# chafa Cheatsheet - Cheatsheets - Launch Pad

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# chafa Cheatsheet

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chafa is a terminal image viewer and converter. Converts images to ANSI art, Unicode blocks, or sixel graphics for display in terminals.

## Basic Usage

- chafa <image> - Display image in terminal

- chafa -f <format> <image> - Specify output format

- chafa -s <size> <image> - Set output size

- chafa -c <colors> <image> - Set color mode

## Output Formats

- chafa -f symbols <image> - Unicode symbols (default)

- chafa -f sixel <image> - Sixel graphics

- chafa -f kitty <image> - Kitty terminal protocol

- chafa -f iterm2 <image> - iTerm2 protocol

- chafa -f none <image> - No output (for testing)

## Size Options

- chafa -s <width>x<height> <image> - Set dimensions

- chafa -s <size> <image> - Set size (width only, auto height)

- chafa -s auto <image> - Auto size based on terminal

- chafa -s max <image> - Maximum size

## Color Options

- chafa -c 16 <image> - 16 colors

- chafa -c 256 <image> - 256 colors

- chafa -c full <image> - Full color (24-bit)

- chafa -c none <image> - No color (monochrome)

## Display Options

- chafa --animate <image> - Animate GIF/APNG

- chafa --center <image> - Center image

- chafa --bg <color> <image> - Set background color

- chafa --fg <color> <image> - Set foreground color

- chafa --dither <mode> <image> - Set dithering mode

- chafa --threshold <value> <image> - Set threshold for symbols

## Common Examples

### Basic Display

    chafa image.png

Display image in terminal.

### Custom Size

    chafa -s 80x40 image.png

Display at specific dimensions.

### Sixel Format

    chafa -f sixel image.png

Use sixel graphics format.

### Full Color

    chafa -c full -s 100 image.png

Full color at 100 width.

### Animated GIF

    chafa --animate animation.gif

Display animated GIF.

### Monochrome

    chafa -c none image.png

Display in monochrome.

## Tips

- Use -s auto for automatic sizing based on terminal

- Use -c full for best color quality in modern terminals

- Use -f sixel for better quality in terminals that support it

- Use --animate to view animated images

- Works great with image previewers in file managers

- Can be piped to other commands for processing

- Supports many image formats: PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP, etc.