XPM (X PixMap) is a powerful and portable format for storing/retrieving pixmaps to/from files. It provides the easiest way to load a graphical image into a GTK+ application. Moreover, the graphical data can be embedded in the application itself. Briefly, the XPM format consists of a string describing its dimensions and number of colors, followed by the color table, and finally by the image data utilizing the characters mapped in the color table. Here's a sample: