Articles from 2026 on PowerShell.org - Welcome Automaters!

PowerShell Can Put Pictures in Your Terminal with SIXEL

Thu, 03 Sep 2026 00:00:00 +0000

PowerShell normally sends text and objects to a terminal. This experiment sends an image.

`1`	`Out-Sixel -Path ./sixel-demo.svg -Width480`

Instead of opening Preview or a browser, the command decodes the SVG, converts it into a palette, and writes a stream of terminal escape sequences. iTerm2 interprets those sequences and paints the image directly between the command and the next prompt.

This is mostly for fun. It is also a useful reminder that a terminal is a protocol endpoint, not merely a grid of characters.

1234567Install-Module ` -Name LibSixel.PowerShell ` -RequiredVersion'0.2.0-beta2' ` -AllowPrerelease ` -Scope CurrentUserImport-Module LibSixel.PowerShell

`1`	`Get-Command Out-Sixel`

123Out-Sixel -Path ./photo.pngOut-Sixel -Path ./photo.jpgOut-Sixel -Path ./diagram.svg

12Out-Sixel -Path ./photo.jpg -Width480Out-Sixel -Path ./diagram.svg -Height260

`1`	`Out-Sixel -Path ./photo.jpg -Width480 -Colors64`

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9101112131415161718192021$svg =@'         font-family="monospace" font-size="38" fill="url(#g)"> PowerShell + SIXEL   font-family="monospace" font-size="20" fill="#cbd5e1"> no browser required '@$svg | Out-Sixel -Width480

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910111213141516PNG / JPEG / SVG | vSkiaSharp decode or SVG rasterization | vRGBA pixel buffer | vpalette selection and dithering | vSIXEL escape sequence | viTerm2 renders the pixels

1234$sixel = Out-Sixel -Path ./diagram.svg -Width480 -AsString[int][char]$sixel[0][int][char]$sixel[1]

Environment	Status for this experiment
iTerm2 3.3 or newer on macOS	Supported. This article was tested with iTerm2 3.6.11.
PowerShell 7.4 or newer	Required by the current`net8.0` module build. This article was tested with PowerShell 7.6.1.
Windows Terminal 1.22 or newer	SIXEL is supported by the terminal, and the module includes Windows Skia native assets. I have not tested this combination yet—please try it and report what you find.
Windows PowerShell 5.1	Not supported. It cannot load this`net8.0` module.
macOS Terminal.app and the VS Code integrated terminal	Not tested and not claimed as supported here.
tmux and screen	Outside the supported path. A multiplexer may filter the escape sequence or require its own SIXEL configuration.

 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 910$PSVersionTable.PSVersionGet-AppxPackage Microsoft.WindowsTerminal | Select-Object Name, VersionInstall-Module -Name LibSixel.PowerShell -RequiredVersion'0.2.0-beta2' -AllowPrerelease -Scope CurrentUserImport-Module LibSixel.PowerShell# Use the inline $svg sample from the earlier section.$svg | Out-Sixel -Width480

`1`	`PowerShell -> SIXEL -> iTerm2 -> pixels`

Name	Responsibility
`PSGraph`	The project and GitHub repository.
`PSQuickGraph`	The installable module for graph objects, algorithms, GraphML, Graphviz/DOT export, and DSM analysis.
`PSGraphView`	The installable visualization module for Graphviz, Vega, MSAGL, and DSM output.

Articles from 2026 on PowerShell.org - Welcome Automaters!

PowerShell Can Put Pictures in Your Terminal with SIXEL

Analyze Dependencies with PSQuickGraph and PSGraphView

Two modules with different jobs

Explore Micrograd with Verso and PowerShell

Notebook Setup

Validate Azure Resource Relationships with PSRule and PowerShell Graphs

Why per-resource rules are not enough

How to Write for PowerShell.org

Articles from 2026 on PowerShell.org - Welcome Automaters!

PowerShell Can Put Pictures in Your Terminal with SIXEL

What is SIXEL?

The PowerShell experiment

Render an SVG without creating a file

What happens inside the command?

Exactly where does it work?

Windows Terminal readers: please try this

Limitations worth keeping

Takeaway