X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: 1143c9,7944e0bea912e5b9,start X-Google-Attributes: gid1143c9,public X-Google-Thread: f996b,7944e0bea912e5b9,start X-Google-Attributes: gidf996b,public X-Google-Thread: f7ded,7944e0bea912e5b9,start X-Google-Attributes: gidf7ded,public X-Google-Thread: fb462,7944e0bea912e5b9,start X-Google-Attributes: gidfb462,public X-Google-Thread: 110f55,7944e0bea912e5b9,start X-Google-Attributes: gid110f55,public X-Google-Thread: fbb9d,7944e0bea912e5b9,start X-Google-Attributes: gidfbb9d,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1994-06-27 07:40:33 PST Path: bga.com!news.sprintlink.net!sashimi.wwa.com!gagme.wwa.com!not-for-mail From: boba@gagme.wwa.com (Bob Allison) Newsgroups: rec.arts.ascii,alt.ascii-art,alt.binaries.pictures.ascii,alt.answers,rec.answers,news.answers Subject: FAQ - ASCII Art Questions & Answers (2.8 - 43 K) Followup-To: rec.arts.ascii Date: 27 Jun 1994 09:32:41 -0500 Organization: WorldWide Access (SM) Chicagoland Internet Services 312-282-8605 Lines: 980 Approved: news-answers-request@MIT.EDU, boba@gagme.wwa.com Expires: Mon, 04 Jul 1994 00:00:00 GMT Message-ID: <2umnu9$92d@gagme.wwa.com> Reply-To: boba@gagme.wwa.com NNTP-Posting-Host: gagme.wwa.com Summary: Where to FTP art, GIF->ASCII converters, how to make big letters. Keywords: faq, ascii art Xref: bga.com rec.arts.ascii:441 alt.ascii-art:9755 alt.binaries.pictures.ascii:779 alt.answers:1716 rec.answers:2744 news.answers:8632 Archive-name: ascii-art-faq Posting-Frequency: Weekly Last-modified: 1994/06/27 Version: 2.8 '. + . + ' . ' * . ` . + ' ) . ' .'. ' _______ ______ ______ ______ ______ ` ______ _______ ________ . '. +. /______//______//_____//_____//_____/ . /_____//____ //_______/ . . ` _______ _____ '___ + ___ '. ___ ______ _____/ / __ . ' ' : / ___ /.\___ \*/ / . / / * / / ' / __ // . __/. '/ / . ` . + ./ /. / /_____) // /___ _/ /_ _/ /_ / / / // / \ \ '/ / ' + . /_/ '/_//______//_____//_____//_____/ './_/ /_//_/ * \_ ' /_/ ' . ___________________ . ___________________ ' ___________________ ' ` ' / / ./ /. / /' . * /__________________/' /__________________/ / _________ / . ( ( ' . : ` . + ' . * / / . ' / /. .+ _______________ . ___________________ ' / / ` / / ' . / / '/ /. / / . + / / . * ' ' / __________/ ' . / _________ / / /'. /\/ / ( ' / / . / / . / / '/ /______/ / : `. / / ( ' ' / / . + / /. / / . ' /____/ . ` /____/. /____/ /________________ / ` Version 2.8 June 27, 1994 boba@gagme.wwa.com \/ . . ` * . . ` . . ___ _ _ ___ ___ _____ ___ ___ _ _ ___ / _ \| | | | __/ __!_ _!_ _/ _ \| \| / __! | (_) | |_| | _|\__ \ | | | | (_) | .` \__ \ \__\_\\___/!___!___/ !_! !___\___/!_|\_!___/ O _ ___ _ _ ______ ___ ____ /|\/ |_ _| \| | | ____! / _ \ / __ \ / | | || .` | | | | | | | | | | | / \ !___!_!\_! | |__ | !_! | | | | | _/___\_ _ ___ ___ | __! | _ | | | | | !_ _| |_| |_ _/ __! | | | | | | | | | | | | | _ || |\__ \ | | | | | | | !__! | !_! !_! !_!___!___/ !_! !_! !_! \___\_\ 1 What is ASCII art? 2 What are the different kinds of ASCII art? 3 What is the best way to view ASCII art? 4 How do I save, 'uudecode' and view animations and color images? 5 How can I learn to make ASCII art? 6 Are there any ASCII tools? 7 Where can I get ASCII tools? 8 Where can I find ASCII art? 9 Can I get The Scarecrow's files via email? 10 How do I make those big letters? 11 Where can I get Figlet? 12 How can I make gray scale pictures? 13 Where can I get gray scale converters? 14 How can I make better gray scale conversions? 15 What is 'anti-aliasing'? 16 How do I make a sig? 17 How do I have my sig automatically added to my posts and email? 18 How do I put an animation in my plan? 19 What should I know about posting ASCII Art? 20 Who made this FAQ? ______________________________________________________________________________ ___ _ _ ____ _ _ ______ _____ ____ O ,/ _ \ | \ | | / ___! | | | | | ____! | __ \ / ___! /\/| !_! | | \| | | (___ | | /\ | | | !__ | !__) | | (___ / | _ | | . ` | \___ \ \ \/ \/ / | __! | _ / \___ \ O , /\ | | | | | |\ | ____) | \ /\ / | !____ | | \ \ ____) ||\/ /_/_ !_! !_! !_! \_! !_____/ \/ \/ !______! !_! \_\ !_____/ |/\_ 1 What is ASCII art? An image that can be sent over the Net, received A B C D E F G H I and immediately viewed on any standard terminal J K L M N O P Q R type or communications software, and can be printed S T U V W X Y Z on any printer. a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r This requires the image be made by using only s t u v w x y z letters, numbers, punctuation marks and symbols such as those at the right. