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Image to ASCII Art Converter

Turn any picture into ASCII art made of plain text characters. Set the width, pick a character set, then copy the text or download it as a TXT, a PNG or a colour HTML page.

  1. 1Choose an image
  2. 2Pick width and characters
  3. 3Copy or download

1Choose an image

or drop an image here, or paste one with Ctrl/Cmd+V

Your image never leaves your device. The ASCII art is made in your browser. We count visits and finished downloads (tool name only) with analytics that sets no cookies.

2Width and characters

Size
100

Rows are set from the picture's shape. Text characters are about twice as tall as they are wide, so there are about half as many rows per column.

Character set

Look
3Copy or download

How it works

  • Width in characters is how many characters each line has. The picture is shrunk to that many columns, and each small patch becomes one character.
  • Character set is the list of characters, from light to dark. Simple uses 10 characters ( .:-=+*#%@). Detailed uses 70 for finer shading. Blocks uses the shade characters ░▒▓█. Custom uses yours, lightest first.
  • Invert swaps light and dark, for example for a photo with a bright background.
  • Background sets the PNG and HTML colours. Dark background turns the mapping around, so bright parts of the picture use the densest characters.
  • Colour paints each character in the colour of its part of the picture, in the PNG and the HTML file. Copied text and .txt files are always plain text, because plain text has no colour.

FAQ

How do I turn an image into ASCII art?

Choose a picture above, set the width in characters and pick a character set. The preview updates as you change them. Then press Copy text to paste it somewhere, or download it as a .txt, a PNG picture or an HTML page.

Why does my ASCII art look stretched when I paste it?

The rows are worked out for a monospaced font whose characters are about twice as tall as they are wide, which is common. Paste it where a monospaced font is used, such as a code block, a text editor or a terminal. In a proportional font, or with extra line spacing, it will look distorted.

What width should I use?

Narrow art (40–80 characters) fits a chat message or a code comment and shows only the main shapes. Wider art (150–300 characters) shows more detail but needs a wide window or a small font. Pictures with a clear subject and strong contrast work best.

Can I keep the colours?

Yes, tick Colour and download the PNG or the HTML page. Each character takes the colour of its part of the picture. A dark background usually shows colour ASCII art best. Copied text and .txt files can't hold colour.

Is it free? Does it upload my picture?

It's free, with no sign-up and no watermark. Your picture is read and converted by your browser on your own device and is never sent to a server. The page counts visits and finished downloads (tool name only).

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