ASCII art

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    _    ____   ____ ___ ___              _   
   / \  / ___| / ___|_ _|_ _|   __ _ _ __| |_ 
  / _ \ \___ \| |    | | | |   / _` | '__| __|
 / ___ \ ___) | |___ | | | |  | (_| | |  | |_ 
/_/   \_\____/ \____|___|___|  \__,_|_|   \__|

ASCII art, an artistic medium relying primarily on computers for presentation, consists of pictures pieced together from characters (preferably from the 95 printable characters defined by ASCII). They can be created with any text editor, and are often used with free-form languages. Most examples of ASCII art require a fixed-width font (non-proportional font, like on a traditional typewriter) such as Courier for presentation.

ASCII art is used wherever text can be more readily printed or transmitted than graphics, or in some cases, where the transmission of pictures is not possible. This includes typewriters, teletypes, non-graphic computer terminals, in early computer networking (e.g., BBSes), e-mail, and Usenet news messages. ASCII art is also used within the source code of computer programs for representation of company or product logos, and flow control or other diagrams. In some cases, the entire source code of a program is a piece of ASCII art - for instance, an entry to one of the earlier Obfuscated C contests is a program that adds numbers, but visually looks like a binary adder drawn in logic ports. Taking the medium to extremes, there exists a video driver for the popular computer game Quake that displays the game in ASCII art. ASCII art is also very commonly used amongst software piracy groups to display group logos inside text (*.nfo) files containing the instructions for installing and cracking the software.

Contents

Types and examples of ASCII art

The simplest forms of ASCII art are combinations of two or three characters for expressing emotion in text. Rotate these examples mentally 90 degrees clockwise for a more recognizable orientation of these emoticons: 

            :-) or :)  smile
            :-( or :(  frown
            ;-) or ;)  wink
            :-P or :p  Ha Ha (tongue sticking out)
            B-) or 8-) cool (sunglasses)

There is another type of one-line ASCII art that doesn't require the mental rotation of pictures, which originated in Japan and is known as kaomoji or "verticons": 

          d O.O b      listening to headphones

          \(^o^)/      yippee

           (o.~)       winking

   o      o     o    o     o    <o     <o>    o>    o
  .|.    \|.   \|/   //    X     \      |    <|    <|>   Ascii Macarena
   /\     >\   /<    >\   /<     >\    /<     >\   /<

More complex examples use several lines of text to draw large symbols or more complex figures. Some common examples: 

            (__)                      
            (oo)                      
     /-------\/      __        O          _
    / |     ||      /o)\      /|\       >(o)__
   *  ||----||      \(o/      / \        (_~_/
      ~~    ~~                          ~~~~~~~
         Cow     Ying/Yang   Person   Rubber Duck

It is popular to put such art in one's signature block to be included in all one's e-mail and Usenet postings.

Some types ignore the particular shape of the characters and use them as more-or-less filled boxes of varying gradients to perform simple dithering: 

                 _a,
                _yQa.
               _qTWW(
               je`?QX:
              <d+ -3Wm;
             _qos_s%mWw,
             a2?????TWW(
            sd(     -?Qm;.
          .amm;     .xmWmc
          """""`    """""""

Another type sometimes seen is creating a word using only one kind of character per letter. For example: 

      HHHHHH    HHHHHH    IIIIII     !!!
       HHHH      HHHH      IIII     !!!!!
       HHHH      HHHH      IIII     !!!!!
       HHHH      HHHH      IIII     !!!!!
       HHHHHHHHHHHHHH      IIII     !!!!!
       HHHHHHHHHHHHHH      IIII     !!!!!
       HHHHHHHHHHHHHH      IIII      !!! 
       HHHH      HHHH      IIII
       HHHH      HHHH      IIII      !!!
       HHHH      HHHH      IIII     !!!!!
      HHHHHH    HHHHHH    IIIIII     !!!

