ASCII characters chart

by llizard (aka ejm)

Here is a chart of standard ASCII characters to be used if you are going to post your ASCII-art in the newsgroup alt.ascii-art. You can copy and paste it into your text editor to ensure that you have the right kind of font.

Examine the chart carefully. Note that there are no characters that look like ¤ § « ¿ ¶ Þ ¥ ´ or any letters with accents. Please read the cautionary tale about extended characters.

 ======================================
 }       ASCII Character Chart        {
 ======================================
 }|                                  |{
 }| This chart should be symmetrical.|{
 }| If it isn't, change your font    |{
 }| til the e's and the m's line up. |{
 }|                                  |{
 }| eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee |{
 }| mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm |{
 }|                                  |{
 }|  SP   !   "   #   $   %   &   '  |{
 }|   (   )   *   +   ,   -   .   /  |{
 }|   0   1   2   3   4   5   6   7  |{
 }|   8   9   :   ;   <   =   >   ?  |{
 }|   @   A   B   C   D   E   F   G  |{
 }|   H   I   J   K   L   M   N   O  |{
 }|   P   Q   R   S   T   U   V   W  |{
 }|   X   Y   Z   [   \   ]   ^   _  |{
 }|   `   a   b   c   d   e   f   g  |{
 }|   h   i   j   k   l   m   n   o  |{
 }|   p   q   r   s   t   u   v   w  |{
 }|   x   y   z   {   |   }   ~      |{
 }|                                  |{
 }|      SP stands for Space bar     |{
 }|                                  |{
 }| Please use only the characters   |{
 }| that are on this chart if you    |{
 }| are going to post your creations |{
 }| in the newsgroup alt.ascii-art!  |{
 }|                                  |{
 ======================================

In fact, you might think the characters at your disposal are rather dull. Drawing ASCII-art can be likened to writing a sonnet or haiku. It is very challenging to confine yourself to these few characters to create pictures that look like anything at all. But lots of people have managed it very well. You can see for yourself by going to a page of links to other ASCII-art sites.

Naturally, you are all children of the universe and will want to use characters that are not on that chart; you should feel free to type out keyboard art using many different fonts and characters. Exchange your creations with your e-friends via e-mail or put them on your webpage but PLEASE do not post any nonstandard keyboard art in the newsgroup alt.ascii-art because not only will you cause and/or receive a lot of grief, the nonstandard characters you have chosen will not look the same to other people as they do to you.

If you wish to know the numbers of the characters, there is a character chart of character entities, but you must agree not to use extended characters in the ASCII-art that you plan to publish in the newsgroup alt.ascii-art.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

Remember! If you are planning to post your ASCII art in the newsgroup alt.ascii-art, please do the following:

(Depending on your browser, the following illustration may not make sense to you. It’s not my fault, or yours for that matter, but the various browser programmers’ faults for not standardizing things a long time ago!)

Copy the following e’s and m’s

eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm

into whatever text editor you are using to create your ASCII art.

If the lines look uneven like this:

proport_em_line

you need to change your font. However, if the lines are the same length and look like this:

fixed_em_line

Congratulations! You are using the correct font.

Do you still have questions? Please go to alt.ascii-art FAQ by Matthew Thomas for the full picture.

I have made a page of instructions for how to put your ASCII-art onto your website.