Image to ASCII Art Converter
Turn any photo into text art made of letters and symbols. Copy it, save it as TXT, or download it as a PNG picture.
Add an image to turn into ASCII art
High-contrast pictures with one clear subject, like portraits and logos, look best.
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Characters
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Create ASCII art from any picture
ASCII art draws a picture using only letters, numbers and symbols. This free image to ASCII converter reads your photo, measures how bright each small area is and replaces it with a character: dense symbols like @ and # for bright (or dark) areas, light ones like . and : for the rest. The result can be copied as plain text, saved as a .txt file or downloaded as a PNG picture.
Choose how many characters wide the art should be, pick a character set (classic, detailed, blocks, binary, or your own), adjust brightness and contrast, and switch between light-on-dark and dark-on-light. Turn on Coloured characters to keep the colours of the original image.
ASCII art is popular for terminal splash screens, README files, forum signatures, retro posters, social posts and coding projects. For the best result, use an image with a clear subject and strong contrast, and view or paste the text in a monospace font.
How it works
Add an image
Portraits, logos and pictures with strong contrast work best.
Adjust the look
Set the width, character set, brightness and contrast, and choose light or dark text.
Copy or download
Copy the text, save a .txt file, or download a PNG.
Frequently asked questions
How do I get the best ASCII art?
Use a simple picture with one clear subject and a plain background, increase Contrast a little, and try 80 to 150 characters wide. Portraits usually look better with the Detailed character set.
Why does the pasted text look wrong?
ASCII art only lines up in a monospace font, where every character has the same width. Paste it into a code editor, a terminal, a text file, or a code block. If you paste into a chat app, put it in a code block.
What is the difference between the text and the PNG?
The text can be edited and pasted anywhere. The PNG is a picture of the text, in colour if you turned colour on, and can be shared as an image.
Can I use my own characters?
Yes. Choose Custom and type characters from the lightest to the darkest, for example a word or emoji-free symbols of your choice.
Is my image uploaded?
No. The conversion runs in your browser.
Good for
Terminals and READMEs
Add a logo or portrait to a command-line tool or project page.
Retro art
Make posters, banners and profile art with a text-mode look.
Coding projects
Generate text art quickly and paste it straight into code.
Private
No upload, no account and no watermark.
Free image to ASCII art converter. Private, browser-based, no sign-up and no cost.