One use for ASCII art is to create unique typography, for example: 

       ___              __,
      ( /              (          o _/_ /
       / __,  _   _     `.  _ _  ,  /  /_
     _/_(_/(_/ /_(/_  (___)/ / /_(_(__/ /_
    //
   (/

The program Figlet (and other programs that support its standard) allow for the design and use of ASCII fonts. 

        _____ ___ ____ _      _   
       |  ___|_ _/ ___| | ___| |_ 
       | |_   | | |  _| |/ _ \ __|
       |  _|  | | |_| | |  __/ |_ 
       |_|   |___\____|_|\___|\__|

An example of what "Amiga-style" (also referred to as "oldschool style") scene ASCII art looks like. This kind of ASCII art is always handmade in a text editor. Some popular editors used to make this kind of ASCII art are CygnusEditor aka CED (Amiga) and EditPlus2 (PC). 

                  ______.----------------------------.______
                :_)                                        (_:
            ....|:                                          :|....
            :  :<>                                          <>:  :
            :···|:                                          :|···:
        .---+- -:-                                          -:- -+---.
     /\___  |    /\___      /\_____     /\______     /\______    |   /\___
   _/    /  |  _/    /___ _/ __   /   _/  __   /   _/  __   /    : _/    /
   \  __//\ :/\\   _//  / \  )/  //\  \   )/  //\  \   )/  //\  /\ \_   //\
 _/¯¯ \)¯  \/  ¯¯ __¯   \/¯¯ ¯  ¯¯  \/¯¯  ¯_ ¯¯  \/¯¯  ¯_ ¯¯  \/  ¯)/  ¯¯  \_
 \                )/¯                     (/           (/          ¯        /
/¯¯               /                       /            /            _      ¯¯\
\_           /\__/        /\_        /\__/        /\__/         /\_(/       _/
=/          /===/        /==/       /===/        /=©d/         /=:=/       /=
 ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\/:   :¯¯¯¯¯¯\/   ¯¯¯¯¯¯\/    ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\/    ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\/  | ¯¯¯¯¯¯\/
  ______.---+-  :____ /\_____  :              :      ________:  -+---.______
:_)·····    :.....  _/      /--+--./\_____.---+---./\___    .....:    ·····(_:
|:           : ..:..\      /   : _/      /    :  _/    /  ..:.. :           :|
<>           :.:.: : \  __//\  /\\  __  //\  /\  \_   //\ : :.:.:           <>
|:             :..._/¯¯ \)¯  \/  ¯¯ )/ ¯¯  \/  ¯¯)/  ¯¯  \_...:             :|
:        ____ ____ \                ¯            ¯        / ____ ____        :
\_.     _\_  \\  //¯¯                            _       ¯¯\\  //  _/_     ._/
---· _  \¯ _  \\ \\_           /\_           /\_(/        _// //  _ ¯/  _ ·---
/¯·  \¯¯¯ ¯\¯¯¯ ¯¯=/          /:=/          /=:=/        /= ¯¯ ¯¯¯/¯ ¯¯¯/  ·¯\
:     ¯¯¯¯¯¯       ¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\/-+--¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯\/--+--¯¯¯¯¯¯\/         ¯¯¯¯¯¯    :
|:                             :              :                             :|
<>                          .              .                                <>
|:                      _ . | __ .__.__   .|__  __    .                     :|
:¯).....             __(__|-|(_/_| (| ((__||__)(__)(__|__             .....(¯:
  ¯¯¯¯¯¯·-----------·-------|----|--|----(/----------(/--·-----------·¯¯¯¯¯¯

Methods for generating ASCII art

Specialized text editors are designed to draw lines, boxes, and filled areas easily. Generating ASCII art algorithmically is straightforward. A good example is this web-based application IMG2TXT. Converting a bitmap to ASCII art is a special case of vector quantization. An example of a generated image, next to the original, is given below:

