ASCII Art from Image
Turn an image into monospaced ASCII art.
Overview
The ASCII Art from Image converter transforms a photograph or logo into a block of monospaced text characters whose density approximates the original luminance map. Upload any raster image and the tool resamples it down to a configurable character grid, then maps each cell to a glyph drawn from a ramp that runs from light to dark.
This is handy for README banners, terminal splash screens, retro signatures in code comments, and chat-friendly art that survives plain-text channels. It works equally well for high-contrast logos, portraits with strong silhouettes, and anything you would otherwise share as an image-to-ASCII conversion online.
How it works
The image is first downsampled with a box filter to the chosen output width and height — a smaller grid produces denser art with fewer characters per row, while a larger grid preserves more detail at the cost of legibility on narrow displays. Each cell is converted to a single luminance value using the standard Rec. 709 coefficients (0.2126 R + 0.7152 G + 0.0722 B).
That luminance is then quantized against an ordered character ramp — typically running from a space through ., :, -, =, +, *, #, %, @. Because monospace glyphs are roughly twice as tall as they are wide, the pipeline halves the vertical sampling so the result keeps its original aspect ratio when pasted into a fixed-width font.
Examples
8x4 photo → ASCII (low resolution):
. . - = # # # @
- = # # @ @ @ @
= # # @ @ @ @ @
. . - = # # # #
40-column logo → ASCII banner suitable for a README header.
A QR code scaled to 30 columns becomes a scannable text block.
FAQ
Why does my output look stretched vertically?
Monospace glyphs are taller than they are wide, so without aspect correction the art appears squashed. Setting the vertical sampling factor to roughly 0.5 restores the original proportions.
Which ramp gives the best detail?
Longer ramps (10 or more glyphs) give smoother gradients on high-contrast images; short ramps such as # . are better for clean line art and logos.
Can I produce coloured ASCII?
This converter targets plain monospaced text only. For ANSI-coloured output, layer escape sequences on top after sampling colour from the same cell.
What font should I view the result in?
Any monospace font — Consolas, Menlo, JetBrains Mono — will display the grid correctly. Proportional fonts will misalign rows because glyph widths vary.
Does it work on photographs?
Yes, but contrast-heavy subjects with simple backgrounds reproduce best. Soft, low-contrast scenes flatten into uniform blocks.