Turn Any Photo Into Retro ASCII Art in Seconds

What if your photo looked like it had escaped from a 1987 computer terminal? Image to ASCII turns JPGs, PNGs, WebPs, and GIFs into surprisingly stylish art made entirely from letters, symbols, and pixels’ distant cousins.

Drop in an image, choose a look, and dial in the width, contrast, colours, sharpness, and character style. There are presets for everything from logos and portraits to GitHub READMEs, social posts, and posters — so yes, your dog can now have a terminal-era alter ego.

The image you choose is processed locally in your browser, not uploaded for conversion. When you are done, copy it as plain text or Markdown, or export it as TXT, PNG, SVG, HTML, or ANSI. GIFs are supported too, although they become a still image rather than an animation.

It is gloriously unnecessary, faintly addictive, and a lot more fun than it has any right to be.

Make something weird at imagetoascii.art →

Alex Harper

Alex Harper is a web designer and UX specialist with 8+ years of experience creating intuitive, user-friendly digital experiences. Known for blending creativity with functionality, Alex helps brands turn ideas into seamless designs that engage and inspire.