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 0 These characters are part of the ASCII (American \ | - _ + % @ < ; ! Standard Code for Information Interchange) set. = # . , : > ( ] / $ ^ ' ` " ~ ) [ { } ? This part of the ASCII set, called the 'printable' set, is used for text files, Standard 'printable set' which is what is sent over the Net. of ASCII characters. 2 What are the different kinds of ASCII art? The first four use the standard printable set, and can be viewed anywhere, anytime, on any equipment. If you can view text, you can view art. They are: o Line drawing - Such as the 3-D snowman below. o Lettering - Large and styled, like the title "ASCII ART FAQ" above. o Gray scale pictures - These :x<:i!lI? #R?<:~B:M88~ 488H~"88XM8~ ~HRtxH# /||\ /\|()1{}[] +++x8!:<'8!@8!. ""!:.#8M8# ~> ?%8xx!:i:`MHbLX \||/ LCJUYXZO0Q :*:!!:nM.~!~`<x".-~ ~-. \RC/ ~x".-~ ~-. \RC/ called 'sirdvu11'. _ ( / \ || _ ( / \ || For red-blue 3-D, || T o o Y || || T o o Y|| you can use DTA ==:l l < ! (3 ==:l l < !(3 (Dave's Targa \\ \ .__/ / /|| \\ \ ._/ / || Animation), and for \\ ,r"-,___.-'r.//|| \\,r"-,___.-'r/|| stereograms you need }^ \.( ) _.'//.|| }^\. ( ) _.-//|| a program called STAREO. / }~Xi--~ // || / }~Xi--~ // ||\ And there's also Y Y I\ \ " || Y Y I\ \ " || Y 'mk3d.lha' for the | | |o\ \ || | | |o\ \ || | Amiga. For more | l_l Y T || | l_l Y T || | information, see l "o l_j |! l "o l_j || ! the alt.3d group. \ || \ ||/ .--^. o -Row .^||. .--^. o -Row ||--. 3-D snowman by " ~ `' " ~`' Rowan Crawford. You can get 'sirdvu11' from: -> Host: src.doc.ic.ac.uk -> Host: wuarchive.wustl.edu. Other forms of ASCII art using the standard printable set include the following three: o Picture Stories - A story told with accompanying ASCII pictures. The text and ASCII graphics are usually intermixed, as above where the picture of Einstein and text about gray scale pics are side by side. o Geometric Articles - Text itself is formed into shapes. o Picture Poems - Geometric Articles that are also poems. See ASCII Art Resources for examples. There are also non-standard types of ASCII art which cannot be viewed immediately upon receiving. They contain 'control codes' for color or animation. These pics and 'movies' have to be processed before they can be sent over the Net. This processing changes the control codes to regular printable ASCII characters, so the file can be sent as text (which the Net can handle). This is called 'uuencoding'. The file is processed back again after it is received. This is called 'uudecoding'. See Question 4 on how to save, 'uudecode' and view animations and color images. You may have seen uuencoded posts from time to time, or have had them emailed to you. A uuencoded file may look like: begin line permission mode filename to be given to decoded file | | | |________ begin 644 filename Many lines M;2XN+BXN+R\N+B\O+BXN+BXN+R\N+B\O+BXO+RXO+RXN+B\O+BXN+B\O+BXN of encoded __ M"AM;-#LV2"`@("`@+R`@7`H;6S$[,3%("AM;,CLQ,4@@("`@("!<("\*&ULS information C+RXN+R\N+B\O+R\O+RXN+R\O+R\O+R\O+RXN+BX;6S`[;0HN ` end line ____ end The last two types of ASCII art are: o ASCII animations - You see an animated image produced by a sequence of changing ASCII pictures. The speed will depend on the system you are using, and modem speed if you are calling in. ANSI (American National Standards Institute) escape sequences can be found in ASCII Art Resources. Animations may have some of the following: Animation.vt.tar.Z.uu | | | | | | | | | |__ for uuencode, may also be 'uue', and may also | | | | be 'xx' or 'xxe' for xxencode. | | | |__ for Unix Compress, may also be .gz, .zip, or others | | |__ means the file is in a tape archive format, and that | | a number of animations have been packed together | | for transport. The file must be untarred. | |__ as in VT terminal (such as VT-100 terminal emulation) |__ file name o Color - You can view color ASCII pics, if you have a color screen and 'ANSI' color compatible software. Check to see if your software supports ANSI color, and how it is enabled. Examples are in ASCII Art Resources. 