Martin Atkins' mini-FAQ for ascii art

         >-----------------------------------------------------<
      __  ________   _______________   ____
     /  |/  /  _/ | / /  _/ ____/   | / __ \ _
    / /|_/ // //  |/ // // /_  / /| |/ / / /(_)
   / /  / // // /|  // // __/ / ___ / /_/ /_   All the stuff you need for
  /_/  /_/___/_/ |_/___/_/   /_/  |_\___\_(_)         ASCII Art!

         >------------------ By Martin Atkins -----------------<

         Monospaced Fonts
                                Text Editors
                                                         Ascii Utils

         >-----------------------------------------------------<
          __  __                                                _
         |  \/  | ___  _ __   ___  ___ _ __   __ _  ___ ___  __| |
         | |\/| |/ _ \| '_ \ / _ \/ __| '_ \ / _` |/ __/ _ \/ _` |
         | |  | | (_) | | | | (_) \__ \ |_) | (_| | (_|  __/ (_| |
         |_|  |_|\___/|_| |_|\___/|___/ .__/ \__,_|\___\___|\__,_|
                          / _| ___  _ |_|| |_ ___
                         | |_ / _ \| '_ \| __/ __|
                         |  _| (_) | | | | |_\__ \
                         |_|  \___/|_| |_|\__|___/

Almost all ASCII art is created and intended to be viewed in a monospaced, or fixed width font. Find your operating system/computer on the list below and find a font on your system that is on the list.

Windows:  FixedSys                                 (Supplied with Windows)
          Courier New                              (Supplied with Windows)
          Courier                                  (Supplied with Windows)
          Lucida Console             (Supplied with Microsoft Win95 Plus!)
          Topaz New
          Monotype.com
          Terminal
          Lucida Sans Typewiter
          OCR A Extended
          OCRB
          Netextmo
          Video Console Terminal
          Andale Mono
          Crystal
          HyperFont

Amiga:    Topaz                                                   (In ROM)
          Courier                             (Supplied with WorkBench 2+)
          Pearl
          Siesta
          XEN                                         (Comes with MagicWB)
          XCourier                                    (Comes with MagicWB)
          ascii
          tiny

AppleMac: Courier
          Monaco
          ZTerm

Acorn:    Corpus                                            (in Resources)
          System                                            (in Resources)

If you can`t find any of the fonts on the list, please try looking at this in all fonts available:

iiiii iiiii iiiii iiiii|
mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm mmmmm|

In a fixed width font, both of the | symbols should match in distance from the left side of the screen. If you find a common font that isn`t on the list, please email mart.atkins@bigfoot.com and tell me about it, along with what operating system/computer it is from.

.---- To get a Monospaced/Fixed Width font in MS Outlook Express -->
|Click Tools/ Options.
|Click the Read tab.
|Click the Fonts button.
|Select Courier or another fixed width font for ALL of the listboxes.
|Select Smallest.
|Click OK.
|Click OK.
'------------------ (Thanks to aardvarko) ------------------------->

         >------------------------------------------------------<
                             _____         _
                            |_   _|____  _| |_
                              | |/ _ \ \/ / __|
                              | |  __/>  <| |_
                      _____   |_|\___/_/\_\\__|
                     | ____|__| (_) |_ ___  _ __ ___
                     |  _| / _` | | __/ _ \| '__/ __|
                     | |__| (_| | | || (_) | |  \__ \
                     |_____\__,_|_|\__\___/|_|  |___/

A lot of ASCII art is made in a text editor - usually like a wordprocessor but without text formatting functions.

Un*x:      vi
           pico
           emacs
           jed
           joe
           ed
           jove

Windows95: Notepad                                   (Comes with Windows!)
      /98  EDIT.COM                                  (Comes with windows!)
           MicroEMACS
           EditPad
           PFE32
           UltraEdit                                   (www.ultraedit.com)
           TextPad                           (www.textpad.com - shareware)
           Vim                               (www.pcisys.net/~kscott/vim/)

Windows3:  Notepad                                   (Comes with Windows!)
           MicroEMACS
           PFE
           UltraEdit                                   (www.ultraedit.com)

MSDOS:     EDIT           (Comes with DOS 5/6 - Type EDIT at command line)
           QEdit
           MicroEmacs
           GNU Emacs
           TheDraw                                             (shareware)
           AcidDraw                                            (shareware)

Amiga:     Ed           (On Workbench Disk - run 'Ed <filename>' in shell)
           MicroEMACS             (Supplied with Workbench on Extras disk)
           Blacks Editor
           CygnusEd
           AZ
           NotePad                   (included with Workbench 1.2 and 1.3)
           TED                        (Included with ACID Blitz Basic 2.1)
           SuperTED              (Included with Blitz Basic support suite)

