ASCII Art Generator
Transform text into stunning ASCII art with 6 unique fonts. Create banners, logos, and decorative text for terminals, social media, and code comments. Instant preview and export in multiple formats.
Quick Generate
Create ASCII art instantly with standard font
Free ASCII Art Generator: Convert Text to ASCII Banners Online
Turn boring plain text into eye-catching ASCII art banners for terminals, README files, code comments, and social media. Choose from 6 font styles—from retro block letters to elegant cursive—and generate ASCII text art in seconds.
ASCII art dates back to the 1960s when computers could only display text. Today, it's making a comeback in developer culture. Learn more about ASCII art history and why it's still relevant in 2025.
What is ASCII Art? (And Why Use It)
ASCII Art in 30 Seconds
ASCII art uses keyboard characters (letters, numbers, symbols) to create text-based images and decorative text. Instead of pixels, you use characters like #, *, and = to draw shapes.
Our tool focuses on ASCII text art (also called FIGlet fonts)—turning words into big, stylized banners made of smaller characters. Perfect for terminal splash screens and GitHub README headers.
Why ASCII Art Still Matters in 2025
- Works everywhere: Terminals, text editors, email, Discord—anywhere text works
- No images needed: No broken image links, no loading times, just pure text
- Copy-paste friendly: Share art without uploading files or converting formats
- Retro aesthetic: Nostalgic appeal for developers and gamers
- Accessible: Screen readers can parse ASCII text (unlike images)
When to Use an ASCII Text Generator
CLI Application Banners
Every command-line tool needs a memorable welcome screen. ASCII banners make your CLI app instantly recognizable when users launch it. Think npm, git, or docker—they all use ASCII branding.
Building CLI tools? Check our developer tools directory for more utilities.
GitHub README Headers
Stand out in a sea of plain README files. A bold ASCII title grabs attention when developers browse GitHub. Wrap it in a markdown code block (```ascii) and it stays formatted perfectly.
Need to format JSON for your docs? Try our JSON formatter.
Code Comment Headers
Large codebases need visual separators. ASCII art comments help developers quickly navigate to different sections—routes, utilities, models—without scrolling forever.
Working with regex patterns? Use our regex tester to validate them.
Social Media Posts
Twitter, Discord, Reddit—platforms that strip formatting love ASCII art. Post a plain-text announcement with an ASCII header and watch it stand out in the timeline.
Need unique IDs for your projects? Generate them with our UUID generator.
How to Generate ASCII Art (Step-by-Step)
Type Your Text
Enter 1-20 characters in the input box above. Short text works best—logos, project names, section headers. Long sentences get too wide for most terminals.
Choose a Font Style
Pick from 6 fonts:
Block: Bold, chunky letters for maximum impact
Banner: Classic terminal banner style
Standard: Clean, readable default font
Small: Compact for tight spaces
Script: Elegant cursive look
3D: Shadowed depth effect
Copy or Export
Click "Copy to Clipboard" and paste into your terminal, code, or README. Or download as .txt file for later use. The art renders exactly as shown—what you see is what you get.
ASCII Font Styles Explained
Block Fonts vs Banner Fonts
Block fonts use solid characters like █ to create filled, heavyweight letters. Great for high-visibility headers.
Banner fonts use outline characters like # and * to draw letter shapes. More detail, slightly harder to read at small sizes.
These fonts are based on the FIGlet standard, a text banner generation tool from 1991 that's still widely used today.
When to Use Each Font Type
Block Fonts
- • CLI app splash screens
- • Terminal welcome messages
- • High-contrast headers
- • Short logos (3-8 characters)
Banner/Script Fonts
- • GitHub README titles
- • Code section separators
- • Email signatures
- • Discord channel art
ASCII Art Best Practices
Do This
- ✓Keep text under 15 characters for readability
- ✓Test in your target environment (terminal, GitHub, Discord)
- ✓Use monospace fonts to preview ASCII art accurately
- ✓Wrap in markdown code blocks for GitHub (```ascii)
- ✓Save as .txt file for reuse across projects
Avoid This
- ✗Don't paste into rich-text editors without formatting protection
- ✗Avoid fonts wider than 80 columns for terminal compatibility
- ✗Don't mix multiple font styles in one banner
- ✗Never use ASCII art for critical information (accessibility)
- ✗Avoid Unicode characters if targeting older terminals
Platform-Specific ASCII Art Tips
Terminals (Bash, Zsh, PowerShell)
- • Max width: 80 columns (standard)
- • Use standard ASCII only
- • Test in both light/dark themes
- • Consider ANSI color codes
GitHub README Files
- • Wrap in ```ascii code blocks
- • Keep under 100 columns (mobile)
- • Place at top for immediate impact
- • Add alt-text description
Discord & Social Media
- • Discord: Wrap in ```text blocks
- • Twitter: Max 280 chars total
- • Reddit: Use 4-space indents
- • Instagram: Small fonts for bios
Common Questions About ASCII Art Generators
Can I use ASCII art commercially?
Yes. ASCII art you generate with this tool is yours to use for any purpose—commercial, open-source, personal. The fonts themselves are based on public domain FIGlet fonts that have no licensing restrictions.
Why does my ASCII art look broken when I paste it?
Rich-text editors (Word, Google Docs, Gmail compose) strip whitespace and change fonts. Always paste ASCII art into plain-text environments or markdown code blocks. Use monospace fonts like Courier or Consolas to preview correctly.
What's the difference between ASCII art and Unicode art?
ASCII art uses only the 95 printable ASCII characters (letters, numbers, symbols). Unicode art uses the full Unicode character set (emojis, box-drawing characters, etc.). ASCII works everywhere; Unicode needs modern font support. This tool focuses on standard ASCII for maximum compatibility.
Can I convert images to ASCII art?
This tool converts text to ASCII art (stylized text banners). For converting photos/images into ASCII art, you need an image-to-ASCII converter. Check out ascii-image-converter on GitHub for that functionality.
How do I add color to ASCII art?
In terminals, use ANSI color codes. For example, \033[31mRED TEXT\033[0m makes text red. For web/markdown, you can't color ASCII art directly—it's plain text. Consider using syntax highlighting in code blocks instead.
Are there more ASCII fonts available?
This tool includes 6 popular fonts optimized for web use. For 400+ fonts, try Text to ASCII Art Generator (TAAG) by patorjk.com—it's the most comprehensive ASCII font library online.
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