#include <bits/stdc++.h>
using namespace std;

typedef long long ll;
typedef vector<int> VI;
typedef vector<VI> VVI;
typedef vector<long long> VL;
typedef vector<vector<long long>> VVL;
typedef pair<int,int> P;
typedef tuple<int,int,int> tpl;

#define ALL(a)  (a).begin(),(a).end()
#define SORT(c) sort((c).begin(),(c).end())
#define REVERSE(c) reverse((c).begin(),(c).end())
#define EXIST(m,v) (m).find((v)) != (m).end()
#define LB(a,x) lower_bound((a).begin(), (a).end(), x) - (a).begin()
#define UB(a,x) upper_bound((a).begin(), (a).end(), x) - (a).begin()

#define FOR(i,a,b) for(int i=(a);i<(b);++i)
#define REP(i,n)  FOR(i,0,n)
#define RFOR(i,a,b) for(int i=(a)-1;i>=(b);--i)
#define RREP(i,n) RFOR(i,n,0)

#define en "\n"

constexpr double EPS = 1e-9;
constexpr double PI  = 3.1415926535897932;
constexpr int INF = 2147483647;
constexpr long long LINF = 1LL<<60;
constexpr long long MOD = 1000000007; // 998244353;

template<class T> inline bool chmax(T& a, T b) { if (a < b) { a = b; return true; } return false; }
template<class T> inline bool chmin(T& a, T b) { if (a > b) { a = b; return true; } return false; }

template <class T> struct simple_queue {
    std::vector<T> payload;
    int pos = 0;
    void reserve(int n) { payload.reserve(n); }
    int size() const { return int(payload.size()) - pos; }
    bool empty() const { return pos == int(payload.size()); }
    void push(const T& t) { payload.push_back(t); }
    T& front() { return payload[pos]; }
    void clear() {
        payload.clear();
        pos = 0;
    }
    void pop() { pos++; }
};

template <class Cap> struct mf_graph {
    public:
        mf_graph() : _n(0) {}
        mf_graph(int n) : _n(n), g(n) {}

        int add_edge(int from, int to, Cap cap) {
            assert(0 <= from && from < _n);
            assert(0 <= to && to < _n);
            assert(0 <= cap);
            int m = int(pos.size());
            pos.push_back({from, int(g[from].size())});
            g[from].push_back(_edge{to, int(g[to].size()), cap});
            g[to].push_back(_edge{from, int(g[from].size()) - 1, 0});
            return m;
        }

        struct edge {
            int from, to;
            Cap cap, flow;
        };

        edge get_edge(int i) {
            int m = int(pos.size());
            assert(0 <= i && i < m);
            auto _e = g[pos[i].first][pos[i].second];
            auto _re = g[_e.to][_e.rev];
            return edge{pos[i].first, _e.to, _e.cap + _re.cap, _re.cap};
        }
        std::vector<edge> edges() {
            int m = int(pos.size());
            std::vector<edge> result;
            for (int i = 0; i < m; i++) {
                result.push_back(get_edge(i));
            }
            return result;
        }
        void change_edge(int i, Cap new_cap, Cap new_flow) {
            int m = int(pos.size());
            assert(0 <= i && i < m);
            assert(0 <= new_flow && new_flow <= new_cap);
            auto& _e = g[pos[i].first][pos[i].second];
            auto& _re = g[_e.to][_e.rev];
            _e.cap = new_cap - new_flow;
            _re.cap = new_flow;
        }

