ASCII Art Generator

ASCII art is a graphic design technique that uses printable characters from the ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) character set to create visual compositions. This generator supports two primary conversion modes: text-to-ASCII and image-to-ASCII.



For text-to-ASCII conversion, the tool uses FIGlet-style font definitions where each display character is mapped to a multi-line pattern of ASCII characters. When you type text, the generator looks up each character in the selected font's mapping table and assembles the enlarged character representations side by side, creating banner-style text art.



For image-to-ASCII conversion, the tool loads your image onto an HTML5 Canvas element, then samples the brightness value of each pixel (or pixel block, depending on the output width setting). Each brightness level is mapped to a character from a density ramp — typically ranging from dense characters like '@' and '#' for dark regions to lighter characters like '.' and ' ' for bright areas. The aspect ratio is adjusted because characters are taller than they are wide, ensuring the output looks proportional.



All processing happens entirely in your browser using JavaScript and the Canvas API. Your images are never uploaded to any server, ensuring complete privacy.

1. Social Media & Messaging
ASCII art adds personality to social media posts, forum signatures, Discord messages, and chat conversations. Creating eye-catching text banners or small ASCII illustrations helps your content stand out in text-only environments where images might not render or are not supported.



2. Code Comments & Documentation
Developers use ASCII art banners to create section headers in source code files, making large codebases easier to navigate. Section dividers drawn in ASCII characters help visually separate major code blocks when scrolling through files in a terminal or basic text editor.



3. Terminal & Command-Line Applications
CLI tools and terminal applications frequently display ASCII art logos or welcome banners when launching. This technique provides visual branding without requiring any graphical library dependencies, keeping tools lightweight and portable across different operating systems.



4. Email Signatures & Text Art
ASCII art works in plain-text emails where HTML formatting is stripped or disabled. Artists create portraits, logos, and decorative borders using only keyboard characters, ensuring the design renders identically across every email client and device.



5. Retro Gaming & Creative Projects
Game developers creating text-based adventures, roguelikes, or retro-style interfaces use ASCII art to build immersive visual environments. The constraint of using only text characters encourages creative problem-solving and produces a distinctive nostalgic aesthetic.

• Choose the right font for your purpose: Block fonts like "Banner" work well for large display headers, while smaller fonts like "Small" are better suited for inline decorations or environments with limited horizontal space.



• Adjust width for readability: When converting images to ASCII art, start with a width of 80-100 characters. Too wide and the art loses cohesion; too narrow and detail is sacrificed. Match your output width to the display context — most terminals default to 80 columns.



• Use monospaced fonts for display: ASCII art relies on uniform character spacing. Always view and share your ASCII art using monospaced (fixed-width) fonts like Courier New, Consolas, or Source Code Pro. Proportional fonts will distort the alignment.



• Optimize image contrast before converting: High-contrast images with clear edges produce the best ASCII art results. Consider increasing the contrast or converting to black and white before uploading for cleaner character mapping.



• Copy as plain text: When sharing ASCII art, paste it as plain text to preserve character spacing. Rich text editors and word processors may alter spacing and font, destroying the visual alignment.



• Test at different sizes: ASCII art can look different at various zoom levels. Preview your art at the actual display size your audience will see it at, whether that's a terminal window, a web page, or a messaging app.