ASCII Magic
Open tool

/FREE TOOL · TEXT TO ASCII

Text to ASCII Art Generator with Animated Effects

Type anything and turn it into an ASCII art banner in 20+ FIGlet fonts, then animate it with 10 WebGL effects (Fire, Matrix, Hologram, Glitch). Copy the text, or export PNG or MP4. Free, no signup. Built by ASCII Magic, the free image and video stylizer.

    Frame Picks export dimensions. Preview shows the same frame; text stays at natural size, background extends.

    /WHAT IT IS

    What is a text to ASCII art generator?

    A text to ASCII art generator turns the letters you type into big banners built out of smaller characters, the look you see at the top of code READMEs, in terminal welcome screens, and in old BBS art.

    This one uses FIGlet fonts, the long-standing standard for ASCII lettering, so your text comes out in clean, classic styles like Standard, Slant, Banner, Doom and Star Wars. Everything runs locally in your browser, so it is fast and private, with no signup and no watermark.

    /HOW IT WORKS

    Make ASCII text art in four steps

    1. Type your text

      Enter a word or short phrase in the box. Shorter text gives the cleanest banner.

    2. Pick a font

      Choose from 20+ FIGlet fonts. The banner updates instantly as you switch.

    3. Copy or download

      Copy the ASCII to your clipboard, or download it as a .txt file.

    4. Paste it anywhere

      Drop it into a README, terminal, Discord or signature. Use a code block to keep the spacing.

    /WHERE TO USE IT

    Where ASCII text banners work

    GitHub READMEs

    A title block at the top of a project or a section header in code comments.

    Terminals & CLIs

    A welcome or splash screen for a command-line tool, printed on launch.

    Discord & Slack

    Wrap the banner in a code block so the monospaced spacing holds when you send it.

    Signatures & text art

    Email signatures, forum posts, and anywhere a monospaced font is used.

    /ALSO A CONVERTER

    ASCII Magic is also a photo to ASCII converter

    This page focuses on text banners. The wider ASCII Magic studio doubles as a photo to ASCII converter and an image to ASCII converter, with 14 style engines. Same principles apply: browser only, no upload, no signup.

    Photo to ASCII

    Drop a photo into ASCII Magic to convert a photo to ASCII with the Characters, Dither, Block or Dots renderer. Density, contrast and palette are live editable.

    Image to ASCII converter

    The same canvas handles dither, halftone, pixel art, mosaic, LEGO, glitch and voxel. Every image to ASCII converter mode is one click away.

    ASCII art converter

    Runs entirely client side, so the image never leaves your browser. Export the result as text, PNG, GIF or MP4.

    Convert photo to ASCII

    To convert a photo to ASCII fast, start from a preset on the recipes hub or browse the style guides.

    /FIGLET FONT GUIDE

    Which FIGlet font to pick, a reference guide to the 20 fonts here

    Every font in this ASCII text generator is a real FIGlet font, the same font format used by the classic FIGlet program since the early 1990s. The table below is a short reference to the twelve most useful FIGlet fonts we ship, what each one looks like, and where it works best. If you just want big ASCII text or a large ASCII banner, pick Big, Banner3, or ANSI Shadow.

    Font Height Character of the font Best for
    Standard~5 rowsThe default FIGlet font, clean readable ASCII letters made from slashes and pipes.GitHub READMEs, terminal welcome screens, safe default.
    Slant~5 rowsItalic slanted variant of Standard, letters lean right for emphasis.Titles that need visual push, project names, tag lines.
    Big~8 rowsTall bold ASCII letters, the go-to for oversized banners.Large ASCII text, big ASCII text banners, presentation slides.
    Small~3 rowsCompact three-row letters, keeps the banner tight.Code comments, tight terminal prompts, single-line signatures.
    Banner3~7 rowsThick chunky block letters built from the # character, very high contrast.Section dividers in a long README, high-impact headers.
    Block~7 rowsSolid Unicode block letters (uses █ characters), reads as a filled bar of type.Status dashboards, contrast-heavy titles, tool splash screens.
    Shadow~5 rowsHollow outline letters with a drop-shadow tail.Decorative sub-titles, retro flyers, ASCII art posters.
    Doom~8 rowsHeavy metal chunky letters, sharp diagonal shading.Game menus, gamer aesthetic, dark-theme tool splashes.
    Star Wars~8 rowsCinematic 3D-looking type, evokes the film crawl.Intro sequences, playful project banners, fan-page titles.
    ANSI Shadow~6 rowsSmooth 3D shading built from Unicode half-blocks, the most modern-looking option.Modern terminal apps, CLI splash screens, product logos.
    Isometric1~9 rows3D isometric letters that stack forward like blocks.Art pieces, portfolio banners, playful presentations.
    Mini~2 rowsUltra-compact two-row letters, the smallest readable FIGlet option.Inline banners, tight badges, single-line ASCII logos.

