Keyboard art, also known as ASCII art, is a way to add a personalised graphic to e-mail signatures, forums and message boards, blogs and other text-based mediums. In addition to the alphabet letters from A to Z, ASCII art also incorporates the numerals and symbols. The letters, numbers and symbols are called characters. ASCII art can be either line art, which is an outline-based form of creating the picture, or solid art, using repeating symbols to fill in the area. It works best with a monospace font, like Courier New.
- Skill level:
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Things you need
- Text editor (e.g. Notepad)
Open a simple text editor, such as Notepad. Name the file and save it to a location of your choosing.
Start at the top left-hand corner of the drawing and loosely draw the shape using keyboard characters. Spacebar or tab over while typing. Use pipe delimited | for vertical lines, the underscore _ for horizontal lines and slashes / and \ for curves and angles. Work your way around the perimeter of the ASCII drawing. Finish the rough outline and make sure you have proportions correct.
Add details to the outlined ASCII drawing by substituting the slashes / and \ for more gently curving lines. Quotation marks ( " ), commas ( , ) and apostrophes ( ') provide small details. A long curved line could look like this: "~~"----..,___ .
Add details to the interior of the ASCII drawing. The lower case letter o can be an eye, a carat ( > ) can be a nose, and two tildes ( ~~ ) make a mouth.
Finalise the drawing by adding any last minute details or checking proportions. You can also try printing a copy to see how it looks. This step may be omitted if you have a less complex drawing.
Tips and warnings
- Personalise the drawing by making the characters different colours.
- Once you have completed several easy drawings, try for a more difficult picture.
- Look at others' ASCII art examples to learn new techniques.
- Save your work often.
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