Bildschirmtext

Transforming images into text sounds complicated. After all, how is that even possible? An image file’s hash is a wholly different matter, as this is about converting a picture’s visual contents into text. ASCII art enjoyers should already be well aware of this.

This usually involves some careful planning, formatting, and lots of creativity. It’s a bit different if you’ve got a program to do all of that for you, however. Bildschirmtext is the name for this no-nonsense, user-friendly program that is able to convert photos into text with minimal input on your part.

The nature of the program makes it so that only .BMP files are compatible. Depending on the files you’re looking to work with, this limitation may or may not be a problem. You can start by selecting a relevant file, then clicking the Textdatei generieren box.

After doing so, the app is usually quick to deliver a result. Generated files will bear the .txt extension, which the user can then open to look at the transformation. In my case, the program was able to convert the Softpedia logo into text rather well.

As is stated by the developer, the app will try to convert your image into grayscale, then assign an appropriate character for its textual representation. As such, both the resolution and contrast values of your image play a part in determining the quality of the final product.

Because of that, it’s possible for your results to be less than satisfactory if your inserted image happens to be too wide or lacking in contrast. As a workaround, you can try manipulating its contrast in an image editor, which may help you get better results.

Bildschirmtext is really quite simple. If you’re passionate about ASCII art, then it’s really not a bad idea to try this solution out. It’s easy to work with and quick to deliver results, so you can figure out if it’s for you without much effort.