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_,/\______ _,/\___ _,/\______ _,/\______ _,/\______ _,/\__
__\_ _ \_\_____/__\ _ _/__\_____ /__\_ _ \_\ /______
\ \\__ | ___/_ _/_ | _/_ _ _/_ | _/_ | __// /
_/ | \_ \_ | \_ | \_ \_ | \_
\_______ ╓_/___ _/___| ╓_/____ ╓_/___| ╓_/____ ╓_/
+--------|______/---|____/----|______/----|______/----|______/--\\______/----+
| p a s s i o n |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| |
| [I]ndex [O]ldschool Ascii N[F]O art |
| [W]hat's textmode art? [N]ewschool Ascii [A]NSI art |
| [E]xplore A[m]iga Ascii |
| |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
| [?] Press ? to see settings 01♥ |
+----------------------------------------------------------------------------+
IF YOU LIKE to explore textmode
art, and especially ASCII or ANSI
art, this gives you some great
starting points.
Below is a list of tools,
including editors and browser
extensions, informative websites,
and a few videos that you can
check out.
▓▓▒▒░░ Tools ░░▒▒▓▓
+--------------------------------------+ | Moebius | +--------------------------------------+ | Moebius is a new ANSI and ASCII || Editor for MacOS, Windows, and || Linux. If you want to try drawing || something, this is a great start. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | PabloDraw | +--------------------------------------+ | PabloDraw is an Ansi/Ascii text and || RIPscrip vector graphic art || editor/viewer with multi-user || capabilities. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | Durdraw | +--------------------------------------+ | Durdraw is an open source ASCII and || ANSI Art text editor for drawing in || the Linux/Unix/macOS terminal, with || animation, 256 and 16 colors, || Unicode and CP437, and customizable || themes. Screenshots, downloads, || software information. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | RetroTxt | +--------------------------------------+ | A browser extension to view DOS and || Amiga Text Mode Art directly in the || browser. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | Monodraw | +--------------------------------------+ | Powerful ASCII art editor designed || for the Mac. Monodraw allows you to || easily create text-based art like || diagrams, layouts, and flow charts. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | Ansilove | +--------------------------------------+ | ANSi to PNG converter - A set of || tools to convert ANSi and artscene || related file formats into PNG || images | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | Ascension | +--------------------------------------+ | ANSI/ASCII art viewer for Mac OS X | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | blockshow | +--------------------------------------+ | A PHP class to convert ANSI files to || png | +--------------------------------------+
▓▓▒▒░░ Informat10n ░░▒▒▓▓
+--------------------------------------+ | What is Textmode? - an introduction | +--------------------------------------+ | An illustrated description of what || Textmode Art is and how to get || started. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | ArakNet: BBS Art | +--------------------------------------+ | BBS ART comprises many different || mediums that can be transmitted || through dial-up or telnet || communication. The most common BBS || ART is textmode art (ANSI/ASCII). | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | ANSI art - Break Into Chat | +--------------------------------------+ | ANSI art is a computer art form that || was widely used at one time on || BBSes. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | Textmode Art - A Precursor of Web De | +--------------------------------------+ | Computer systems offered dauntingly || blinking cursors on text screens || and up to 16 predefined colours to || those who could afford them. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | From ANSi to nerd fonts... | +--------------------------------------+ | ... and some other stuff to get you || feeling nostalgic | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | artpacks.acid.org | +--------------------------------------+ | An Abbreviated History of the || Underground Computer Art Scene | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | ASCII, NFO Art & Text Encodings | +--------------------------------------+ | Accurate display of ASCII art and || NFO text in a browser. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | Presenting RetroTxt | +--------------------------------------+ | RetroTxt available on the Chrome Web || Store. It is a ASCII art & NFO || browser for Chrome. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | The Ultimate Oldschool PC Font Pack | +--------------------------------------+ | Home of the world's biggest || collection of classic text mode || fonts, system fonts and BIOS fonts || from DOS-era IBM PCs and || compatibles | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | Ansilove | +--------------------------------------+ | Preserving the Heritage of Text Mode || Based Art. Ansilove has 10 || repositories available. Follow || their code on GitHub. | +--------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------+ | Display ANSI art and animation in a | +--------------------------------------+ | ANSI art and animations were || prevalent on BBS systems in the || late 80s and early 90s, and the || ANSI art scene continues to thrive || today. | +--------------------------------------+
▓▓▒▒░░ Videos ░░▒▒▓▓
If you are a visual learner,
there are a few videos below that
may pique your interest and
provide an introduction to the
art scene and the good old days.
