Is my image uploaded to a server?

No. The image is decoded, stylized, previewed, and exported entirely in your browser with Canvas. It is not sent to Turnint or any third-party server.

What effects are included?

The first version includes Color photo overlay, Color ASCII, Terminal, Matrix, Blocks, and Newspaper. Each recipe is a preset for the same ASCII conversion engine, so you can still adjust resolution, character set, color, invert, contrast, density, background mode, overlay opacity, and export format.

Can I export with a transparent background?

Yes. Choose Transparent background and export as PNG or WebP. JPG does not support alpha, so JPG exports flatten transparent backgrounds onto the recipe's solid background color.

What formats can I download?

You can download PNG, JPG, or WebP. PNG is best for sharp text and transparency, JPG is best for smaller photo-style output, and WebP is a good general web format with small files.

Why does the preview look smaller than the exported image?

The preview is capped so changing sliders stays fast. Export uses your selected 1x to 4x scale, with a safety cap for very large images to avoid browser memory failures.

Does this support video or animated GIF export?

No. This tool is intentionally scoped to still images in the browser. Video, GIF, MP4, masking, crop/rotate, and shareable recipes are outside the first version.

Add ASCII art effect to an image, free & private.

ASCII art image effects turn a photo into a grid of characters or dots and draw it over a background you choose. Everything runs in your browser, so the image is never uploaded.

How it works

The tool samples your image in a grid and replaces each cell's brightness with a character from the selected ramp (symbols ordered from dark to bright). Recipes are presets for the same engine, so you pick a look first and then fine-tune resolution, characters, color, background, and export.

Recipes

Six presets to start from. Choosing one swaps the character set, blend mode, and background defaults together (your export format, quality, and scale are kept).

Recipe	Look
Color photo overlay	Samples the source color and lays characters over the photo
Color ASCII	Colorful ASCII conversion on a solid background
Terminal	Green characters on black, terminal style
Matrix	Falling-rain look with 0/1 and katakana
Blocks	Shade characters for a mosaic / poster feel
Newspaper	Monochrome, printed-page texture

Main controls

Control	What it changes	Best use
Resolution (columns)	How many characters fit across the width	Fewer for large poster-style glyphs, more for fine detail
Character set	The symbol ramp used for conversion (standard, detailed, blocks, braille, binary, katakana, and more — 10 in total)	Match the texture you want
Color	Sample from the image or use a single color	Keep photo colors or unify with a theme color
Contrast / Density	How brightness maps and how much of the image gets characters	From subtle texture to full coverage
Invert brightness	Swaps characters between light and dark areas	Suit a dark or light background
Background mode	Blurred image, original image, solid color, or transparent	Match thumbnails, posters, or overlays
Overlay opacity	Strength of the character layer	Balance readability against the source image

How to add an ASCII effect to an image

Drop a PNG, JPG, or WebP image into the upload area.
Choose a recipe such as Color photo overlay, Terminal, or Matrix.
Adjust resolution, character set, color, contrast, density, background mode, and overlay opacity.
Pick an export format (PNG / JPG / WebP), quality, and scale (1x–4x).
Download the finished image.

Which export format should I choose?

Format	Transparency	Best for	Notes
PNG	Yes	Sharp characters, UI images, transparent overlays	Larger files, highest edge clarity
JPG	No	Photo-style social images and smaller files	Quality slider controls compression
WebP	Yes	Web publishing with smaller files	Good balance of quality and size

Example

Take a product photo, choose Color photo overlay, keep a blurred image background, set overlay opacity around 90%, and export as WebP for a web-ready creative that keeps the colors while adding a text texture. Switch to Matrix or Terminal for a social-ready mono or green ASCII look. </content>

Operated by

Tools by Timothe AI is a suite of free tools built and operated by unbounded pioneering inc, the company behind Timothe AI.

Ryosuke SuzukiFounder & CEO

Founder & CEO of Unbounded Pioneering Inc., the company behind Timothe AI, and an expert in machine learning and AI product development. He began his career in machine learning research at a university laboratory, then designed and built large-scale products as a software engineer at PLAID, Rakuten, and Recruit, while also driving new business development. Now specializing in generative AI and AI products, he works across both engineering and business development, and is a named inventor on multiple granted patents in web technology.

Named inventor on granted patents JP6887648 & JP7480958 · Patent pending on Timothe AI technology

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Add ASCII art effect to image

How it works

Recipes

Main controls

How to add an ASCII effect to an image

Which export format should I choose?

Example

FAQ

Operated by

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