What is Text to ASCII Art?
Text to ASCII Art is a tool that converts regular text into stylized artwork made entirely of text characters. Instead of displaying plain letters, your text is transformed into large, decorative designs using symbols like #, *, or any character you choose.
ASCII art has been used since the early days of computing when graphics capabilities were limited. Today, it remains popular among developers, designers, and anyone who wants to add a creative touch to their text-based content.
Who Uses ASCII Art?
Developers
System Administrators
Content Creators
Creative Users
What Makes This Tool Different?
Multiple Font Sizes
Choose from small (4 lines), medium (6 lines), or large (8 lines) to fit your needs
Various Font Styles
From bold block letters to elegant shadow effects
Code Comment Wrapping
Automatically wrap your art in comments for any programming language
Custom Borders
Add simple, double, rounded, or heavy borders around your art
Custom Fill Characters
Replace the default # symbol with any character or even spell out words
Complete Privacy
All processing happens in your browser - no data sent to servers
- 1. What is Text to ASCII Art?
- 2. How to Use Text to ASCII Art
- 3. Features
- 4. Frequently Asked Questions
- 4.1. Why do some characters not display correctly?
- 4.2. What's the difference between the size categories?
- 4.3. Why does my art look different when I paste it?
- 4.4. How do I see more font styles?
- 4.5. How do custom fill characters work?
- 4.6. Can I use this for commercial projects?
- 4.7. Is there a character limit?
- 4.8. Why is the Banner font at the top?
- 4.9. Does this tool work offline?
How to Use Text to ASCII Art
Creating ASCII art is simple and takes just a few steps. Follow this guide to transform your text into stunning ASCII artwork:
Enter Your Text
Type your text in the input field at the top. You can enter up to 100 characters. The tool automatically removes accents from international characters (like converting "café" to "cafe") to ensure compatibility with ASCII fonts.
Choose Font Size
Select from three size categories using the tabs:
- Small - Compact 4-line fonts, perfect for inline comments
- Medium - Balanced 6-line fonts, ideal for most use cases
- Large - Bold 8-line fonts that make a statement
Customize Output (Optional)
Fine-tune your ASCII art with these options:
- Comment Style - Wrap your art in code comments (
//,#,/* */, etc.) - Border - Add a decorative border around your art
- Spacing - Adjust the space between characters (Default, Fitted, or Full)
- Trim - Remove trailing whitespace from each line
Browse and Copy
The tool displays 10 font styles at a time. Click Load more styles to see additional fonts. Each result card shows the font name and a copy button. Click Copy to copy that specific art, or use Copy All to copy all visible results at once.
- Use Ctrl+Enter to quickly copy the first result
- Use Ctrl+Shift+C to copy all visible results at once
- The Preview Size control only affects how the art displays on screen - the actual copied text remains the same
- Try the Banner font with custom fill characters for unique effects
- Use a monospace font in your destination app for proper alignment
Features
Multiple Font Styles
Choose from a variety of ASCII art fonts, each with its own character. Each font is available in three sizes (small, medium, large) to fit different contexts and space requirements.
Banner
Block
Shadow
Slim
3D
Load More for Better Performance
The tool displays 10 fonts at a time and lets you load more as needed. This design prevents browser lag when viewing many styles and provides a smoother experience. New fonts appear with a subtle highlight animation so you can easily spot them.
Code Comment Wrapping
Perfect for developers who want to add ASCII art headers to their source code. Supported comment styles include:
| Comment Style | Languages | Example |
|---|---|---|
// |
C, JavaScript, Go, Java, C++ | Single Line |
# |
Python, Shell, Ruby, Perl | Single Line |
-- |
SQL, Lua, Haskell | Single Line |
/* */ |
C, JavaScript, CSS, PHP | Block |
/** */ |
JSDoc, JavaDoc | Documentation |
<!-- --> |
HTML, XML | Markup |
''' |
Python | Docstring |
; |
Lisp, Assembly, INI | Single Line |
% |
LaTeX, MATLAB | Single Line |
Border Styles
Frame your ASCII art with decorative borders:
Simple
Basic ASCII characters (+, -, |)
Double
Double-line box drawing characters
Rounded
Smooth rounded corners
Heavy
Thick, bold lines
ASCII
Classic equals and pipes (=, |)
Custom Fill Characters (Banner Font)
The Banner font offers a unique feature: custom fill characters. Instead of the default # symbol, you can:
Single Character
* or @) to replace all # symbolsMultiple Characters
Sync from Input
Real-Time Preview
See your ASCII art update instantly as you type. Adjust the preview size (6px to 24px) to see how your art will look at different scales. The preview size only affects the display - the copied text always uses standard characters.
Persistent Settings
Your preferences are automatically saved to your browser. When you return, your size category and output options will be remembered.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why do some characters not display correctly?
ASCII art fonts only support basic ASCII characters (A-Z, 0-9, and common punctuation). Special characters and letters with accents are automatically converted or replaced with spaces. For example, "café" becomes "cafe" and "你好" would display as spaces.
What's the difference between the size categories?
The size refers to the height of each character in lines of text:
- Small - 4 lines tall, compact and subtle
- Medium - 6 lines tall, balanced and readable
- Large - 8 lines tall, bold and attention-grabbing
The same font name (like "banner") may look different at each size because they're optimized for their respective heights.
Why does my art look different when I paste it?
ASCII art requires a monospace font (fixed-width) to display correctly. If your destination uses a proportional font (where letters have different widths), the art will appear misaligned.
Common monospace fonts include:
- Consolas
- Monaco
- Courier New
- Most terminal/code editor fonts
How do I see more font styles?
The tool shows 10 fonts at a time to keep performance smooth. Click the Load more styles button below the results to see additional fonts. New fonts are highlighted briefly so you can easily spot them.
How do custom fill characters work?
This feature is available for the Banner font. When you enter fill characters:
Single Fill
All # symbols become that character (e.g., entering "*" makes the entire art use asterisks)
Multiple Fill
Each letter in your text uses the corresponding fill character. The first letter uses the first fill character, the second letter uses the second, and so on. Letters without a corresponding fill character use the default #
Can I use this for commercial projects?
Is there a character limit?
Yes, you can enter up to 100 characters. This limit exists because longer text creates extremely wide ASCII art that becomes impractical to display and use.
Why is the Banner font at the top?
The Banner font is featured prominently because it offers the unique fill character customization feature. It's a versatile, classic style that works well for most use cases.
Does this tool work offline?
After the initial page load, most functionality works offline. The font data is cached in your browser, so you can continue creating ASCII art even without an internet connection.
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