Image to ASCII Converter
Convert an image into ASCII art made of text characters. Upload an image, adjust the width, and download the result as plain text.
Click to upload an image
Your file is processed entirely in your browser
Recommended Settings
Pro Tips
- •A higher character width preserves more detail but produces a much larger block of text
- •Brightness is mapped to a ramp of characters from sparse (space) to dense (@), so light areas use lighter characters and dark areas use denser ones
- •The output looks best when viewed in a monospace font, since character width consistency is what keeps the image proportions correct
- •The whole file is processed locally in your browser - nothing is uploaded anywhere
Most Popular
Most users pick a width around 80-120 characters for a good balance of detail and readability
When to Use This Tool
Turn a photo into a piece of retro-style ASCII art made entirely of text characters.
Create text-based graphics that display correctly in terminals, plain-text files, or Markdown code blocks.
Add an old-school computing aesthetic to a design using ASCII-rendered imagery.
Turn a photo into a fun, shareable block of ASCII text for forums or chat.
How It Works
Read the uploaded image and decode it using the browser's native image support
Downscale the image to a small grid matching the selected character width, adjusting for how much taller monospace characters are than they are wide
Calculate each grid cell's brightness and map it to a character from a ramp running from sparse to dense
Assemble the characters into a plain-text grid, ready to copy or download
100% Private
Files never leave your device. All processing happens locally in your browser.
Lightning Fast
Powered by Luminance-to-character mapping for optimal performance on modern browsers.
Open Source
Built with verified, open-source libraries. Fully transparent.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why does the image look stretched when I paste it elsewhere?
ASCII art depends on being displayed in a monospace font. If you paste it somewhere that uses a proportional font, the character widths won't line up and the image will look distorted.
Can I get a color version?
This tool produces plain-text, single-color ASCII art based on brightness only. Colorized ASCII art typically requires HTML or ANSI terminal color codes, which aren't part of this plain-text output.
Is my image uploaded to a server?
No. The entire conversion happens locally in your browser using the Canvas API. Your image never leaves your device.
How is brightness converted to characters?
Each downsampled pixel's brightness is calculated and mapped onto a ramp of characters ordered from sparse (space, for bright areas) to dense (@, for dark areas).
Why is the output so wide even for a small width setting?
Each row still needs enough characters to represent the image's full width. Try a smaller width value if the output feels too large for your intended use.