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All of us use the keyboard to create symbols daily.
Look at the thumbnail.
That’s a simple symbol created with just four keys.
Symbols existed even before the alphabets.
Over the years they have been part of folklore, myths and legends.
Some have stayed on as indelible marks.
Some, like the swastika, are better forgotten.
Symbols have remained potent.
If you doubt their visual power, then look no further than logos.
People shell out millions for a three-pointed star on a sleek hood or a prancing horse.
The first one is the Mercedes logo and the latter is Ferrari’s.
You need two things to draw ASCII art anywhere online"a keyboard and lots of patience.
How Do We Create Cool Symbols Using The Keys On Our Keyboard?
Text art/ ASCII art can be drawn using any text editor, online or offline.
The simplest is Notepad on Windows or TextEdit for Mac.
More advanced word processors have features which are more adept at selection and alignment functions like Overtype and Insert.
Can text art be learned and are there any special techniques to create cool figures?
The answer to the first is yes, it’s fairly easy to learn.
There are some basics of course that need to be kept in mind.
The rest as they say is practice.
Looking at them will give you an idea of the techniques involved.
Check out the categories on the left frame.
The Halloween, Batman and the space ship Enterprise come from this complete collection.
If you want to see what’s possible then this is the resource for you.
The site also has quite a few detailed tutorials on how to start off with ASCII art.
Read all of them for a complete education on how to draw with letters and keyboard symbols.
ASCII Picture Collections
A roll call of text artists arranged alphabetically.
I have taken the image of the house from the works ofYvonne Adams.
The ASCII Art Dictionary
A resource created by Andreas Freise listing all his creations.
ASCII World
A lot of ASCII art arranged in categories.
it’s possible for you to also send them to recipients through a direct email from the site.
Asciimation
I included this for the love of Star Wars.
Checkout the ASCII Star Wars Movie.
Just shows you that ASCII art can be really cool.
The thing about this art form is that you don’t need special skills or special tools.
An eye for detail may help though.
What’s more important is a will"to make mistakes, rub it away and start over again.
So, open your text program, bring up your favorite image and start tapping away.
Also check out Simon’s article on3 apps to view ASCII art.
Do you have your favorite ASCII image or your favorite ASCII website?