3 What is the best way to view ASCII art? For best results in viewing ASCII art, try the following: o A non-proportional font, also called a 'mono-spaced' font. This is a font that displays the same number of characters per inch, regardless of the actual width of the characters. So the letters i and m are displayed at the same characters per inch. If you are viewing with a mono-spaced font, the following two lines should be the same length: iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm o A small, say, 9 point font, will help to increase the apparent resolution. A small font also helps the illusion of gray scale images. o Viewing from a distance of a meter or more also helps. o Use light characters on a dark background. Many ASCII pictures are meant to be viewed light on dark. This is because the artist can more easily control the light and get a better lighting effect. Also, the viewer benefits because there is less glare than you would get from a light background. And in some instances: o Most gray scale pics are made to be viewed light characters on a dark background. But some gray scale art may look like a negative image when viewed this way. This is because it is meant to be printed with dark ink on light paper. Use dark characters on a light background, or print out the picture. o Most ASCII pics are made to be viewed on a monitor that displays 80 characters across. But some ASCII art is wider, say, 81 to 132 characters across, and is meant to be printed. Use a small, say, 4 point type, and view dark characters on a light background, or print out the picture. o Mast ASCII art is made of standard text, and some are standard text with embedded control codes. But you may rarely find ASCII art in a postscript file. To view, you must open it in a postscript capable program, and optionally, print it on a postscript capable printer. There are a couple of important things to remember when making, viewing, or talking about an ASCII art image. And they're obvious but almost always forgotten. They are: o Fonts. Even though different fonts may all be mono-spaced, they ARE different, and can give a picture a different look. Some artists may mention the font the picture was made with. o Different systems display text differently. If you look at a picture on a terminal at a Unix site, and then bring it home and view it on a Mac, it will look different. On the Mac, it will have a greater aspect ratio. In other words, it will look shorter top to bottom. Even though it contains the same number of lines. See ASCII Art Resources for an aspect ratio chart. 4 How do I save, 'uudecode' and view animations and color images? You need to do the following if you want to save an animation or color image from a newsreader or mail program, uudecode and view. Type the name of the file where I have 'FILENAME'. On a Unix system, the process is usually as easy as: o In your newsreader, you can type 's FILENAME' and choose a filename. In Elm you'll get a 'save file to' prompt. In Pine, you'll be asked for a folder name. Pine's 'folder' is actually a text file, so go ahead and give it a name. Give your new file a unique name so the it isn't appended to, or doesn't overwrite, any existing file. o Quit your newsreader or mailer and go to where the file was saved. o Type 'uudecode FILENAME'. This may change the file's name. o You may need to decompress the file if it has a suffix such as .Z or .gz (among others). For .Z, type 'uncompress FILENAME' and for .gz, type 'gunzip FILENAME'. o Sometimes a number of animations or color pics will come packed together in a .zip or .tar file. You need to unzip or untar it by typing 'unzip FILENAME' or 'tar -xvf FILENAME'. You will now have a number of files. To just read the contents of a .tar file, type 'tar -tvf FILENAME'. o Now, to view, type 'cat FILENAME' and press the return. o Alternatively, if you want to view an animation compressed as a .Z file, you can view it without decompressing it by typing 'zcat FILENAME'. To slow down an animation while viewing on your Unix host, you need to type 'cat -u FILENAME'. Note: if you are modeming into your host, the speed of your connection will effect the speed of the animation. At 14.4 K, the animation may go to quickly, while at 2400, it may go to slowly. See ASCII Art Resources for info on programs to slow animations. If you have uudecoded and decompressed a file and downloaded it, you need to do the following: o On your PC: you have to type 'type FILENAME' and press the return to view. You have to be sure there is a line reading: "DEVICE=ANSI.SYS" or "DEVICEHIGH=ANSI.SYS" in your CONFIG.SYS file. You should