X PixMap (XPM) is an image file format used by the X Window System, created in 1989 by Daniel Dardailler and Colas Nahaboo working at Bull Research Center at Sophia Antipolis, France, and later enhanced by Arnaud Le Hors.

[a] Compared to XBM, it uses additional macro definitions and variables for indexed colors, and replaces bits with characters for describing the image.

Spaces are allowed as color code, but might be a bad idea depending on the used text editor.

It re-introduces the C wrapper, but instead of explicitly showing a file's structure, the strings stored are essentially identical to XPM2.

The following code displays the same blarg file in the XBM, XPM and PBM formats.