\section{Command Line Utilities}

\subsection{Format conversions}

Athena has a wide array of utilities to manipulate
images and translate from any to any of the 
image file formats in use out there. The
first one to know about is the {\tt convert}
utility, which may be known as {\tt imconvert}
where you are logged in. This program convert to and 
from a truly huge list of file formats, which you 
can see by reading the Image Magick manual page 
({\tt add graphics; man ImageMagick}). Take note
that {\tt convert} is currently the best tool on Athena
for generating EPS files out of other image file formats. 
Also, {\tt convert} performs many image manipulations
from the command line. It's a real Swiss army knife.

It is plausible that you might find the image produced
by {\tt convert} to be an unsatisfactory version 
of the input image. In that case, you should also try 
the variety of other conversion utilities available. 
For making PNMs into TIFFs, there's {\tt pnmtotiff},
and so on and so forth. Type the acronym for your
input file format into your Athena prompt, and 
press the Tab key. Something useful may pop up. 
The entire package of utilities is called NetPBM, and 
also includes programs for cutting, cropping, rescaling, 
masking, and otherwise mangling and altering images from the command
line. The pbm manpage ({\tt man pbm}) is a good start, as are the 
pgm, pnm, and ppm manpages, in the graphics locker. 

\subsection{Transparent images for the Web.}

The best way to make a transparent image is in 
the GIMP, where you have full control of the exact layers 
info is under your control. But, there are also utilities
you can use from the Athena prompt. 
Typing {\tt transgif -rgb ff ff ff filename.gif} will add
a tag in the file to mark the color white as transparent. 
The three numbers are hexadecimal, so you can mark other colors
the same way to the file. The {\tt convert} utility has
the {\tt -transparent} option that works the same way
(for file formats that allow it, i.e. GIF and PNG).

\subsection{Animations}
For making animated image files, there is always The GIMP, 
but there is also the {\tt gifsicle} utility in the graphics locker. 
It has a manual page. 

\section{That Lab Report}

%In this catch all section we're just going to push related 
% info that people shoudl know, like Tufte's advice.

Here are a few things to keep in mind when you're writing a lab
report or paper and are working on some figures for it. 
Quite likely, you've generated the figure in Matlab, 
and exported it to EPS for your report. If you expect 
to make edits or corrections in your paper, save the figure in 
Matlab's native format (.fig, which is not the same as Xfig's
.fig), so if your editor, advisor, lab partner, or spiritual guru think 
the axes shold be changed, you can do so with relative ease. 
Matlab's properties editor will change anything in your figure
that needs changing, no matter how pedantic the demand. 

It's also worth mentioning here a set of books by 
Yale Professor \footref{http://www.edwardtufte.com}{Edward Tufte},
whose books {\it Visual Explanations}, {\it Envisioning Information}, 
and {\it The Visual Display of Quantitative Information} are
an excellent way to learn the proper way to make a figure for 
any technical report.