AppleMac:  Nisus
           SimpleText                                (included with MacOS)
           TeachText                                 (included with MacOS)
           Saint Edit                                      (shareware $10)
           BBEdit         (commercial but free light version is available)
           Tex-Edit Plus                                       (shareware)

Linux:     joe
           nedit

Acorn:     !Edit                                            (in Resources)
           !Zap
           !StrongEd

Atari:     Everest
           QED
           Steno
           EditPro

Commodore  Zed
   64/128: NovaPic

         >------------------------------------------------------<
                _    ____   ____ ___ ___
               / \  / ___| / ___|_ _|_ _| _   _ _   _ _
              / _ \ \___ \| |    | | | | | | | | |_(_) |___
             / ___ \ ___) | |___ | | | | | | | | __| | / __|
            /_/   \_\____/ \____|___|___|| |_| | |_| | \__ \
             ---------------------------  \___/ \__|_|_|___/

Some utils to help with the creation of ASCIIArt:

Jave is the new hot thing that replaces (or includes) many of the other tools mentioned in this category. It requires Java.

FIGlet
This great program makes ascii 'banners' from text - the titles in these lists are a good example.
A few examples:
```
    _____ ___ ____ _      _
   |  ___|_ _/ ___| | ___| |_
   | |_   | | |  _| |/ _ \ __|
   |  _|  | | |_| | |  __/ |_
   |_|   |___\____|_|\___|\__|

   88888888888 88   ,ad8888ba,  88
   88          88  d8"'    `"8b 88              ,d
   88          88 d8'           88              88
   88aaaaa     88 88            88  ,adPPYba, MM88MMM
   88"""""     88 88      88888 88 a8P_____88   88
   88          88 Y8,        88 88 8PP"""""""   88
   88          88  Y8a.    .a88 88 "8b,   ,aa   88,
   88          88   `"Y88888P"  88  `"Ybbd8"'   "Y888

   8"""" 8  8""""8
   8     8  8    " e     eeee eeeee
   8eeee 8e 8e     8     8      8
   88    88 88  ee 8e    8eee   8e
   88    88 88   8 88    88     88
   88    88 88eee8 88eee 88ee   88
```
Various fonts are availiable (.flf files) and there are versions of FIGlet for almost any operating system and computer type:
http://st-www.cs.uiuc.edu/users/chai/figlet.html
ftp://nicoh.com/pub/figle/
The windows version of FIGlet, FigWin, is still only in beta and has a few bugs. Also, you dont always get the results you want without experimenting with the options first. However it does have features not found in many other versions, like vertical smushing and weird line fitting.
There are also many online, web based versions of FIGlet available also, one of which is http://www.surfplaza.com/figlet/
If you are a DOS user, you can get a GUI for DOS FIGlet at:
http://voices.vossnet.co.uk/a/atkins/fdg.htm
which should make the running of FigDOS easier.
FIGlet+the GUI are also available from this page.
If required, I will email FigDOS and the GUI in one zip file - just email mart.atkins@bigfoot.com and ask!

GIFscii
GIFscii, and it`s variants, will take an image file (usually GIF) and convert it to an ascii picture. The results arn`t brilliant, but can serve as a good starting point for an ASCII picture. Do a web search for one of these, as they are everywhere. Versions are available for a wide variety of operating systems and computer types.

These conversions can be viewed as graphics using ASC2PIC, a program that will basically 'draw' ascii art using grey pixels on the screen. For a copy, email mart.atkins@bigfoot.com.

Try the following URLs for a starting point
gopher://twinbrook.cis.uab.edu/1A/atools.70
ftp://ftp.wwa.com/pub/Scarecrow/Gifscii/
[URLs taken from alt.ascii-art FAQ by Matthew Thomas]

                                                          
  .- Sample output from BMP2ASC -----.           
  |         ;$XXHXXXXXXX+.           |           
  |      :XXXHHHHHXHHHHXXX$.         |           
  |    /XXXXHHHXXHHHHHHHXXXH/        |           
  |   /XXXXXHHH$HHHHHHHHHHHHH%       |           
  |  .XXXXXXHHX$HHHHHHHHHHHHHH;      |           
  |  ;XXXXXHX$XX$$$XHHHHHHHHXHX.     |           
  | .$XXXH%/;;;::::;/$HHHHHHHXX;     |           
  | =XXXHX//;;:::::;;/+HXHHHHHH$     |           
  | /HXXH$//;;;;::::;;/$XHHHHHXX-    |           
  | %HXXH%/;;;;;;;;+$$%$XHHHHHHX/    |           
  | XXXXHX$X$%+//+++;$%HXHHHHHHX$.   |           
  |.XXXXHX+/////://;///+$XHHH@HHHHH/.|           
  |,X$XXHH%;;;;/;///;;;+$XHHH@HHHH@@@|           
  |-X$XXH@H+/++/;/++;//%XHHHH@HHHH@@@|           
  |=$$XXHHH@@%%$$%++++%$XXHHHHHXH@@@@|           
  |=$$XXX$$@@@H%++++%%%$$XHXH@HH@@@@@|           
  |=$XHXX%$@@@@@%+++%$%$$XXXHH$H@@@@@|           
  |-+%XHHH@@@@@@@X+/+%$$$$$$%%/=$@@@@|           
  | //XXXH@@@@@@@@@@@@X%%++///=--/H@@|           
  |   %XXHH@@@@@@@@@@@@X+;/;;=-,,,-$@|           
  |  =XHXHH@@@@@@@@@@@@X/,. ..-,..,,/|           
  |  $H@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@XH;....,......|           
  '------------------- for Windows! -'