    Also available in the dropdown: Ghost, Graffiti, 3-D, Larry 3D, Ogre, Colossal, Bloody, Cyberlarge. Click Inspire (the shuffle button) to sample fonts and character sets at random until you land on the look you want.

    /FAQS

    Common questions about text to ASCII

    What is a text to ASCII art generator?
    It turns letters you type into large ASCII banners built from smaller characters, the style you see atop code READMEs and old terminal programs. ASCII Magic does this in your browser with 20+ FIGlet fonts, free and with no signup.
    How do I turn text into ASCII art?
    Type your text, pick a font, and the banner is generated instantly. Click Copy to copy it, or Download to save a .txt file. It all runs in your browser.
    Is it free?
    Yes, completely free, no signup, no watermark, no limits. Nothing is uploaded.
    What is FIGlet?
    FIGlet is a long-standing program that renders text as large ASCII letters using font files. This generator ships FIGlet fonts like Standard, Slant, Banner, Doom and Star Wars.
    Where can I use ASCII text art?
    Anywhere monospaced text shows: GitHub READMEs, code comments, terminal welcome screens, Discord and Slack (in a code block), forums and email signatures.
    Can I turn images and video into ASCII too?
    Yes. This page handles text. For photos and video, open the full ASCII Magic studio and export as PNG, GIF or MP4.
    How do I convert a photo to ASCII art?
    Drop the photo into the ASCII Magic studio. It converts the photo to ASCII in your browser using one of 14 style engines, including Characters, Dither, Block and Dots. Nothing is uploaded, and the result can be exported as text, PNG, GIF or MP4.
    Is there an image to ASCII converter I can use for free?
    Yes. ASCII Magic works as an image to ASCII converter with no signup and no upload, running entirely in the browser. The same canvas is a photo to ASCII converter and an ASCII art converter for banners, all in one place.
    Is this an ASCII art generator from text?
    Yes. This page is an ASCII art generator from text: type a word or short phrase, pick a FIGlet font, and the banner is rendered live as you type. It runs in your browser, no signup, no watermark.
    Is there an AI ASCII art generator?
    ASCII Magic uses classic, deterministic renderers (FIGlet fonts for text, and 14 image renderers for photos and video), not generative AI, so the output is fully controllable and reproducible. If you want an AI ASCII art generator flow, pair it with an AI image tool: generate the image with AI, then drop it into ASCII Magic for the ASCII conversion.
    What is the best FIGlet font for a GitHub README?
    Standard is the safe default, it reads cleanly on GitHub's monospaced font stack and does not blow out on mobile. ANSI Shadow is the most modern-looking, and Banner3 works for section dividers in longer README files. Full comparison in the FIGlet font reference above.
    Can I make big ASCII text or large ASCII banners here?
    Yes. For big ASCII text, pick Big or Banner3 in the font dropdown, they are the two tallest ~7-8 row fonts. For very large ASCII banners, pair them with a short phrase (one or two words), because tall fonts wrap awkwardly on long input.
    How do I copy paste ASCII text without breaking the formatting?
    Click Copy to grab the ASCII text as-is. To keep it aligned when you paste, drop it into a monospaced context: a code block in Discord or Slack (wrap it in triple backticks), a GitHub README code fence, a terminal, or any editor set to a monospaced font like Menlo, Consolas or JetBrains Mono. Pasting into a normal proportional-font input (like an X post or a Google Doc body) will break the alignment because letters have different widths.
    Can I make animated ASCII text?
    Yes. Pick a FIGlet font, then choose one of the 10 animated WebGL effects in the Effects panel (Fire, Matrix, Hologram, Glitch, Rainbow, and more). The animation plays live in the preview and can be exported as an MP4 or GIF using the Export panel, still 100 percent in the browser with no upload.

    /DO MORE WITH ASCII MAGIC

    Now turn your photos and video into ASCII.

    The same free studio behind this tool converts images and video into ASCII, pixel art, dither, halftone, voxel and more. No signup, export PNG, GIF or MP4.

    Open the editor →

    /RELATED

    More on text and ASCII art

    How to make ASCII text art → Image to ASCII → ASCII characters guide → ASCII from a photo → Video to ASCII →

    This tool turns text into ASCII. To turn a photo or video into ASCII art, pixel art, dither and more, open the full studio.