ASCII Art Converter with Color Support

This is a Python script that converts images into ASCII art, with optional ANSI 24-bit color support, enhanced grayscale conversion, and dark/light mode rendering. It supports resizing and produces output suitable for viewing in terminals that support ANSI colors (like VS Code Terminal or Windows Terminal).

Features

• Adjustable output height

• Optional true-color ANSI escape codes (great for terminal rainbow mode)

• Light and dark mode for ASCII contrast

• Improved grayscale conversion with luminance weighting

• Auto contrast and image enhancement before ASCII conversion

• Outputs to a .txt file

Usage

1. Install dependencies

pip install pillow numpy

2. Run the script

python .\ascii_art.py test.png -o art.txt -d

3. Additional options

python ascii_art.py image.jpg --output art.txt --height 80 --dark --colour

Option Description

--output, -o Output .txt file (default: ascii_art.txt) --height, -H Output height in characters (default: 100) --dark, -d Use dark characters on light background (inverted ramp) --colour, -c Enable colorized ASCII output using ANSI escape codes

Example

python ascii_art.py lena.png --output lena_art.txt --colour --height 60 Then view it in a terminal that supports ANSI colors:

cat lena_art.txt

or alternatively

type lena_art.txt

Works best in:

VS Code Terminal

Windows Terminal

iTerm2 (macOS)

less -R or bat for viewing with color support

##Output By default, the ASCII art is written to ascii_art.txt. It uses a set of ASCII characters based on brightness:

['@@', '$$', '##', '**', '!!', '==', ';;', '::', '~~', '--', ',,', '..','  ']
And in color mode, each character is printed with the original pixel color using 24-bit ANSI escape codes.

⚠️ Notes

Make sure your output terminal supports ANSI escape codes and truecolor (RGB) rendering.

File output is meant for terminal display; standard text editors won't render the colors.

🧪 Tips

View colored output with cat ascii_art.txt in a supported terminal.

For longer viewing: less -R ascii_art.txt

To create rainbow effects, use colorful input images and --colour flag.

📄 License

MIT – use and modify freely. Credit is appreciated.