Buzz
Mytour will guide you on how to create basic images using your computer keyboard and a text editor like Notepad. ASCII art is a creative and fun method of crafting simple images that you can copy and paste into comment sections, messages, and more. If you want to explore more advanced text art creation, you can try using an ASCII editor.
Steps
Create ASCII Art
Open a text editor.On WindowsStart
notepadNotepadOn MacSpotlight
texteditTextEdit
Decide what image you want to create. Before you start typing random characters into the text editor, it's important to think about the subject you want to depict.
- Just knowing the basic outline of the subject is enough to begin.
- Sketching a rough draft of the subject will help you visualize the shape you'll need to create.
Start from the top of the drawing. While it's typical to sketch the outline first and then fill it in, with ASCII art, it's easier to draw line by line.
- For example, if you're drawing a cat's face, you should start with the ears.
Experiment with different key combinations. While some keys might seem like the obvious choice for keyboard art, using different keys, lowercase letters, and symbol combinations will yield more impressive results.
- For instance, when creating the cat's ears, you might initially think to use the caret symbol (^) for the ears; however, using a combination of a forward slash (/) and a backslash (\) will give you a larger and more "ear-like" shape (/\).
Adjust the spacing of each line if necessary. As your keyboard art starts taking shape, you may need to revisit and adjust the line spacing to align with the row beneath it.
- For example, you might need to shift an entire line forward or backward. In some cases, you may also need to add spacing between characters to widen the line.
Don't be limited by symmetry. Like any form of art, the perspective of the image will determine whether it is symmetrical or not; sometimes one side may have more spacing or characters than the other side.
Consider using special characters from your computer. Your keyboard includes many symbols and variations, but there may be times when you want to use advanced characters (such as the degree symbol) to represent layers or additional details. Both Windows and Mac computers have dedicated character menus:
- On Windows — Character Map. You can open the Character Map by typing character map into the Start window and clicking on Character Map at the top of the window.
- On Mac — Emoji & Symbols. You can open this menu by hovering over TextEdit, clicking on Edit at the top of the screen, and selecting Emoji & Symbols from the dropdown menu.
Create common images
Create a bunny. You can create a simple bunny using basic keyboard symbols:
(\__/)
(='.'=)
(\___/)
(")_(")
Create an owl. Unlike the bunny art, the owl is formed using more straight lines, so you will need to use square brackets ([ ]) and the "pipe" symbol:
,_, [0,0] |)__) -”-”-
Design a cat. Creating a cat using keyboard art is similar to the bunny creation process:
/\_/\
(>'.'<)
(U U)
(")__(")
Create a fish. You need to find the degree symbol on your computer to create this ASCII art image:
}<((((°>
Tips
- ASCII art is a convenient method of replacing images in environments where comment sections, like on YouTube, don't support replies in formats other than plain text.
Warning
- Saving keyboard art as a file type other than plain text (.txt) may cause the image to lose its original formatting and appear altered.
