Image to ASCII art converter
Convert any picture to ASCII art — copy the text, save a .txt file or export a PNG. Locally, no upload.
What ASCII art is and how it is made
ASCII art draws a picture with text characters. Dark areas are drawn with dense characters such as @ or #, light areas with sparse ones such as a dot or a space. To convert a photo, the tool shrinks it to a grid of rows and columns, measures the brightness of each cell and picks the character that matches.
Because characters are about twice as tall as they are wide, the tool compensates when it calculates the number of rows. That keeps faces and shapes in the right proportion.
Width, character set and contrast
The width slider sets how many characters fit on a line. Around 80 to 120 gives a good balance of detail and readability; go higher for finer detail if you plan to paste the text into a code editor or a wide page. Three character sets are available: a detailed ramp of about 70 characters, a simple ten-character ramp and a block set that uses shaded blocks.
Swap light and dark if your picture will be shown on a dark background, such as a terminal. The result then reads correctly in light-on-dark text.
Copying, saving and using the result
Copy the text to paste it into a README, a chat, a terminal banner or a social post — use a monospaced font so the columns line up. Save a .txt file to keep the plain text, or export a PNG if you want an image of the art that shows correctly everywhere.
Everything runs locally in your browser; your picture is not uploaded.
Privacy by design
All processing happens inside your browser. Your files never reach a server — there is nothing to store, transmit or share.
Learn more in our privacy policyFrequently asked questions
Load the image, set the width and character set, then copy the text or save it as .txt or PNG.
Paste it into a monospaced font. In a proportional font the columns drift and the proportions change.
About 80 to 120 characters is a good start; use more for fine detail.
Yes — switch on the light/dark swap so bright areas use dense characters.
No. The conversion runs entirely in your browser.