+----------+
| |
| l> |
| |
+----------+
Back to the BBS - The Art scene
+----------+
| |
| l> |
| |
+----------+
The Art Of Warez
+----------+
| |
| l> |
| |
+----------+
BBS The Documentary Part 5/8: Ar...
+----------+
| |
| l> |
| |
+----------+
Archiving the Evolution of ANSI ...
+----------+
| |
| l> |
| |
+----------+
This history of the ANSI/ASCII A...
+----------+
| |
| l> |
| |
+----------+
Text Mode Graphics - tutorial to...
+----------+
| |
| l> |
| |
+----------+
The Art of Textmode
+----------+
| |
| l> |
| |
+----------+
Textmode Underground Podcast
▓▓▒▒░░ Related ░░▒▒▓▓
To this day, there is software
that still uses a Text-based User
Interface (TUI) instead of a
Graphical User Interface (GUI),
as there are many situations
where the simplicity of a
terminal is preferred, but a user
interface easier to navigate
than the prompt is desired.
That's a whole different story,
but if you’d like to go down that
road, I recommend the Awesome
TUIs repository.
As already mentioned, the concept
of creating art from text is an
old one. Really old. The art here
has its roots in typewriter art
and text-based art sent via
telegraph a long time ago. Take a
look at James Cook's photo
gallery for some fantastic
examples.
A search for ”ascii art” gives
you a lot of results. These, more
or less, all point toward people
creating images with ASCII
characters. That type of ASCII
art has its audience and place,
and many wonderful projects, but
it never interested me much.
Another form of textmode art is
animated ASCII, such as ASCII
Play by ertdfgcvb.
The textmode art that I like and
showcase here is related to the
BBS and art scene of the 90s, and
can be divided into ASCII art
from the PC and Amiga scenes, as
well as the ANSI art created with
block characters and 16 colors.
Designing under hard constraints
brings out creativity and focus.
Given today's bandwidth,
graphics, and sometimes lazy
approach to building digital
things, I think we sometimes
forget this.
IF YOU LIKE to explore textmode art, and especially ASCII or ANSI
art, this gives you some great starting points.
Below is a list of tools, including editors and browser extensions,
informative websites, and a few videos that you can check out.
______ _____ ____ ___ ______ ______
_\ ___/__\_//__\ _/______\__ /___\ ___/__
.----------------/ _____/ °/ \__ °/ ___/ °/\____ °/------------------.
| \ \\__ \\ \__ \\____| \\___| \\ /sk| \\ |
`------------------|___//--|___//---|____//--|____//-\_____//-/---------------'
Editors and Other Tools used to create ANSi and ASCii art.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Moebius | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Moebius is a new ANSI and ASCII Editor for MacOS, Windows, and || Linux. If you want to try drawing something, this is a great || start. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | PabloDraw | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | PabloDraw is an Ansi/Ascii text and RIPscrip vector graphic art || editor/viewer with multi-user capabilities. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Durdraw | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Durdraw is an open source ASCII and ANSI Art text editor for || drawing in the Linux/Unix/macOS terminal, with animation, 256 and || 16 colors, Unicode and CP437, and customizable themes. || Screenshots, downloads, software information. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | RetroTxt | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A browser extension to view DOS and Amiga Text Mode Art directly || in the browser. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Monodraw | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Powerful ASCII art editor designed for the Mac. Monodraw allows || you to easily create text-based art like diagrams, layouts, and || flow charts. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ansilove | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ANSi to PNG converter - A set of tools to convert ANSi and || artscene related file formats into PNG images | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ascension | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ANSI/ASCII art viewer for Mac OS X | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | blockshow | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | A PHP class to convert ANSI files to png | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
_ _______ _______: _______ ____ _
_\__ /___\__ /___\__ //_____\_ /__
.--------------------/ ___/ °/ ___/ °/ __ °/ __ °/--------------------.
| \ \\___| \\___| \\___| \\___| \\ |
`------------------------|____//--|____//--|____//--|____//-/-----------------'
Information and Resources if you like to read more and dig deeper.