Image:Redwingblackbird1.jpg

tt%%%%%%tttttttttttttttttt;;;tttttt;;;:::;;;;;ttttttttt;;;;;;;;;tttt%%%C7O7
t,;;;;;;;;;;;;:;;;;::;;;::::::;;:::,... .......,...................,,:,::;t
t;ttttt%C7OO7%tttt%%%%%%tttttt%%tt;;,,....,,,,.,,,,,:::::;;;;;:,,:::;;;;;t;
t;ttttttCCCCC%%tt%tCO77x27777O77C%tttt;;::::::,,,,,,,,,,,:;;;::,,,,,:;::;;;
t:tttttttt;tttttttt%CC7OO77CC%%72OOO7C%ttt;;;;:,,,..,.,,......;xsQsG:...,::
;,;;;;;:;;:;;;;:,,,,,,,;;tttt;tttt%t%ttt;;;;:,......       tSMMM#Q%;:::,:;:
;,;;;;;:;;;;;:,tD@@@@8Zt,,:;;;;:;;;:;;:,,...........  .;DMMMMD;...,;tttttt;
;,;;;;tttt;;.,@MMMMMMMMM#C..,..........:;tZ0SKbE@#MMMMMMMMC. .,;tCC7C%C%%t;
,.,,,,:;;:..,NMMMMMMMMMMMMMSQKE###NNNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM#C;7GDDD5G2OCCttt;
.        ,sMMMMMNNN#NNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMN@NMMbODS99Qs5xx2O77CCt
         .,.  DMMN##MNMMMMMMMMMMMMMMN#MN@NNNN##NN###@EE@MM@ttttt;;ttCC777Ot
   .,::;:.     ;NNNEGOCOZQG. ,MM#@@##@##@#####NNNN#NN@@K8Qx:,::::,:;;;ttt%t
..:;%ZsD0D0Ds57;@ME:,:;tO     MN@@@#########NNNMMMM#K5t;,,;tt%ttttttt;;;;;:
tOQDDs5DQgEE@@bSMM,.;tx2    MMM#######NNNNN##NMNgx;::;t7O22xZ22xxOC%tt;;,:,
sQSsG2C%CxGs00DZ0Mt:t;.  .tQMM########NNNN#NMMK.    .,,:;:,,,...,,::,,,,,,,
sD8S9DsZxxxx22OCtO#MME8QMMMMM#######NN#NNNNMD.     ...,,,...      ...,:;tt;
t;tt%t%%tttt;;;;:,.,7#MMMMMMNNNNNNN#N####NMK...,:::;;;t;;;:,..     ..,:;%7t
t,;;;;:,,,,,.,,,...    :s@NMN#NMMMMMNNNNMN@Z%xxZxxZZxxO7C%ttt;;:,,,,,,:;;;:
t;tttttttttt%%tt%tt;;,.   t@NNNO,7S#MMM#sttt7xGZZZZZZxxZxZZx2x227%ttt;;::;,
t;tttCO2xGGsD00QQ99QD52%t,%59N#.    .@D. .............,,,::::::::,.......,.
x7x2OOCC%ttt;;tttCCC%%tt;;..    ,,. 0%  .........        .... ...          
xxD5Z27OC%tt;;;:;;;:::;:,....   .2x@t ,;;tt%%77O7CC%tt;;:,..,,,,,...    .,,
t:;;::::;;;ttttttt%%7O2xxx27Ob:  0M% ..,.,::;;;;;;;:,...     .....,,:t%2GGt
: .         ..,;::::;;;;;ttt;Q5   MC ..,.....          ..  ...,:,,::;tCC%t;
,            .........  .,;tt9G;  ,ttt%7OxxxxxZZxxxZZ5D009QSS8g8S0Dsx7Ctttt
.     ......,...,,. ;OG5D98gKSgK9    CZ7C2xGs0S8gKbEEE@@@@@bg8ggKEEE@@@@@@5
:.,...,:::,,,.,,,t     CgES0098b@M.  .x57CCttt%CxxZxxO7C%ttt;;;;;;tt%OxGsZ%
:;;.,....,,;;t2509x       ,OGZ772,O,  t%t;:,.. ..;;;,.    ..,,,,..    .    
            ..  .;tD2,         ,:  ,t   .,....   ..                        
   .                ,tOZ2;       tDOt2,   ;;:::::,:;;ttt:. .   ...,;:,.  . 
        .                 ,:;,.     t;2;  .;::;;;;tt;::.,........,::....;C;
.      ,. ..     . .. :;tt...         .;:,..,.  .......  .:;:...         ..

