic File Formats Graphics XWD
Extension(s)	.xwd
PRONOM	fmt/401, x-fmt/300
Wikidata ID	Q105601274
Kaitai Struct Spec	xwd.ksy

XWD (X Window Dump) is a raster image file format used by the X Window System.

There are two versions of it: X10 and X11. They have different header formats and capabilities.

There is no official specification, and it is challenging to decode all the possible types of XWD images.

Some sources list .xdm as an alternate file extension, but others imply that xdm files have a different format.

Specs

• Specs as .h file

Software

• ImageMagick
• Konvertor
• Netpbm
• XnView
• xwd (X Window Dump): git repo, tarball releases
• xwud (X Window Un-Dump): git repo, tarball releases

Sample files

• http://www.fileformat.info/format/xwd/sample/index.htm
• http://stuff.mit.edu/afs/athena/contrib/graphics/images/xpix/
• https://telparia.com/fileFormatSamples/image/xwd/

Resources

• XWD File Format Summary, from the Encyclopedia of Graphics File Formats
• MultimediaWiki article
• Wikipedia: xwd