How to turn an image into ASCII art
- Choose an image. High-contrast pictures with a clear subject work best.
- Set the width in characters and pick a character set, or make your own.
- Adjust contrast and brightness, choose light or dark background, and turn on Color if you want it.
- Press Copy text, or download TXT, PNG, or HTML.
When you paste the text somewhere else, use a monospace font such as Consolas or Courier, or the lines will not line up. Color is kept in PNG and HTML only.
Questions
Is my image uploaded?
No. The picture is turned into text by your browser, on your device.
Which width gives the best result?
Around 80 to 120 characters suits most photos. Go to 200 or more for fine detail, but the text then needs a small font or a wide screen. Characters are taller than they are wide, so the tool already shrinks the height to keep the proportions.
The art looks inverted. How do I fix it?
Text on light paper uses dense characters for dark areas, while text on a dark screen uses them for bright areas. Choose the surface where you will show the art under "Text on", and use Invert to flip it.
Can I use my own characters?
Yes. Choose Custom and type characters from lightest to densest, starting with a space. Even emoji or letters of a word work, but monospace fonts keep the shape best.
What do the downloads contain?
TXT is plain text. HTML keeps the colors and opens in any browser. PNG is a picture of the text, handy for sharing where fonts are not controlled.
Credits
Built by OneTooling using standard browser features. No third-party code runs on your data.