X-Google-Language: ENGLISH,ASCII-7-bit X-Google-Thread: f996b,133c250b195a2593,start X-Google-Attributes: gidf996b,public X-Google-ArrivalTime: 1994-03-21 13:46:30 PST Path: gmd.de!urmel.informatik.rwth-aachen.de!newsserver.rrzn.uni-hannover.de!hrz-ws11.hrz.uni-kassel.de!news.th-darmstadt.de!zib-berlin.de!netmbx.de!Germany.EU.net!EU.net!howland.reston.ans.net!news.intercon.com!udel!news.sprintlink.net!sashimi.wwa.com!gagme.wwa.com!not-for-mail From: boba@gagme.wwa.com (Bob Allison) Newsgroups: alt.ascii-art Subject: FAQ - Frequently Asked Questions (short version 1.3) Date: 21 Mar 1994 15:46:30 -0600 Organization: WorldWide Access (SM) Chicagoland Internet Services 312-282-8605 708-367-1871 Lines: 439 Message-ID: <2ml4jm$an9@gagme.wwa.com> NNTP-Posting-Host: gagme.wwa.com .___. .______. .______. ______. ______. .___. _____. _______. / _. | / _____/ / _____/ /_ ._/ /_ ._/ / _. | / __ | /__ .__/ / /_/ / / (__ / / / / / / / /_/ / / /__) / / / / __. / \___ \ / / / / / / / __. / / . ._/ / / / / / / _____) / / /____. ._/ /_ ._/ /_ / / / / / / \ \ / / /_/ /_/ /______/ |_____/ /_____/ /_____/ /_/ /_/ /_/ \_\ /_/ .......... .___________. _____ ___________ .......::::::....... | | / \ / \ .......:::======:::....... | ._______! / _ \ / _____ \ .......::============::....... | | / / \ \ | / \ | ......::===####@@####===::...... | | / / \ \ | | | | ......::===####@@@@####===::...... | | / / \ \ | | | | .....::===####@@@@@@####===::..... | !____. | !_____! | | | | | .....::===#####@@@@#####===::..... | | | | | | | | .....::===#####@@#####===::..... | .____! | ._____. | | | | | .....::====########====::..... | | | | | | | | , | | .....::=====####=====::..... | | | |\ /| | | | \O| | ....::============::.... O _/| | | | \O/ | | | | ,_|| | ...::==========::\.. |\_/| | | | | | | | |_/|/\| | //::========::\.\ | | |O | | | | | | \__/ ' | O/ \__________/ \O |\ | ||\_ | | / \ | | \ / | <__________> | /_/_ !___!|/\_ !___!/ \!___! \_______. / | <__________> | \ / / \ <__________> / \ boba@gagme.wwa.com \/ /_ |_ boba _| _\ Version 1.3 (short) - March 21, 1994 ______________________________________________________________________________ ___ ._. ._.___.___._____.___.___ ._ ._.___ / _ \| | | | __/ __!_. ._!_ _/ _ \| \| / __! | (_) | |_| | _|\__ \ | | | | (_) | .` \__ \ \__\_\\___/!___!___/ !_! !___\___/!_|\_!___/ O _ .___._ ._. .______. ___ ____ /|\/ |_ _| \| | | .____! / _ \ / __ \ / | | || .` | | | | | | | | | | | / \ !___!_!\_! | |__. | !_! | | | | | ._/___\_. ._.___.___ | .__! | ._. | | | | | !_ _| |_| |_ _/ __! | | | | | | | | | | | | | ._. || |\__ \ | | | | | | | !__! | !_! !_! !_!___!___/ !_! !_! !_! \___\_\ 1. What is ASCII art? 2. What are the different kinds of ASCII art? 3. How do I save, 'uudecode' and view animations and color images? 4. How can I learn to make ascii art? 5. Are there any ASCII tools? 6. Where can I find ASCII art? 7. Can I get The Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archive via email? 8. How do I make those big letters? 9. Where can I get Figlet? 10. How can I make gray scale pictures? 11. Where can I get gray scale converters? 12. What is 'anti-aliasing'? 13. Are there any other kinds of ASCII art? 14. How do I have my sig automatically added to my posts? 15. How do I use an animation in my plan? 16. Where can I post ASCII Art? 17. Who made this FAQ? ______________________________________________________________________________ ___ ._ ._. _____.__ __.______. ._____ _____. O / _ \ | \ | | / ____!\ \ / /| .____! | .__ \ / ____! //| !_! | | \| | | (___ \ \ /\ / / | !__. | !__) | | (___ / | _ | | . ` | \___ \ \ \/ \/ / | __! | ._ / \___ \ O /\ | | | | | |\ | .____) | \ /\ / | !____. | | \ \ .____) ||\/ /_/_ !_! !_! !_! \_! !_____/ \/ \/ !______! !_! \_\ !