probably also convert these files to DOS-ASCII. Do this with a CR/LF converter (FLIP.EXE from FLIP1EXE.ZIP). Be sure to use the binary option because of the escape codes. o On your Amiga: open a large Cli/Shell and type 'type FILENAME' and press return to view. 5 How can I learn to make ASCII art? Unfortunately, there aren't many text books on the subject. :-) A good way to learn is to study how an artist has made a picture. What characters are chosen. How are the characters laid out? How is a texture made. You can also modify existing art. Take a piece of art you think could be improved. Make a copy. Now work on it. When you are good at that, try to improve a really good pic. Then see if you can fix a damaged file. Now take some small pics and put them together into a big composite image. If you're working from scratch, the following may help you: o Decide what you want. Block out the sizes ond shapes of things so you can get the proportions right. Do it now, not later, you'll save work. o Add detail. Concentrate on the focal point and important parts of your drawing. ASCII art is low definition, so you'll have to make the pic big if you want detail or real smoothness. Take a tip from master cartoonists, just try to suggest things, don't try to replicate them. Too much detail can end up looking confusing. o One of the biggest helps is knowing how to shape things. For example, you can curve a horizontal line with just the _ and - and ". _____-------"""""""--------_____-------""""""" o Slanting vertical lines is easy. / ,' ,-' / ,' ,-' / ,' ,-' / ,' ,-' / ,' ,-' / ,' ,-' This slanted line This slanted line This slanted line is is simply made with is made with , and ' more of a stairstep, the / character. made with , and - and ' o Then there's smoothing. Turn the object on the left into the one on the right by using characters for their shapes. Notice how the sides on the object are curved using the d b and Y. The 8 is a popular character for a general fill. Some people prefer M or H for fills. XXXX d88b XXXXXXXX d888888b XXXXXXXXXX (88888888) XXXXXXXX Y888888Y XXXX Y88Y o Use areas of characters for patterns, tones, and contrast. For example, when I was making my map sig, I tried all kinds of combinations to get the effect I wanted. Notice how there are four nice tonalities. There's the dark with spaces, a dark quarter tone with the :, a mid tone with the /, and a bright tone with the #. There is no light quarter tone, that's to accentuate the bright tone. Also Notice the dimensional effect made by the spaces to the right of the continents and letters. :::::::::::::::// ::// :://////// :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::://///////// // ://// ::::// :::://////////////// ::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::://///// ::/ ::// ::::://////////////////// :/ :::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::://///////// :::::::/ ////////////////////// ::::::::::::::::::::: ::::::::::::://///////// ::::::::://////////////////////// / ::::::::::::::::: :::::::::::::////////// :::::::::::// //////////////////// / ::::::::::::::::: :::::::##### ::#### //#### ::##### ::##### :#### :##### ///#### / ## :## :## : :::::## :::::## ////## :## :## :## :## ://## ///:## :## /## :## :## :## :## :: :::::#### ::## :://###### :##### ::#### /## ///:##### ::## :## :## :## :## ::: :::::::## :## ::::## :## :## ## ::## ///## ///:## ## ::## :## :## :## :## :::: ::##### :::#### :## /## :## :## :##### /#### :## :## ::#### :::######## :::::: ::::::::::::::::://////// ::::::::::://///// ::::::::::/ ::::// :::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::://////// :::::::::::////// :::::::::::::::::// ::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::://///// :::::::::::////// / :::::::::::/// / :::::::::::::: ::::::::::::::::::::///// ::::::::::::://// / :::::::::://///// :::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::://// :::::::::::::::// :::::::::::://////// :::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::// :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::// :/// :/ :::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::/ ::::::::boba@gagme.wwa.com ::::::::::::/ :::::::::::::: :::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::: Here are a couple of tips, that taken together, can make an instant ASCII artist out of anybody: o A quick way to make a pic is to photocopy a drawing onto