Image to ASCII Art
Turn any image into text-based ASCII art in your browser. Set the width in characters, flip the brightness ramp, and copy the result. Your image is never uploaded.
About the Image to ASCII Art
Image to ASCII Art converts a picture into text built from characters. It downsamples your image on a canvas, reads the brightness of each cell, and maps that brightness to a character ramp from light to dark. Use the width control to set how many columns the output has, and the invert toggle to swap light and dark. Everything runs in your browser with the Canvas API, so your image stays on your device and is never uploaded.
How it works
- Drop an image onto the panel or click to choose a PNG, JPG, or WebP file.
- Set the width in characters with the slider. A higher value means more columns and more detail.
- Toggle Invert brightness if you want light areas to use dense characters instead of dark areas.
- Read the ASCII output in the mono box, then click Copy to put it on your clipboard.
Features
- Width control to set the number of output columns from 40 to 220.
- Invert toggle to flip the brightness-to-character mapping.
- Brightness measured per cell with standard luminance weighting for accurate shading.
- Monospace output box so columns stay aligned, with one-click Copy.
- Runs fully client-side with the Canvas API and no external libraries.
Frequently asked questions
Is my image uploaded anywhere?
No. The image is decoded and read pixel by pixel in your browser using the native Canvas API. Nothing is sent to a server or logged.
What does the width control do?
It sets how many characters wide the output is. The tool downsamples the image to that many columns and computes the row count from the image's aspect ratio, adjusting for the fact that characters are taller than they are wide.
What does the invert toggle do?
By default dark pixels map to dense characters like @ and # and light pixels map to spaces and dots. Invert swaps this, which is useful for light subjects on a dark background or when you plan to display the art on a dark surface.
Which image formats are supported?
Any format your browser can decode through an image element, which includes PNG, JPG, and WebP. Transparent areas are read as their underlying pixel values.
Why does the output look stretched or squashed?
Monospace characters are roughly twice as tall as they are wide, so the tool halves the row count to keep proportions close. Different fonts vary slightly, so paste the result into a monospace context for the most accurate look.