_____/ |/\_ 1. What is ASCII art? Any image that can be sent over the net, received, viewed on any standard terminal type or communications software, and can be printed. This requires the image be made by using only letters, numbers, and other characters such as punctuation marks and symbols like: / \ | - _ + = # . , : ^ ' ` " ~ % @ < > ( ) [ ] { } These characters are part of the ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange) set. The ASCII set is used for text files, which is what is sent around the net. ASCII art should be viewed with a non-proportional font, also called a 'mono-spaced' font. In other words, your software should display so many letters per inch, regardless of the actual width of the letters. Most ASCII pics are viewed on a monitor that displays 80 characters across. But some ASCII art is wider, say, 132 characters across, and is meant to be printed out. Some gray scale art may look like a negative image when viewed with light colored letters on a dark background. This is because it is meant to be printed with dark ink on light paper. 2. What are the different kinds of ASCII art? The first four use the standard printable set. They are: o Line drawing - Such as the light bulb above. o Lettering - Large and styled, like the title "ASCII ART FAQ" above. o Gray scale pictures - These create the illusion of gray shades by using letters for their light emitting value (assuming you are viewing light letters on a dark background). Here is an example of how they break down by light intensity: Darker .'`,^:";~ /|\ -_+<>i!lI? | /\|()1{}[] rcvunxzjft | LCJUYXZO0Q \|/ oahkbdpqwm Lighter *WMB8&%$#@ (light value scale from Jorn Barger) Here is a gray scale pic: (from The Scarecrow) :x<:> ?%8xx!:i:`MHbLX :*:!!:nM.~!~`< Host: mordor.ind.wpi.edu Path: /pub/ascii/art/pictures /pub/ascii/art/movies -> Host: ftp.mcs.com Path: mcsnet.users/jorn/ascii-art Jorn's FTP site -> Host: ftp.ncsu.edu Path: pub/ncsu/chking/Archive Chris' FTP site The following is a gopher server: -> Host: cs4sun.cs.ttu.edu Path: /11/Art_and_Images/ASCII The long version of this FAQ contains a longer list of sites. If you need more technical info about ASCII art, get Jorn's file called 'asciitech.aa' in Jorn's ascii-art folder at his FTP site. It also has many files of ASCII art. Jorn and Chris' FTP sites also have the big Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archive. The Scarecrow's archive contains hundreds of pieces of art, special sections on sig art, bbs art, and so on. There's also a file called 'MORE' which stands for Most Often Requested Edition. It contains the pics that people request the most on the group. It has pics for wishing friends a happy birthday, Star Trek, flowers, dragons, hearts, and so on. You'll also find the long version of this FAQ containing complete examples of everything discussed. 7. Can I get The Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archive via email? Yes. If you do NOT have FTP available, you can get filos by email. To receive || send email to boba@gagme.wwa.com with || in the subject line. \||/ \||/ \/ \/ Short version of the FAQ REQUEST SHORT FAQ Long version of the FAQ REQUEST LONG FAQ Most Often Requested Edition (MORE) REQUEST MORE The Scarecrow's ASCII Art Archive X.0 REQUEST SAAA X.0 (X means the version number such as 1.0, 2.0, etc.) The Scarecrow's Funnies (humor collection) REQUEST FUNNIES The Best of the Scarecrow's Sig Gallery REQUEST SIGS The Best of the Scarecrow's BBS Gallery REQUEST BBS The Best of the Scarecrow's GIF Gallery REQUEST GIFS 8. How do I make those big letters? You can make lettering like the above title "ASCII ART FAQ" by hand, or use a program called Figlet. With Figlet, the letters you type are automatically turned into big letters. There are over 30 fonts for use with Figlet. Some host systems also have a program called Banner. 9. Where can I get Figlet? You can FTP Figlet from: -> Host: ftp.isu.edu Path: pub/figlet This is the official site and contains the latest fonts. 