Another method is to sample the image down to grayscale with less than 8-bit precision, and then assign a character for each value, as some online ASCII converters do (see external links below).

In the 1970s and early 1980s it was popular to produce a kind of ASCII art that relied on overprinting — the overall darkness of a particular character space dependent on how many characters, as well as the choice of character, printed in a particular place. Thanks to the increased granularity of tone, photographs were often converted to this type of printout. Even manual typewriters or daisy wheel printers could be used. The technique has fallen from popularity since all cheap printers can easily print photographs, and a normal text file (or an e-mail message or Usenet posting) cannot represent overprinted text. However, something similar has emerged to replace it: shaded or colored ASCII art, using ANSI video terminal markup or HTML to add a bit more tone variation.

Animated ASCII art is possible by embedding video terminal escape sequences such as ANSI X3.64 for cursor movement into the "picture".

Non Fixed-Width ASCII

While most ASCII is created using a font in which all characters are identical in width (Courier New is a popular font), there are some ASCII's using a proportional font, such as Arial. These ASCII's, rather than using a purely shade-based correspondence, use characters for slopes and borders and use block shading. These ASCII's generally offer greater precision and attention to detail than fixed-width ASCII's for a lower character count, although they are not as universally accessibly since they are usually relatively font-specific.

See also

Further reading

  • Danet, Brenda. Cyberpl@y: Communicating Online. Oxford, UK: Berg, 2001. ISBN 1-85973-424-3.
  • Riddell, Alan, ed. Typewriter Art. London, UK: London Magazine Editions (LME), 1975. ISBN 900-626-99-2.
  • Roemer, Madge. Fun With Your Typewriter. Indian Hills, CO, USA: The Falcon's Wing Press, 1956. LCCN 56-13336.

External links

ASCII art editors

Editors created solely for the purpose of creating hand-made ASCII art.

  • ACiDDraw 1.25r The leading ANSI and ASCII art editor for IBM PC DOS
  • ASCII Art Studio 2.11 for Windows Shareware (30-day trial); allows freehand line-art illustration using the mouse
  • ASCII/edit Shareware (30-day trial); Mac OS X; objects can be grouped, overlap, combined, and intersection characters can be turned on or off individually for each line and frame
  • PabloDraw for Windows Freeware; features a revolutionary peer-to-peer "joint editing" mode
  • TundraDraw A cross-platform ANSI and ASCII editor for Microsoft Windows and X environments. Source code available.
  • TextDraw Full color ASCII art editor for Windows. Interface is similar to Microsoft Paint.
  • Email Effects ASCII art editor for Mac and Windows, also converts pictures and supports FIGlet fonts.
  • JavE Freeware; A java ASCII editor with standard Photoshop-style tools, image conversion, FIGlet support, math formulas editor and a lot of other features. Requires Java virtual machine.
  • Open Directory Project: List of ASCII art editors
  • ASCIIart.net list of editors A comprehensive list of ASCII editors for DOS and Windows with informative reviews on each one

ASCII art generators

Tools which convert bitmapped images to ASCII text or otherwise automatically generate ASCII art with a minimal degree of human interaction.

ASCII art groups

ASCII art groups are defined as organized bodies of people dedicated to the purpose of creating ASCII text based artwork.

ASCII artscene portals

  • Muffin A&A - ASCII Scene News, Interviews, Gallerys
  • Boondocks - ASCII Scene Forums for PC and Amiga
  • Downmix - ASCII, ANSI, & Hires Scene News & Releases
  • Thuglife.org - ASCII Scene News, Releases, and Forum

Other links

Retrieved from "http://en.freepedia.org/ASCII_art.html"


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