Generate ASCII art using pyfiglet (571 fonts), cowsay, boxes, toilet, image-to-ascii, remote APIs (asciified, ascii.co.uk), and LLM fallback. No API keys required.
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Multiple tools for different ASCII art needs. All tools are local CLI programs or free REST APIs — no API keys required.
Render text as large ASCII art banners. 571 built-in fonts.
pip install pyfiglet --break-system-packages -q
python3 -m pyfiglet "YOUR TEXT" -f slant python3 -m pyfiglet "TEXT" -f doom -w 80 # Set width python3 -m pyfiglet --list_fonts # List all 571 fonts
| Style | Font | Best for |
|---|---|---|
| Clean & modern | | Project names, headers |
| Bold & blocky | | Titles, logos |
| Big & readable | | Banners |
| Classic banner | | Wide displays |
| Compact | | Subtitles |
| Cyberpunk | | Tech themes |
| 3D effect | | Splash screens |
| Gothic | | Dramatic text |
doomblocksmallminiFree REST API that converts text to ASCII art. 250+ FIGlet fonts. Returns plain text directly — no parsing needed. Use this when pyfiglet is not installed or as a quick alternative.
# Basic text banner (default font) curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello+World" # With a specific font curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Slant" curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Doom" curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Star+Wars" curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=3-D" curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=Hello&font=Banner3" # List all available fonts (returns JSON array) curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/fonts"
+Classic tool that wraps text in a speech bubble with an ASCII character.
sudo apt install cowsay -y # Debian/Ubuntu # brew install cowsay # macOS
cowsay "Hello World" cowsay -f tux "Linux rules" # Tux the penguin cowsay -f dragon "Rawr!" # Dragon cowsay -f stegosaurus "Roar!" # Stegosaurus cowthink "Hmm..." # Thought bubble cowsay -l # List all characters
beavis.zenbongbunnycheesedaemondefaultdragondragon-and-cowelephanteyesflaming-skullghostbustershellokittykisskittykoalaluke-koalamech-and-cowmeowmoofasamooserensheepskeletonsmallstegosaurusstimpysupermilkersurgerythree-eyesturkeyturtletuxuddervadervader-koalawwwcowsay -b "Borg" # =_= eyes cowsay -d "Dead" # x_x eyes cowsay -g "Greedy" # $_$ eyes cowsay -p "Paranoid" # @_@ eyes cowsay -s "Stoned" # *_* eyes cowsay -w "Wired" # O_O eyes cowsay -e "OO" "Msg" # Custom eyes cowsay -T "U " "Msg" # Custom tongue
Draw decorative ASCII art borders/frames around any text. 70+ built-in designs.
sudo apt install boxes -y # Debian/Ubuntu # brew install boxes # macOS
echo "Hello World" | boxes # Default box echo "Hello World" | boxes -d stone # Stone border echo "Hello World" | boxes -d parchment # Parchment scroll echo "Hello World" | boxes -d cat # Cat border echo "Hello World" | boxes -d dog # Dog border echo "Hello World" | boxes -d unicornsay # Unicorn echo "Hello World" | boxes -d diamonds # Diamond pattern echo "Hello World" | boxes -d c-cmt # C-style comment echo "Hello World" | boxes -d html-cmt # HTML comment echo "Hello World" | boxes -a c # Center text boxes -l # List all 70+ designs
python3 -m pyfiglet "HERMES" -f slant | boxes -d stone # Or without pyfiglet installed: curl -s "https://asciified.thelicato.io/api/v2/ascii?text=HERMES&font=Slant" | boxes -d stone
Like pyfiglet but with ANSI color effects and visual filters. Great for terminal eye candy.
sudo apt install toilet toilet-fonts -y # Debian/Ubuntu # brew install toilet # macOS
toilet "Hello World" # Basic text art toilet -f bigmono12 "Hello" # Specific font toilet --gay "Rainbow!" # Rainbow coloring toilet --metal "Metal!" # Metallic effect toilet -F border "Bordered" # Add border toilet -F border --gay "Fancy!" # Combined effects toilet -f pagga "Block" # Block-style font (unique to toilet) toilet -F list # List available filters
cropgaymetalflipflop180leftrightborderNote: toilet outputs ANSI escape codes for colors — works in terminals but may not render in all contexts (e.g., plain text files, some chat platforms).
Convert images (PNG, JPEG, GIF, WEBP) to ASCII art.
# Install sudo snap install ascii-image-converter # OR: go install github.com/TheZoraiz/ascii-image-converter@latest
ascii-image-converter image.png # Basic ascii-image-converter image.png -C # Color output ascii-image-converter image.png -d 60,30 # Set dimensions ascii-image-converter image.png -b # Braille characters ascii-image-converter image.png -n # Negative/inverted ascii-image-converter https://url/image.jpg # Direct URL ascii-image-converter image.png --save-txt out # Save as text
sudo apt install jp2a -y jp2a --width=80 image.jpg jp2a --colors image.jpg # Colorized
Search curated ASCII art from the web. Use
terminalcurlLarge collection of classic ASCII art organized by subject. Art is inside HTML
<pre>URL pattern:
https://ascii.co.uk/art/{subject}Step 1 — Fetch the page:
curl -s 'https://ascii.co.uk/art/cat' -o /tmp/ascii_art.html
Step 2 — Extract art from pre tags:
import re, html with open('/tmp/ascii_art.html') as f: text = f.read() arts = re.findall(r'<pre[^>]*>(.*?)</pre>', text, re.DOTALL) for art in arts: clean = re.sub(r'<[^>]+>', '', art) clean = html.unescape(clean).strip() if len(clean) > 30: print(clean) print('\n---\n')
Available subjects (use as URL path):
catdoghorsebirdfishdragonsnakerabbitelephantdolphinbutterflyowlwolfbearpenguinturtlecarshipairplanerocketguitarcomputercoffeebeercakehousecastleswordcrownkeytreeflowersunmoonstarmountainoceanrainbowskullrobotangelwizardpirateninjaalienchristmashalloweenvalentineTips:
Returns a random GitHub Octocat with a wise quote. No auth needed.
curl -s https://api.github.com/octocat
These free services return ASCII art directly — great for fun extras.
curl -s "qrenco.de/Hello+World" curl -s "qrenco.de/https://example.com"
curl -s "wttr.in/London" # Full weather report with ASCII graphics curl -s "wttr.in/Moon" # Moon phase in ASCII art curl -s "v2.wttr.in/London" # Detailed version
When tools above don't have what's needed, generate ASCII art directly using these Unicode characters:
Box Drawing:
╔ ╗ ╚ ╝ ║ ═ ╠ ╣ ╦ ╩ ╬ ┌ ┐ └ ┘ │ ─ ├ ┤ ┬ ┴ ┼ ╭ ╮ ╰ ╯Block Elements:
░ ▒ ▓ █ ▄ ▀ ▌ ▐ ▖ ▗ ▘ ▝ ▚ ▞Geometric & Symbols:
◆ ◇ ◈ ● ○ ◉ ■ □ ▲ △ ▼ ▽ ★ ☆ ✦ ✧ ◀ ▶ ◁ ▷ ⬡ ⬢ ⌂MIT
mkdir -p ~/.hermes/skills/creative/ascii-art && curl -o ~/.hermes/skills/creative/ascii-art/SKILL.md https://raw.githubusercontent.com/NousResearch/hermes-agent/main/skills/creative/ascii-art/SKILL.md
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