10. How can I make gray scale pictures? You can make them from scratch if you are a very good ASCII artist. An easier way is to use a program called 'ASCGIF'. There is also Gifscii (with a version for the Mac), ANSIrez and GIF2ANSI for the PC. These programs makes an ASCII pic from any image you can convert to a GIF. 11. Where can I get gray scale converters? You can FTP ASCGIF from: -> Host: usc.edu Path: /archive/usenet/sources/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif -> Host: wuarchive.wustl.edu Path: /usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif -> Host: ftp.uu.net Path: /usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif You can get GIF2ANSI from: -> BBS: Exec-PC (414) 789-4210 GIF2ANSI.ZIP is in the "Mahoney MS-DOS" file collection. 12. What is 'anti-aliasing'? The short, plain english explanation is that special care was taken to use letters for their shapes. This makes the picture or font look smoother. 13. Are there any other kinds of ASCII art? There are Picture Stories and Geometric Articles. A Picture Story is what it sounds like, a story told with accompanying ASCII pics. A Geometric Article is where text itself is formed into shapes. 14. How do I have my sig automatically added to my posts? On most Unix systems, name the file you want to be used as ".signature" and put it in the top level of your home folder. Your news software should pick it up. If you're using elm for your mail, and elm doesn't pick up your sig, you need to put the following in ypur elmrc: localsignature = .signature remotesignature = .signature 15. How do I use an animation in my plan? On most Unix systems, name the file you want to be used as ".plan" and put it in top level of your home folder. It does not work with all finger commands. 16. Where can I post ASCII Art? You can post any of the above types of ASCII art to alt.ascii-art or to alt.binaries.pictures.ascii groups. To make it easier for us readers, put one of the following three-letter abbreviations at the beginning of the subject line of your post: LIN - Standard ASCII line art. Line pictures and large lettering. GIF - Gray scale image. BIG - Bigger than standard 80 column art, usually meant for printing. ANI - Animation. Usually uuencoded. COL - Color. Usually uuencoded. 3-D - 3-D art. REQ - Request for a certain picture or type of picture. REP - Repost of a previously posted pic. DIS - Discussion, no pics included. BIN - Binaries (software like Figlet and ASCGIF). If someone requests a picture only days after it has been posted, and you would like to fill that request, please email the picture to the person requesting it. It's better than reposting so soon. Most guidelines for posting apply here too. Try to keep quoted materials to a minimum. One exception to the usual rules are the use of sigs. Because alt.ascii-art and alt.binaries.pictures.ascii are about ASCII art, it is within the scope of the group to post sigs. 17. Who made this FAQ? It is made by your old friend, the Scarecrow with info gratefully received from the following nice people: Jorn Barger Rowan Crawford Normand Veilleux Glen A Miller Judy Anderson Michael A Godin Steven M Sullivan Glenn Chappell Lars Aronsson Chevalier Q Alex Zhao Dov Sherman Matt Ryan A Rich Matt Messina Ric Hotchkiss Colin Douthwaite Meindert de Jong Matt E. Thurston Benjamin B. Thomas Jonathan H S Peterson Christopher Holland King ______________________________________________________________________________ Version: 1.3 (short} Released: March 21, 1994 Characters: 18007 Lines: 438 Email comments to: boba@gagme.wwa.com ------------------------------------------------------------------------------ |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| END OF FILE ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| ------------------------------------------------------------------------------