plastic. Place the plastic over your monitor to act as a guide for placing characters. o Ease your work by making a file full of lines of spaces. Now copy that file. Open a copy and start working. You'll see that it's easier because you can now go where you want and replace the spaces with characters. You have eliminated endless space bar pressing. See Question 8 for info about the file 'asciitech.aa'. Send any ASCII art techniques you know to: boba@gagme.wwa.com. 6 Are there any ASCII tools? Not many. The Emacs editor offers some help, if you know how to use it. Q-Edit is an ASCII editor with block cut and paste. And TheDraw can do some ANSI tricks but is limited by RAM size. There are Unix and DOS scripts for flipping an ASCII pic (like modasc by Ric Hotchkiss). BBSdraw is available for the Amiga. So is CygnusEd, which allows column editing. And also the TPU editor for VAX. And then there's mdraw.el for GNU Emacs 19 under X, that lets you draw ASCII with a mouse. 7 Where can I get ASCII tools? You can get TheDraw at: -> Host: oak.oakland.edu Path: pub/msdos/screen/tdraw463.zip You can get mdraw.el at: -> Host: ftp.cse.psu.edu Path: pub/flee/mdraw.el 8 Where can I find ASCII art? You can FTP ASCII art (single pics and archives of dozens or hundreds of images) from many sites, including these: -> Host: mordor.ind.wpi.edu Path: pub/ascii/art/pictures pub/ascii/art/movies Jorn's FTP site -> Host: ftp.mcs.com Path: mcsnet.users/jorn/ascii-art Chris' FTP site -> Host: ftp.ncsu.edu Path: pub/ncsu/chking WWW: http://www2.ncsu.edu/unity/users/c/chking/HTML/HTMLs/ascii.html Contains all the Scarecrow's files, all of Steve Sullivan's files, and Gifscii for many systems. -> Host: ftp.cs.ttu.edu Path: pub/asciiart Juan's FTP site -> Host: ftp.cs.uoregon.edu Path: pub/juan/Ascii -> Host: aug3.augsburg.edu Path: files/text_files ASCII art files are appended with '.art'. -> Host: tuda.newcastle.ac.uk Address: 128.240.2.1 Path: pub/local/n1ka0/animation Contains dozens of animations The following are gopher servers: ASCII Art Bazaar Over 5 megabytes, 2000 + pieces in many categories -> Host: twinbrook.cis.uab.edu Path: 70/1asciiarc.70 (70/11asciiarc.70 on some clients) WWW: //twinbrook.cis.uab.edu/hhomepage.80 (w/HTML support) //twinbrook.cis.uab.edu:70/1asciiarc.70 //twinbrook.cis.uab.edu:70/11asciiarc.70 Gopher Bookmark:Name=The ASCII Art Bazaar Host=twinbrook.cis.uab.edu Port=70 Path=asciiarc.70 Type=1 -> Host: gopher.cs.ttu.edu Path: 1/Art and Images/ClipArt (ASCII) The following is a mailing list: ASCII Art listserv list -> Email: listserv@ukcc.uky.edu Message: subscribe asciiart ASCII Art Resources contains a longer list of sites. And it tells you which sites have animations and lineprinter art. If you need more technical info about ASCII art, get Jorn's file called 'asciitech.aa' in Jorn's 'ascii-art' folder at his FTP site. His site also has many files of ASCII art. Chris and Steve's sites have Steve Sullivan's many files of ASCII art called Small ASCII Pics. They are available separately, or all together in a tar.Z file. Don't miss 'em. Jorn and Chris' FTP sites also have the big Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archives. The Scarecrow's archives contain hundreds of pieces of art, special sections on sig and plan art, graphics form BBS login and server screens, fonts, GIF conversions, and more. These sites also have a file called the Most Often Requested Edition. It contains the pics that people request the most on the group. It has pics for wishing friends a happy birthday, Star Trek, flowers, dragons, hearts, cows, Winnie the Pooh, etc. There's also ASCII Art Resources (containing complete examples of all forms af ASCII art, plus ANSI escape codes, and examples of Figlet fonts). You'll also find the Scarecrow's separate files of humor, sigs, GIFs, fonts, BBS art, etc. (which are listed in the answer to Question 9). 