🖼 Image & Media

Photo to ASCII Art

Pick an image and turn it into ASCII art by mapping brightness to characters. Adjust the width (number of characters) and character set, and preview on a dark background. Copy the result with one click. Everything runs in your browser — the image is never sent to a server.

Examples (click to try)
Preview background
Pick an image and it turns into ASCII art right away. The image is processed only in your browser and never leaves your device.

How to Use the Photo to ASCII Art Converter

New here? Start by pressing 🖼 Try a sample image. A bundled image turns into text art right away, so you can see how it works. Then pick your own image. Changing the width or character set rebuilds the art on the spot. Everything is processed in your browser, so the image never leaves your device.

  1. Choose an image to convert to ASCII. A preview of the original and the result appear.
  2. Use the width (characters) slider to set the detail. A higher width gives finer art; a lower width gives coarser art.
  3. Pick a character set. Use Standard for black text on a white background, or Inverted to show white text on a dark background.
  4. To check it against a dark theme, tick Show on dark background.
  5. When you like it, press Copy ASCII to put the text straight on your clipboard.

Example: making an 80-character-wide ASCII of a photo to paste into chat

Load a photo of a person or a landscape and set the width to 80: bright areas become spaces or . while dark areas become # or @, producing a single 80-character-wide piece of ASCII art. Drop the same image to width 40 and you get fewer rows and characters for a coarse, silhouette-like look; bump it to 120 and you get fine art that even shows the shading on a face. When you are happy with it, press Copy ASCII and paste it straight into a chat message, a README, or a code comment — shown in a monospace font, it renders as a picture. Pasting into a dark chat? Switch the character set to Inverted before copying for better readability.

Tips for power users

  • Tune detail with width: the art re-renders each time you move the slider, so you can compare coarse vs. fine between 40 and 120 in seconds.
  • Match the destination background: Standard for light backgrounds, Inverted for dark ones. The dark-background preview shows how it will look where you paste it.
  • Copy in one shot: Copy ASCII grabs every line at once. Paste it somewhere that uses a monospace font and it stays intact as a picture.

Handy For

  • Posting a photo as text in chat, on social media, or on a forum
  • Adding a text diagram instead of an image to a README or code comment
  • Turning a logo or icon into text art for a terminal banner
  • Conveying the gist of an image with text where you can't attach pictures

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the image I select sent to a server?
No. Loading the image and converting it to ASCII art happen entirely in your browser. The image is never transmitted to or stored on any external server. You can use this tool with complete confidence.
What does changing the width (number of characters) do?
Width is the number of characters per line. A larger width (e.g. 120) maps the image into finer detail, while a smaller width (e.g. 40) produces a coarser, simpler result. Start around 60–80 and adjust to taste.
When should I use the inverted character set?
By default, brighter areas use lighter characters (closer to a space) and darker areas use denser ones (such as @). That suits black text on a white background. To show white text on a dark background, choose the inverted set so the mapping flips, and combine it with the dark-background preview for a natural look.