        Cap flow(int s, int t) {
            return flow(s, t, std::numeric_limits<Cap>::max());
        }
        Cap flow(int s, int t, Cap flow_limit) {
            assert(0 <= s && s < _n);
            assert(0 <= t && t < _n);

            std::vector<int> level(_n), iter(_n);
            simple_queue<int> que;

            auto bfs = [&]() {
                std::fill(level.begin(), level.end(), -1);
                level[s] = 0;
                que.clear();
                que.push(s);
                while (!que.empty()) {
                    int v = que.front();
                    que.pop();
                    for (auto e : g[v]) {
                        if (e.cap == 0 || level[e.to] >= 0) continue;
                        level[e.to] = level[v] + 1;
                        if (e.to == t) return;
                        que.push(e.to);
                    }
                }
            };
            auto dfs = [&](auto self, int v, Cap up) {
                if (v == s) return up;
                Cap res = 0;
                int level_v = level[v];
                for (int& i = iter[v]; i < int(g[v].size()); i++) {
                    _edge& e = g[v][i];
                    if (level_v <= level[e.to] || g[e.to][e.rev].cap == 0) continue;
                    Cap d =
                        self(self, e.to, std::min(up - res, g[e.to][e.rev].cap));
                    if (d <= 0) continue;
                    g[v][i].cap += d;
                    g[e.to][e.rev].cap -= d;
                    res += d;
                    if (res == up) break;
                }
                return res;
            };

            Cap flow = 0;
            while (flow < flow_limit) {
                bfs();
                if (level[t] == -1) break;
                std::fill(iter.begin(), iter.end(), 0);
                while (flow < flow_limit) {
                    Cap f = dfs(dfs, t, flow_limit - flow);
                    if (!f) break;
                    flow += f;
                }
            }
            return flow;
        }

        std::vector<bool> min_cut(int s) {
            std::vector<bool> visited(_n);
            simple_queue<int> que;
            que.push(s);
            while (!que.empty()) {
                int p = que.front();
                que.pop();
                visited[p] = true;
                for (auto e : g[p]) {
                    if (e.cap && !visited[e.to]) {
                        visited[e.to] = true;
                        que.push(e.to);
                    }
                }
            }
            return visited;
        }

    private:
        int _n;
        struct _edge {
            int to, rev;
            Cap cap;
        };
        std::vector<std::pair<int, int>> pos;
        std::vector<std::vector<_edge>> g;
};

void Main(){
    int N,M; cin >> N >> M;
    vector<string> S(N); REP(i,N) cin >> S[i];

    mf_graph<int> mf(N*M+2);
    REP(i,N)REP(j,M){
        if(S[i][j]=='#') continue;
        if((i+j)%2) mf.add_edge(i*M+j,N*M+1,1);
        else mf.add_edge(N*M,i*M+j,1);
    }

    vector<P> dir{P(1,0),P(-1,0),P(0,1),P(0,-1)};
    REP(i,N)REP(j,M){
        if((i+j)%2) continue;
        if(S[i][j]=='#') continue;
        for(auto& p : dir){
            int s = i+p.first, t = j+p.second;
            if(s<0||t<0||s>=N||t>=M) continue;
            if(S[s][t]=='#') continue;
            mf.add_edge(i*M+j,s*M+t,1);
        }
    }

    cout << mf.flow(N*M,N*M+1) << en;
    for(auto& e : mf.edges()){
        if(e.flow == 0) continue;
        if(e.from == N*M) continue;
        if(e.to == N*M+1) continue;

        int from_i = e.from/M, from_j = e.from%M;
        int to_i = e.to/M, to_j = e.to%M;

        if(from_j - to_j == 1){
            S[from_i][from_j] = '<';
            S[to_i][to_j] = '>';
        }
        else if(to_j - from_j == 1){
            S[from_i][from_j] = '>';
            S[to_i][to_j] = '<';
        }
        else if(from_i - to_i == 1){
            S[from_i][from_j] = '^';
            S[to_i][to_j] = 'v';
        }
        else{
            S[from_i][from_j] = 'v';
            S[to_i][to_j] = '^';
        }
    }
    REP(i,N) cout << S[i] << en;
    return;
}

int main(void){
    cin.tie(0);cout.tie(0);ios_base::sync_with_stdio(0);cout<<fixed<<setprecision(15);
    int t=1; //cin>>t;
    REP(_,t) Main();
    return 0;
}

Measured memory_bytes: 5488