9 Can I get The Scarecrow's files via email? Yes. If you do NOT have FTP available, you can get files by email. To receive || send email to boba@gagme.wwa.com with the subject || \||/ \||/ \/ \/ File Name Version Size Subject line o ASCII ART FAQ 2.8 - 43 K REQUEST FAQ o ASCII Art Resources 2.8 - 98 K REQUEST RESOURCES The following 4 archives contain everything in the Scarecrow's edited collection: o The Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archive 1.0 - 349 K REQUEST SAAA 1.0 o The Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archive 2.0 - 362 K REQUEST SAAA 2.0 o The Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archive 3.0 - 369 K REQUEST SAAA 3.0 o The Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archive 4.0 - 364 K REQUEST SAAA 4.0 The following files are subsets of the above archives (if you have the above archives, you don't have to get these, unless you want them): o Best of the SAAAs 1.0 - 610 K REQUEST BEST o Best of the ASCII Pics 1.0 - 205 K REQUEST PICS o Most Often Requested Edition 1.2 - 107 K REQUEST MORE o The Scarecrow's Funnies (humor) 2.1 - 68 K REQUEST FUNNIES o The Scarecrow's Font File 1.0 - 127 K REQUEST FONTS o Best of Scarecrow's Sig Gallery 1.2 - 207 K REQUEST SIGS o Best of Scarecrow's BBS Gallery 1.3 - 88 K REQUEST BBS o Best of Scarecrow's GIF Gallery 1.1 - 62 K REQUEST GIFS o Best of Scarecrow's 3-D Gallery 1.0 - 30 K REQUEST 3-D The Scarecrow's recommendations: o If you're short on disk space, I would suggest you save this FAQ and get just those files containing the type(s) of art you are interested in. o If you have a bit more disk space, you may want to save this FAQ or get ASCII Art Resources, and the Best of the SAAAs. o If you have some disk space to spare, you should get the ASCII Art Resources file, and all of the SAAAs. Over 1.5 megs of art and info. You'll be an ASCII art expert and collector, instantly! ASCII Art Resources contains descriptions of the above files. When requesting files, please be sure to use the subject lines above. That way I won't accidentally delete a request thinking it's something from a list server I don't want to see. When writing to me about other things, please use a good strong subject line. If you are responding to my reply, please try to include some of what we have both said, or I may have no clue what it's about. And please be patient. If your message is the first I see when I open my mailbox, you'll get an answer right away. If it's the 137th, it may take a little longer. I answer most mail the same day. If you don't get an answer, please try again, as I may have pressed the wrong button. And it's easy to press the wrong button because I handle thousands of pieces of mail each week. 10 How do I make those big letters? You can make lettering like the above subtitle "ANSWERS" by hand, or use a program called Figlet. With Figlet, the letters you type are automatically turned into big letters. Figlet stands for Frank, Ian and Glenn's LETters. Figlet is available for use on some host systems. If it is not, you can obtain Figlet and fonts from the site listed in Question 11. There are over 30 fonts for use with Figlet. Figlet fonts have a .flf suffix. There are a number of examples of Figlet fonts in the ASCII Art Resources file. Some other hosts have a program called Banner which performs a similar function. 11 Where can I get Figlet? You can FTP Figlet from: -> Host: ftp.isu.edu Path: pub/figlet This is the official site and contains the latest fonts. Depending on where you get Figlet or Figlet fonts from, you may have to uudecode, uncompress, and possibly untar them. For how to do this, see Question 4. 12 How can I make gray scale pictures? You can make them from scratch if you are a very good ASCII artist. An easier way is to use a program called 'ASCGIF'. There is also Gifscii (with versions for many systems), ANSIrez and GIF2ANSI for the PC. And Pixel Characterizer (ver 0.5) by Shi Y Chen, is a bitmap convertor for Windows. These programs make an ASCII pic from any GIF (Graphics Interchange Format) image (or image you can convert to a GIF). Most converters require the GIF to be in 87a format, not 89a format. GIFs in 89a format, must be converted to 87a format first. Some programs capable of viewing GIFs can save in the 87a format. 