Hey All,
I ran into this problem where I wanted to make an XPM file for an icon to go with a MEL script I had made.
Ultimately I found a solution and wanted to share, as I found a couple other people had run into the same problem.
Here's how to make the XPM format from another format:
1) Save your icon at 32X32 pixels for Maya (i used the TIF format)
2) Open up a terminal window
Here's an example of what I typed to get my conversion:
imgcvt -f tif -t xpm /Users/ghecht/Desktop/Wireframe_Test.tif /Users/ghecht/Desktop/Wireframe_Test.xpm
3) Type imgcvt
-space-
4) Type -f [-space-](enter the format of the image you'd like the convert from)
-space-
5) Type -t [-space-](enter the format of the image you'd like the convert to)
-space-
6) Drag the image you'd like to convert on to the terminal (or type in the path that it exists on your computer)
-space-
7) type in the new location you'd like the new file to be placed as well as its name and extension
Presto!
The IMGCVT is a free utility that ships with Maya
If you need more help with it you can type imgcvt in the Maya Help.
-Geoff