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ASCII artASCII art, an artistic medium relying primarily on computers for presentation, consists of pictures pieced together from characterss (preferably from the set defined by ASCII). They can be created with any text editor, and are often used with free-form languages. Most examples of ASCII art require a non-proportional font (fixed-width font, like on a traditional typewriter) for presentation.
ASCII art was and is used wherever text can be more readily printed or transmitted than graphics. This includes typewriters, teletypes, non-graphic computer terminals, in early computer networking (e.g., BBSes), e-mail, and Usenet news messages.
Types and examples of ASCII art
The simplest forms of ASCII Art are combinations of two or three characters\nfor expressing emotion in text. Rotate these examples\nmentally 90 degrees clockwise for a more recognizable orientation of these emoticons:
:-) or :) smile\n :-( frown\n ;-) wink
More complex examples use several lines of text to draw large symbols or \nmore complex figures. Some common examples:
(__)\n (oo)\n /-------\\/ O\n / | || /o)\\ /H\\\n * ||----|| \\(o/ / \\\n ~~ ~~\n Cow Yin/Yang Person
It is popular to put such art in one's signature block to be included in all one's e-mail and Usenet postings ( see also: ASCII cows).
\nSome types ignore the particular shape of the characters and treat them as more-or-less filled ( dithered) boxes:
\n _a,\n _yQa.\n _qTWW(\n je`?QX:\n Figlet (and other programs that support its standard) allow for the design and use of ASCII fonts.\n _____ ___ ____ _ _ \n | ___|_ _/ ___| | ___| |_ \n | |_ | | | _| |/ _ \\ __|\n | _| | | |_| | | __/ |_ \n |_| |___\\____|_|\\___|\\__|
One of the most famous ASCII artworks is LUEshi, an ASCII of Mario riding Yoshi, created by GameFAQs user Patamon, made popular on the GameFAQs message board LUE.
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Methods for generating ASCII art==
There exist specialized text editors designed to draw lines, boxes, and filled areas easily. It's straightforward to generate ASCII art algorithmically. \nConverting a bitmap to ASCII art is a special case of vector quantization. An example of a generated image, beside the original, is given below:
 \naaaaaa222222SSSSSS2222222SSSS2a22222SSSSSSSS22aaaaaaaa222222SS222aaaZaaZZZZ\n2222aaaaS2222222222222222SS2SS22222SSXXXSSXSSXSSSXXXXXSSXSXXXXXX7XSSSSSSS22\n2222222aaaZZa222222a222222SS22a22SSX77rrr777X77XXXSSSSSXSSXSSSXXXSXSS22S222\n22a2222aaaaaaa22222aaaZZa2aa2aa2222SSSSXXXSSSSXXXXXXSXSXXSSSSXSSSXX7X22SSS2\n22222a222222222222aaaZZZZZaaZaaZZZaaaa2a2SSSSSSSXSXXXXXXXXSX7;..,;20X77XXXS\n2SSSSSXSSSSSSSSSSSSSS2222aa2222aaaaaa222222SSX7X777XXXX7r: aMMMMBS7XX7XXX\nSSSSSSXXSXXSSX7:,::i:.:rXSSSSSS22222a2SSXX7XXX77rr;i, :WMMM@r.,;XSSSSS22\nS22a222S2222XirWMMMMMM@a:;XSSXXXSSXXXX77;ii:,,,:...:rX0MMMMZ: ,;XSS2S222222\nSSSS22aaa22X,2MMMWWW@@MMM2.:i:,,. ..i7ZB@MMMMMMMMMMMM07 :7SaaaZZaaaaa222\nXSXSXXS2S7: rMMZWWWWWWW@MMMB0MMMMMMMMMMMMMMM@WMW@@W@@@@WMMZaZ8888ZZaa2222S2\nrrr;77rriXMMMMMWWWWWWWWWWWMMMM@W@M@@@@@@WWWWWBWW@WW@8ZW@MXS0B00088ZZZZaaaa2\n;;iiiii:;ZX;,8MMWWW@@MMMMMMMM@W@WWWWB0@B0WWWWBBWWBWW@MWWMMaSaa222aaaaZaaaa2\n;r;rrrr7;:.. MM@MM@W0B@MMMWMMWWWWWWBWWBWBWWWWWWWWB0ZWMMMM7XXXXX7XSSS2aZaa\nii7XSZ2aaaaaa2;,MM@7r7XS8Wi MWB0BWWWWWWWBWWW@WW@MMMM8Xi,;XXSSSSSSSSSSS222\nXSSSaZ80BBBBBWB8MM2X2a8MW M0MMWBWWWWWWWWWWWWW@MMMM8SX2aZ88Z8ZZZZaaaaa2SSXX\na0008Z22Z800BB08M0 S28MZ MMWWWWW@WWWWWWWW@MM@a;rX2ZZ88ZZZZZZ88ZZaa22SXXX\n08a222SS22aZZZZ2BMir7r MMMMBBWWBBBBWWWWWWMMM0,:;rr7XXXXXX777rr77XX7X77X7X\n0WWWBB088888ZZ8ZSZMMM8MMMMM@WWWWBBWW@WWWWWMM2,ir7r7r77XXX77rr;;;rr7XXSS2222\nSSSaaaZZZaaa22222X;rWMMMMWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWMB;r77XXXXS2222SSX77rr;rr7XXX2aZa\nSSSSSSXXXXX7XXXX777;. XWMMM@WW@@@@WWWWWWMMM22a22222222222SSXX7rrrrrr7XXSSSS\n2222SXXXX7XXX7XXXXXX7ri i0M@@MWMMMMM@MMMBZZ0B000000088ZZZZZZZZZaaa22SSSSXS\n22aaZZ8Z888808888ZZZZaa2X:MZMMW ..78WMMZrXSSS2222aaaaaZZZZZZZZaZaaa222SS2SS\n2SXXSS22aaZ880000BBBBB088S2BWMMXaX7 ;Mii7rr;;;i;;;;;;;rr777r7r7r7rrr7rr77XX\n888ZZZZa2SSX77XXSSXSSSSS2SX7 8SrXMr;XX77r77rrrr;;;;;rrrr77r7r7rrrr;rr;i;\nZ8088ZZZZZZ22SSSSSXX7777rrrXai 7270Mr72aZZZZ888888888ZZZaSSXSXSSSX7r;i::;rS\naaaSS2222aaaaaaZaZZZ888888Z88M; .MMrrSSXXXS2aaa2aaaa2S77rrrr777X77XXX2a888Z\nXXX7X77rrr7XXS222222aZZZ8ZZa7@2: 7M,;;;;iiii::,::,,...,:,.,::i;r;rr7X2ZZa22\nXXr;ii::iiii;r777rrr7ri::iir,M,S MMZXS2Zaaa22SXX77777XS222222aaa2SXX777r7XX\nX77r;rr7XXXSSSSSXS22XrrXSa80Z080, 2Z8aaaZZ880BBWWWWWWWWWWWWWW@WWWWWB08ZZZZ\ni,:iirrrrr7rrrrr7a:;MMM@WBB0000WMW i8Z22aaa8Z888Z888000BBB88ZZZZ0BBW@MMMMB\n822SXXaZa2XX77777Z rMM@8Z880BMM: :XBZaaa22222ZZZZZaa222XXXXXXXXXXXS2aZZ2\n8WaSSr77XX2Z0@@@WMMX 7MM@0ZZZ:M2 ;0Z8aSX7r;7XaZaS77r;rXX2aa2SSXXXSSX7r;\n ;;7X;:ii.:..7SZ8BWZ; ;2S77 XB SiX;;rrr;ii;i::,::;r;7X;iii::,,.... ,\n282X, ..2a8W8Sr.,;a8WMMM@, 2BMW22@. 72a22S22a2aZZ8082;i;:,:iir7XSSXriii\n,:SZ,7. i:i . ;.,.i7rSWMMMr ,2B0iM ,8SSSSXrr7777XXS22a2aZZ8880ZSXX280\n . rZMZS8 r:.7 ri , ;08Z r8SBZ :;X7SaZ80Z227r:... .,. ,ir7X2\nBBZZX7;2;.a8XSSr8000Z@MMMMW0082i ;8WX:70SMSSaa:iii;;rXX7X0MM@BB0Za2S77rr7rX\n \n
Another method is to sample the image down to grayscale with less than 8-bit precision, and then assign a character for each value, just as this Online JPG to ASCII converter does.
In the 1970s and early 1980s it was popular to produce a kind of ASCII art that relied on overprinting -- the overall darkness of a particular character space dependent on how many characters, as well as the choice of character, printed in a particular place. Thanks to the increased granularity of tone, photographs were often converted to this type of printout. Even daisy wheel printers could be used. The technique has fallen from popularity since all cheap printers can easily print photographs, and a normal text file (or an e-mail message or Usenet posting) cannot represent overprinted text. However, something similar has emerged to replace it: shaded or colored ASCII art, using ANSI video terminal markup or HTML to add a bit more tone variation.
Animated ASCII art is possible by embedding ANSI video terminal escape sequences for cursor movement into the "picture".
Glyph mosaics in Japan
In Japan, the glyph mosaic art form achieves unique development. The so-called "ASCII art" produced in Japan often uses the thousands of extra characters in the JIS or Unicode character sets for more elaborate art. The largest source of recent "JIS Art" is the 2ch BBS, and characters and stories in these "JIS Arts" are gaining popularity and recognition with emergence of this BBS. Cultural similarity with Manga (Japanese comic) can be observed. A simple example of Japanese style of the Ascii art is "orz" and represents a man on all four kneeling in an expression of the despair. "o" is the head, "r" is arms and shoulders, and "z" is the back and bent legs.
Placing ASCII art in HTML pages
ASCII artwork embedded in an HTML document must be placed within preformatted text tags to ensure that arrangement of the characters will display properly with monospace fonts (aka non-proportional fonts).
See also\n* Leet
External links
ASCII art editors
ASCII art groups
Other links\n*Boondocks - ASCII Scene Forums for PC and Amiga\n*SceneDownmix - ASCII/ANSI Scene News & Releases\n*Thuglife.org - ASCII Scene News, Releases, and Forum\n*Tutorials\n*ASCII Arts Ring and Directory\n*AA-lib\n*Cow Art\n*Star Wars (a 22-minute long ASCIImation movie: requires Java)\n** telnet://towel.blinkenlights.nl (telnet version of the Star Wars movie)\n*The.Matrix-ASCII The original Matrix movie in ASCII on a DVD\n*More ascii art movies\n*Japanese ASCII Art: requires Japanese font (available free from Windows/IE update, for Windows users)\n*How to draw Mona-style AA (in Japanese)\n*Illustrating software design using UnifiedModelingLanguage is discussed\n*Text-image.com free online image to text/ASCII art converter\n*An ASCII art archive\n*ASCII Art Farts\n*Online JPG to ASCII converter\n*Actors' and musicians' portraits rendered in ASCII
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