13 Where can I get gray scale converters? You can get Gifscii for many systems, and the source code from: Chris' FTP site -> Host: ftp.ncsu.edu Path: pub/ncsu/chking Version: File name MSDOS: Gifscii.exe Unix (Sun): Gifscii.ux Macintosh: MacGifscii.hqx Amiga: Gifscii.lha Digital Alpha: ALPHAGifscii.exe Digital VAX: VAXGifscii.exe c-source: Gifsciiv2.2src You can get Gifscii for the Mac, and the source code from: Jorn's FTP site -> Host: ftp.mcs.com Path: mcsnet.users/jorn/ascii-art You can FTP ASCGIF from: -> Host: usc.edu Path: archive/usenet/sources/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif -> Host: wuarchive.wustl.edu Path: usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif -> Host: ftp.uu.net Path: usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif You can get GIF2ANSI from: -> BBS: Exec-PC (414) 789-4210 GIF2ANSI.ZIP is in the "Mahoney MS-DOS" file collection. You can get gif2txt from: -> BBS: Aquila BBS (708) 820-8344] gif2txt.zip If you do NOT have FTP available, you can get Gifscii by email. To receive || send email to boba@gagme.wwa.com with the subject || \||/ \||/ \/ \/ File Name Subject line o Gifscii for the Mac REQUEST GIFSCII MAC o Gifscii source code REQUEST GIFSCII SOURCE 14 How can I make better gray scale conversions? Most of us start out thinking that you just put a GIF into a converter program and out comes a perfect ASCII pic. Would you believe ... there are some things you can do to improve the chances of getting a good conversion. The following is not a complete list, but it is what I have learned in making dozens of conversions: o Use an 8 bit gray scale or color image instead of a 2 bit B&W image. o Use an image with a wide range of tones, with a relatively even distribution of shades from dark to light. o Keep it simple, like a face or close-up of an object. Avoid complicated pictures, they seldom produce good results. o Avoid busy backgrounds. Also, assuming the preference for viewing the final ASCII pic is light characters on a dark background, try to avoid bright backgrounds in the original image. o Use an image that is tightly cropped, without a lot of waste. o Be prepared to quickly run through a series of conversions. You will probably not like the majority of conversions you get. Be prepared to discard 9 to 11 out of 12. o It helps to do touch-up work on the converted picture. Most pics I have posted have been touched-up to some degree or another. Concentrate on the focal points and important areas of the picture. Send any gray scale conversion techniques you know to: boba@gagm.wwa.com 15 What is 'anti-aliasing'? It's a hate group against people who use assumed names. :-) Just kidding, the short, plain english explanation is that special care was taken to use characters for their shapes. This makes the picture or font look smoother. 16 How do I make a sig? There are no rules for making sigs. Most sigs contain items such as: o Name o Email address(s) o Nickname o School o Work o Disclaimer o Mail address(es) o Phone number(s) o Fax number(s) o Pager number(s) o Quote(s) from the poster o Quote(s) from other people o ASCII art pic(s) o Border(s) o PGP info o Info about the poster's .plan o Jokes o Other info You might simply 'Figletize' your name, pop in your addy and a pic, and presto, instant sig: | 'Go Johnny Go' || ___| johnsmith@foo.bar.edu | | || / _) | | | _ \ __ \ __ \ \||/ __ \ __ `__ \ | __| __ \ \ | ( | | | | | /()\ | | | | | | | | ___/ ___/ _| _| _| _| \__/ _____/ _| _| _| _| __| _| _| If you're going to have your sig automatically included in your posts and email, remember that some systems only allow up to 4 lines in the sig. For info on how to have your sig automatically included, see Question 17. If you want to use a larger sig on systems that only allow 4 lines, you will have to insert it manually. On most Unix based systems, this is as eany as pressing Control-R when you want to insert the sig, and then typing the names (or full pathname) of the file to be inserted. Speaking of sig length, there is a Net rule of thumb of 4 to 6 lines. Try to keep sigs around this length for posts (except to the ASCII groups, where it is appropriate), reserving the big ones for email. 17 How do I have my sig automatically added to my posts and email? For posts to newsgroups: On most Unix systems, name the file you want to be used as ".signature" and put it in the top level of your home folder. Your news software should pick it up. Note: some systems are set up to allow only four lines in a posted sig. For email: On most Unix systems, name the file you want to be used as ".signature" and put it in the top level of your home folder. If you have done this for the above use in news posts, you need to, in additon, do one of the following: o If you're using Elm for your email, and elm doesn't pick up your sig, you need to put the following in ypur elmrc: localsignature = ~/.signature remotesignature = ~/.signature If you don't have an elmrc yet, go into Elm, press the 'o' key to get to the options screen. Press the '>' to save your configuration. Press 'i' to go back to the index, and quit. This will create the elmrc file in the .elm folder. o If you're using Pine (with Pico) for your email, place the following in your .pinerc file: signature-file=~/.signature o If you're using vm (in emacs) for your email, place the following in your .emacs file, which will add the .signature file: (setq mail-signature t) One note about sig usage. Try to use short sigs for posts to newsgroups. If you have any long sigs, try to only use them for email and posts to the ASCII art groups. 