Convert any photo into ASCII art
ASCII art is a picture drawn entirely out of text characters, and this image to ASCII art generator creates one from any photo you give it. It works by measuring the brightness of each tiny part of your image and replacing it with a character whose visual weight matches — a heavy character such as @ or # for the dark areas and a light one such as a dot or a blank space for the bright areas. Stacked in a grid and shown in a monospaced font, those characters line up into a clear text version of your original picture. Everything happens live: drop in an image and the ASCII version appears immediately, then updates the instant you change a setting.
The whole conversion runs inside your browser using the HTML canvas, which means your photo is never uploaded to a server. That makes it fast, private and free — there is no account, no watermark and no limit on how many images you convert. Whether you want a retro portrait for a terminal, a text logo for a README, or a fun picture to paste into a chat, you can fine-tune the look and export it in seconds.
How to turn an image into ASCII art
- Add an image — drag a file onto the box, click to browse, or paste one straight from your clipboard.
- Drag the Width slider to set the resolution: more width means more characters and finer detail.
- Pick a character set — Detailed for photos, Blocks for a solid poster look, or Minimal for a clean, simple result.
- Adjust Brightness and Contrast so the subject stands out clearly from the background.
- Choose Mono for a classic single-colour look or Colour to keep the photo's colours.
- Click Copy text, Download .txt or Download PNG to save your art.
Getting the cleanest result
ASCII art reads best when the original image has clear contrast and a simple subject — a face, a logo, a silhouette or a single object work far better than a crowded scene. If your result looks muddy, raise the Contrast to push the shadows and highlights apart, or nudge the Brightness until the main shapes appear. Increasing the Width adds resolution, which helps with detailed pictures, while a lower width gives a chunkier, more stylised look. Pictures saved as a PNG with a transparent background, such as logos and icons, convert especially cleanly because the empty area simply becomes blank space around your subject.
Colour, mono and the right character set
The character set controls the texture of the art. Detailed uses a long range of characters for smooth tonal gradients and is the best all-round choice for photographs. Blocks uses solid shading characters (█ ▓ ▒ ░) for a bold, poster-like image, Standard is the familiar @ # % * + = - : ramp, and Minimal keeps things simple for small sizes. Mono mode renders everything in one colour for that classic terminal feel, while Colour mode tints each character with the colour of the pixel it represents, so the art still looks like your photo. The Invert switch flips light and dark, which is what you want if you plan to place the art as dark text on a light or printed background.
Where to use your ASCII art
Text-based art has a home anywhere plain text appears. Drop a converted portrait or logo at the top of a README or source file, print a banner when a command-line program starts, add a signature to a forum post or email, or share an oversized picture in a chat. Because plain ASCII relies on even character spacing, paste it inside a code block so the alignment survives — and when you need it to look right anywhere, including social media, use Download PNG to save it as an image with the spacing and colours baked in.
Private, free and made by you
Every image you convert here is your own, and the art the tool produces is generated fresh from your picture — nothing is copied from anywhere else. Your photo is processed locally and never sent over the internet, there is no sign-up and there are no limits. Convert as many images as you like, export what you need and close the tab knowing your files stayed on your device.