How to Use
Turn any image into text-based ASCII artwork in seconds. Everything runs locally in your browser — your images are never uploaded to a server.
- Upload an image — drag and drop a file onto the upload area, or click to browse your device. Supported formats: JPEG, PNG, WebP, and GIF.
- Adjust the width — use the slider to set the output resolution from 40 to 200 columns. Higher values produce more detailed art but use smaller characters.
- Pick a character set — choose from four presets: Standard (classic), Detailed (maximum tonal range), Blocks (pixel-art style), or Simple (clean and minimal).
- Toggle Invert — flip the brightness mapping. Useful when pasting ASCII art onto a light-colored background like a document or chat window.
- Toggle Color — generate colored ASCII art that preserves the original image colors. Best viewed in terminals or HTML contexts that support colored text.
- Copy or download — click Copy to send the ASCII art to your clipboard, or Download .txt to save it as a plain text file.
Tips
- High-contrast images with clear subjects produce the best ASCII art. Portraits, logos, and silhouettes work especially well.
- Use 80–120 columns for a good balance of detail and readability in most contexts.
- The Detailed character set has the widest tonal range (70 characters) and works best for photographs and complex images.
- The Blocks character set uses Unicode block characters to create a chunky, pixel-art aesthetic.
- If the art looks reversed (dark areas appear light), tap Invert to fix it. This commonly happens when pasting into apps with a white background.
- You can change the image at any time by clicking the Change button next to the preview thumbnail.
Frequently Asked Questions
What images work best for ASCII art?
High-contrast images with clear subjects produce the best results. Portraits, logos, and silhouettes work especially well. Busy or low-contrast photos may produce less distinct ASCII art.
What is the Invert option for?
Invert flips the brightness mapping so dark areas become light and vice versa. Use it when pasting ASCII art onto a light-colored background like a document, chat window, or code comment.
What width setting should I use?
80 to 120 columns gives a good balance of detail and readability in most contexts. Use higher values for more detail, or lower values for a chunkier, more abstract look.
Are my images uploaded to a server?
No. All processing happens locally in your browser using the HTML5 Canvas API. Your images are never uploaded to any server.
What is the Detailed character set?
The Detailed character set uses 70 characters spanning the full tonal range, making it the best choice for photographs and complex images where you want the most faithful reproduction.
About
ASCII art dates back to the earliest days of computing, when text terminals were the only display available. Artists and programmers learned to create images using nothing but the characters on a keyboard. Today, ASCII art remains popular in code comments, forum signatures, readme files, and creative coding communities.
This tool works by drawing your image onto a hidden HTML5 canvas at the target resolution, reading each pixel's brightness value, and mapping it to a character from the selected set. Denser characters represent darker areas, while sparser characters represent lighter ones. The result is a faithful text-based reproduction of your original image, generated entirely in your browser with zero server involvement.
From the build: the trick that most ASCII generators miss is that a character cell is taller than it is wide. If you sample your image at one pixel per character you get a vertically squashed result. We scale the source so each row corresponds to roughly two pixels' worth of height, which is why portraits actually look like portraits. The Detailed set runs 70 characters from densest to sparsest; we sorted that ramp by hand because the "official" Paul Bourke ramp is correct in theory but renders unevenly in the system monospace fonts most browsers ship.