ASC-TOOL
This program does rotation and flipping of ascii art. It is most useful when you need a left facing ascii art to face right, or something like that.
RESIZE
Performs 'pixel' resizes on ASCII Art... adding or removing characters to resize the pic. The size is a percentage of the original.
ASC2PIC/ASC2PIC2
This is the reverse of GIFscii... takes solid style ascii and 'draws' it as a picture on the screen. Good for viewing ASCII conversions as the graphics they came from.
ASC2PIC2 extends this capability by allowing viewing of both White on Black and Black on White pics to be viewed.
ASCHALF
Resamples asciiart to 50% graphically. It resamples the picture as if it were a .GIF or something, and then converts it back to ascii art using a similar method to GIFscii.
LGIFScii
This program attempts to take a lineart GIF pic and convert it into Line Art ascii. The results arn`t great, but it can be used to get the idea of a shape and then fiddle with is later.
TRIM
Removes blank spaces from the end of lines in text files. Not specifically an asciiart utility but useful just the same.
ASCII-EDITOR for Windows
The author claims:
- ASCII-Pic, Pic-ASCII conversion
- Fill with background pattern
- Divers textimport functions
- Invert, painting circles, center
- Drag & Drop
- ...
The program has a lot of text import functions. You could for example import a text file as spiral. Nice for emails ;)
The program can convert pictures to ASCII art (greyscaled), ASCII art to pictures.
Flip, rotate, resize, cut, copy, paste, ...
These are only a few samples of the 'ASCII-Editor' functions.
I have yet to try the program, so am unable to comment. I will write a proper write-up for it when I try it.
http://studenten.freepage.de/meph/ascii/editor/_index.htm
The program is freeware.
TheDraw
TheDraw is primarily an ANSI editor, but is suitable for ASCII art also. It features many features not availiable in most 'standard' text editors, like filling an area with a character, or dragging a block around. There are many features specific to DOS ansi editing, which I will not go into here.
AcidDraw
AcidDraw is a similar program developed by artists for artists. A similar feel and feature set of TheDraw, but geared more towards a static-screen (non-animated) drawing. It's sole purpose in life is to create ASCII and ANSI art. Some nifty features include the ability to flip screens horizontally and vertically and otherwise manipulate text-based art in ways that a normal text-EDITOR simply can not do. Also shareware. (And the programmer is still alive but no bugs have ever been reported, to the fault of the software.)
[Text supplied by RaD Man]

Both TheDraw and ACiDDraw latest versions are available at
http://artpacks.acid.org/programs/editors/

Please note that none of these ASCII Utils are necesary for creation of ASCII Art, but merely to aid creation It is totally possible to make ASCII Art in any of the editors on the 'Text Editors' list. TheDraw and AcidDraw, however are editors in their own right, so could be used instead of a 'traditional' text editor. I have a few of these editors, but not all. If you email me and ask I`ll send it if I have it! My email address is at various places in this document.

         >------------------------------------------------------<

                .-----------------------------------------.
                |Compiled by Martin Atkins with help from:|
                | * Veronica Karlsson                     |
                | * Jorn Barger                           |
                | * Colin Douthwaite                      |
                | * Randy Gardner                         |
                | * Ilmari Karonen                        |
                | * aardvarko                             |
                | * gumby                                 |
                | * Valentin Valciu                       |
                | * Hayley Jane Wakenshaw                 |
                | * llizard                               |
                | * Sami Sihvonen                         |
                | * Doug Wilson                           |
                | * Brock Kevin Nambo                     |
                | * Cipher                                |
                | * Ben Norwood                           |
                | * Matthew Thomas                        |
                | * RaD Man                               |
                | * natedac                               |
                | * Joergen                               |
                | * msh210                                |
                | * stephane HAbeTT roux                  |
                | * Dom Esplen                            |
                | * Hilton Janfield                       |
                | * FireDraake                            |
                '-----------------------------------------'

         >------------- Last Updated 17-12-98 -----------------<

                     Also available on the web at:
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            http://www.ludd.luth.se/users/vk/q/mga_faq.html
           http://voices.vossnet.co.uk/a/atkins/minifaq.htm
            http://bungleandmart.home.ml.org/ascmfaq.htm