ImageToAscii

The overarching hands of automation have started to grasp all of humanity’s activity domains, including the world of art. An interesting example is harnessing the power of the American Standard Code for Information Interchange, or ASCII character encoding standard, to turn digital images into selectable text via a free, neat and lightweight program called ImageToAscii.

Double-clicking the application’s executable instantly launches a minimalist terminal-like window where users can type, paste or drag and drop files’ directory paths and hit the Enter key to start the conversion process. As such, the program removes the need for unnecessary and distracting interface elements and menus that would get in the way of executing its function.

The converter takes a couple of seconds to generate the mosaic in its ASCII format, for users to screenshot and save as a separate image on its own, or copy the result to clipboard for pasting in the chat box of your favorite instant messaging app and sharing with your friends. This particular format can substitute emojis for reactions in apps that have no support for GIFs or animated stickers.

An important aspect that should be kept in mind when using this program is that results may vary depending on how complex or how high in resolution certain images are, and sometimes the output may not be as recognizable as one would prefer. Finally, the app can be unstable at times, and users should restart it or open the target image in order to ensure the conversion process is successful.

Whether you are looking for a way to transform certain images into a copy-and-paste-friendly format, or you want to create custom artwork for older DOS-type games, then ImageToAscii may be the right tool for you, thanks to its straightforward usage experience.