+--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | What is Textmode? - an introduction by Polyducks | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | An illustrated description of what Textmode Art is and how to get || started. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ArakNet: BBS Art | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | BBS ART comprises many different mediums that can be transmitted || through dial-up or telnet communication. The most common BBS ART || is textmode art (ANSI/ASCII). | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ANSI art - Break Into Chat | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ANSI art is a computer art form that was widely used at one time || on BBSes. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Textmode Art - A Precursor of Web Design | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Computer systems offered dauntingly blinking cursors on text || screens and up to 16 predefined colours to those who could afford || them. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | From ANSi to nerd fonts... | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ... and some other stuff to get you feeling nostalgic | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | artpacks.acid.org | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | An Abbreviated History of the Underground Computer Art Scene | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ASCII, NFO Art & Text Encodings | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Accurate display of ASCII art and NFO text in a browser. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Presenting RetroTxt | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | RetroTxt available on the Chrome Web Store. It is a ASCII art & || NFO browser for Chrome. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | The Ultimate Oldschool PC Font Pack | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Home of the world's biggest collection of classic text mode fonts, || system fonts and BIOS fonts from DOS-era IBM PCs and compatibles | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Ansilove | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Preserving the Heritage of Text Mode Based Art. Ansilove has 10 || repositories available. Follow their code on GitHub. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | Display ANSI art and animation in a modern terminal? | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+ | ANSI art and animations were prevalent on BBS systems in the late || 80s and early 90s, and the ANSI art scene continues to thrive || today. | +--------------------------------------------------------------------+
______ _ ______ ____ ____ ____ ____ _______ _______ _______ _
_\ ___/___\__ //__\__ Y __/_\__ Y __/__\__ /___\__ //___ ____ _
.------/ | °/ | °/ \_/ °/ \_/ °/ ___/ °/ | °// °/--------.
| \ \\___| \\___' \\____| \\____| \\___| \\___| \\__ sk\ |
`----------|____//-|_____//---|____//---|____//--|____//--|____//|___/--------'
If you are a visual learner, there are a few videos below that may
pique your interest and provide an introduction to the art scene
and the good old days.
+----------+
| | Back to the BBS - The Art scene
| l> | ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
| | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gOghuaxh88U
+----------+
+----------+
| | The Art Of Warez
| l> | ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
| | https://vimeo.com/341663153
+----------+
+----------+
| | BBS The Documentary Part 5/8: Artscene
| l> | ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
| | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2t74FlFL_M0
+----------+
+----------+
| | Archiving the Evolution of ANSI and ASCII
| l> | ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
| | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9rrnNxbfy2M
+----------+
+----------+
| | This history of the ANSI/ASCII Art Scene
| l> | ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
| | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7k1mzTpCWnc
+----------+
+----------+
| | Text Mode Graphics - tutorial to ANSI & ASCII
| l> | ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
| | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=B20ebtwcIAY
+----------+
+----------+
| | The Art of Textmode
| l> | ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
| | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LXPN-QSd0Y
+----------+
+----------+
| | Textmode Underground Podcast
| l> | ~~~~~~~~~~~ ~~~~~ ~ ~~ ~ ~
| | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tYRzYf5s0Tk
+----------+
_ _______ _ ______ ___ _ ____ _______
_\__ //___\__ //__\_ | | //__\ ___/__
.------------------/ | °/ ___/ °/ | | °/\____ °/---------------------.
| \ \\___| \\___| \\______ \\ /sk| \\ |
`----------------------|____//--|____//--|_____//-\_____//-/------------------'
To this day, there is software that still uses a Text-based User
Interface (TUI) instead of a Graphical User Interface (GUI), as
there are many situations where the simplicity of a terminal is
preferred, but a user interface easier to navigate than the prompt
is desired.
That's a whole different story, but if you’d like to go down that
road, I recommend the Awesome TUIs repository.
As already mentioned, the concept of creating art from text is an
old one. Really old. The art here has its roots in typewriter art
and text-based art sent via telegraph a long time ago. Take a look
at James Cook's photo gallery for some fantastic examples.
A search for ”ascii art” gives you a lot of results. These, more or
less, all point toward people creating images with ASCII
characters. That type of ASCII art has its audience and place, and
many wonderful projects, but it never interested me much.
Another form of textmode art is animated ASCII, such as ASCII Play
by ertdfgcvb.
The textmode art that I like and showcase here is related to the
BBS and art scene of the 90s, and can be divided into ASCII art
from the PC and Amiga scenes, as well as the ANSI art created with
block characters and 16 colors.
Designing under hard constraints brings out creativity and focus.
Given today's bandwidth, graphics, and sometimes lazy approach to
building digital things, I think we sometimes forget this.