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Convert an image to ASCII art

Turn a picture into text characters you can copy, paste or save, made on this device.

Turns a picture into ASCII art made of text characters, with a width and character set, to copy or save as a .txt file or a PNG. It is free, needs no account and adds no watermark, and your files are not uploaded: everything runs in your browser on your device. The size limit is your device’s memory, and phones hold less; give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, and then it works offline.

Drop a picture to turn into ASCII artor click to choose a file.
    Wide or detailed pictures need more columns.
    Working…

    Done

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    Your files are processed on this device and never sent to a server. Reload the page to clear everything from memory.

    How it works

    1. Drop a photo, drawing or logo (JPG, PNG, WebP, HEIC or SVG).
    2. Set the width in characters and pick a character set, and invert it for a dark background.
    3. Press Make ASCII art, then copy the text or download it as a .txt file or a PNG.

    In your browser, not on a server

    Your browser decodes the picture (libheif or the Squoosh decoders step in for HEIC, AVIF and JPEG XL) and shrinks it in halving steps to one pixel per character, with the rows halved because a text character is about twice as tall as wide. Each pixel’s brightness is worked out with the Rec. 709 weights and picks a character from the set you chose, dark areas getting the heaviest. The text is shown in a plain text box, and the PNG is made by drawing those characters on a canvas.

    Compared with upload-based tools: Online ASCII converters upload your picture to a server, and many cap the width or put their site name on the result. Here the picture never leaves your device and every setting is free.

    Verify it yourself. Give the page a short while after one visit to save itself for offline use, then turn off Wi-Fi or switch to airplane mode and run the tool again. Or open your browser's developer tools (F12, or Cmd-Option-I on a Mac), pick the Network tab, and watch it while you convert. The panel above does the same count for you.

    Questions

    Why does the result look wrong when I paste it?

    ASCII art is plain text, so it lines up only in a monospace font such as Courier or Menlo. In a proportional font, narrow letters squash the rows and the picture falls apart. Paste it into a code block, a text editor or a terminal, or save the PNG, which has the characters already drawn in a monospace font.

    How many characters wide should I use?

    The default of 100 suits a portrait or logo. Wide landscapes and detailed photos need 150 to 200 columns to keep their shapes, and small avatars look best at 40 to 60. The rows follow the picture’s shape, halved because a text character is about twice as tall as it is wide.

    Is this the same as OCR?

    No. This draws a picture out of characters, using bright and dark areas to choose them. It does not read any words in the image. To pull the text out of a screenshot or scan, use Image to text. To turn a picture into chunky coloured blocks instead, use the pixel art converter.

    Does the output contain my file name?

    No. The text holds only the characters that draw the picture. Your file name is used only to name the downloads, such as photo-ascii.txt, and the file stays on your device.

    Are my images uploaded?

    No. The image is decoded and shrunk on a canvas in your browser tab and the characters are chosen there, so your picture is not uploaded. It works offline after one visit and a short wait.

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