From: sean_asd_smos_com (Sean Gugler) Date: Fri, 6 May 1994 06:06:19 GMT In article <1994Apr27_101651_1463_crosfield_co_uk>, rak_crosfield_co_uk (Richard Kirk) writes: > In article > chrisb_central_keywest_mpgn_com (Christopher Beattie) writes: > > >So I ask the asscii-art gurus out there. What is the best aspect > >ratio to assume when creating art for this forum? Standard 24 line > >IBM PC screens look like 2 characters wide is somewhat a square. > I have just measured 2.4:1 off my vt320 using the wide character set. > The narrow character set is very close to 4:1, but I only use that > for special applications. > > The same ratios apply to vt220 and vt100 terminals. I'm using an X terminal (SGI Iris). The pics I've created were on a 2:1 font, which appears to be -misc-fixed-medium-r-normal--13-120-75-75-c-70-*-1 using a dark-on-light color scheme. I prefer this because it makes images easier to print. > (1) Is there a pos/neg greyscale that works for all terminals? > (2) Which characters look the same on all terminals? > (3) Which control characters like ^L work for all terminals? I'm not sure I can come up with useful data on these, but I'll try. ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > (1) Is there a pos/neg greyscale that works for all terminals? The short answer is, "probably not." In the Utah Raster Toolkit, under the rletoascii documentation, they suggest the string @BR*#$PX0woIcv:+!~"., for the X 6x13 font. Only 22 characters ... strange. It's wrong for my font, though; my grays look better with @BQ8HO#$*kfwoxr:+=-,. Use a chart like the one shown below to determine good values for your font. A good text editor with search-and-replace functionality should make it easy to try out different values, or email me for the source code that generates charts like this. Other fonts I've tried out from the emacs font menu include: 8x8 -schumacher-clean-medium-r-normal--*-80-*-*-c-*-*-1 #$BH8O@k*focr+=^-~:,. 6x12 -misc-fixed-medium-r-semicondensed--12-110-75-75-c-60-*-1 $@B#8H*Owkfcr+=:,^~-. Courier 10 -adobe-courier-medium-r-normal--*-100-*-*-m-*-iso8859-1 #@WHBkf$8xOo*+=^~-,:. Fixed fixed (-sgi-terminal-bold-r-normal--12-120-75-75-c-70-iso8859-1) $B8HOkf@#xvcri*+:=-,. ----- ASCII GRAYSCALE CHART ----- @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwoo@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@ @BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBBB BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRRR BRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIc********************** RR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIcc###################### R**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccv$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$$ **##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvvPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPPP *##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv:XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX ##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::0000000000000000000000 #$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::+wwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwwww $$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++oooooooooooooooooooooo $PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!cccccccccccccccccccccc PXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~vvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvvv XX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~:::::::::::::::::::::: X00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~"++++++++++++++++++++++ 00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! 0wwooIIccvv::++!!~~"".~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ wwooIIccvv::++!!~~"".."""""""""""""""""""""" wooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,...................... ooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,, oIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, @@BBRR**##$$PPXX00wwooIIccvv::++!!~~""..,, ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > (2) Which characters look the same on all terminals? Precious few of them, it seems. And yet general shape is pretty consistent. It depends if you're looking for darkness weights or connecting lines within the character box. Weights vary greatly, especially for symbols. Compare my results above for the #, $, and @ characters. They move all over. Even letters can vary widely; fonts with serifs will be darker than those without. Shapes are more consistent; -, /, and \ will pretty much look the same everywhere. Shapes to be wary of are: ~ sometimes sits high, sometimes in middle ^ same reason * same reason & sometimes closed, sometimes open | same reason ' sometimes hooked left, sometimes straight [] sometimes centered, sometimes far off <> sometimes touch top and bottom, sometimes centered 0 sometimes with slash, sometimes open l sometimes with base, sometimes not y sometimes straight tail, sometimes curved ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > (3) Which control characters like ^L work for all terminals? ^L, ASCII code 12, is the only consistent one I'm aware of. Then again, I'm pretty ignorant about other termcaps. - Dr. Guz -- * Sean Gugler // __ |) | # # # | # # | # # # | # * 758 Clara Vista Ave // ~T \ /_ __ l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l_l * Santa Clara, CA 95050 // [ / )^ (' ) / / ,' I Got My Life * (408) 249-1683 // ~~' / . j' `'` ~~ For A Song