18 How do I put an animation in my plan? On most Unix systems, name the file you want to be used as ".plan" and put it in top level of your home folder. It does not work with all finger commands. To test your 'planimation', finger your account with your full address, not just your login. For example, type 'finger foo@bar.edu' and not 'finger foo'. Putting an animation in your plan is not universally recommended. 19 What should I know about posting ASCII Art? You can post any of the above types of ASCII art to rec.arts.ascii or alt.ascii-art or to alt.binaries.pictures.ascii groups. Animations can also be posted to alt.ascii-art.animation. 3-D art can also be posted to alt.3d. To make it easier for everybody, please put one of the following subject IDs at the beginning of the subject line of your post: LINE - Standard ASCII line art. Line pictures and large lettering. GIF - Gray scale image. BIG - Wider than 80 columns (and optionally, longer than 24 lines). ANIMATION - Animation. Usually uuencoded. COLOR - Color. Usually uuencoded. 3-D - 3-D art. REQUEST - Request for a certain picture or type of picture. REPOST - Repost of a previously posted pic. TALK - Discussion, no pics included. BINARY - Binaries (software like Figlet and ASCGIF). Here are some guidelines for posting to the ASCII groups: o If someone requests a picture only days after it has been posted, and you would like to fill that request, please email the picture to the person requesting it. It's better than reposting so soon. o Try to eliminate unnecessary blank space to the left of the pic, and trailing space to the right. This reduces waste. o If you're posting a collection of pics, try to keep each pic on its own lines (and separated from other pics by a couple of lines). o Replace tabs with spaces. Otherwise tab damage can occur. Most general Net guidelines for posting apply here too: o Try to stay on topic (ASCII art). It's easy to get sidetracked into other things, especially when a cross-posted thread gets going. o If you're a new user, familiarize yourself with Net guidelines posted in news.announce.newusers. In addition, when following up an article: o Read all the articles in a thread before posting. o Decide whether it's better to post or email your message. o If you disagree with somebody, disagree with what they have said, but don't flame them. o Check the attributions. o Try to keep quoted materials to a minimum. o Summarize where possible. One exception to the usual rules is the use of sigs. Because the groups rec.arts.ascii, alt.ascii-art and alt.binaries.pictures.ascii are about ASCII art, it is within the scope of these groups to post sigs. 20 Who made this FAQ? It is made by your old friend, the Scarecrow. Materials for the ASCII ART FAQ and-or ASCII Art Resources were gratefully received from the following nice people: JORN BARGER _______________________ ROWAN CRAWFORD / \ NORMAND VEILLEUX | That's all folks! | GLEN A MILLER | See ASCII Art Resources | JUDY ANDERSON | for many examples. | MICHAEL A GODIN \___________________ _/ STEVEN M SULLIVAN \ | LARS ARONSSON \| CHRIS PIRILLO \ CHEVALIER Q ALEX ZHAO DOV SHERMAN MATT RYAN A RICH C. GROOM FELIX LEE PAUL KLINE R L SAMUELL NICK RUSNOV DON BERTINO PAUL FAWCETT MATT MESSINA RICHARD KIRK SIMON BRADLEY PAUL FOERSTER RIC HOTCHKISS WINSTON SMITH O'NEIL PARKER DUSTIN SLATER GLENN CHAPPELL DANIEL HOLDREN DAVID CONNELLY JOEL ROTHSCHILD BENJAMIN THOMAS BRIAN DEVENDORF EVAN M CORCORAN COLIN DOUTHWAITE MEINDERT DE JONG MATT E. THURSTON CHRISTOPHER KING JONATHAN PETERSON ______________________________________________________________________________ Version: 2.8 Released: June 27, 1994 Characters: 43289 Lines: 974 Comments To: boba@gagme.wwa.com |||| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | |||| END O F T H E A S C I I A R T FAQ |||| | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | | ||||