ascii-magic 2.7.4
Converts pictures into ASCII art
Requires Python: >=3.5

# ASCII Magic

Python package that converts images into ASCII art for terminals and HTML.

Code based on [ProfOak's Ascii Py](https://github.com/ProfOak/Ascii_py/).

# Changelog

### v2.7.3 - Jan 2026
- Fixed Python 3.9 [compatibility issue](https://github.com/LeandroBarone/python-ascii_magic/pull/28)

### v2.7 - Oct 2025
- SwarmUI support: from_swarmui()

### v2.6 - Oct 2025
- Gemini support: from_gemini()
- to_image_file() stroke_width parameter
- Removed Stable Diffusion and DALL-E support (API no longer available)

### v2.5 - Oct 2025
- Optional image enhancement

### v2.4 - Oct 2025
- Removed Colorama dependency (no longer needed in the latest versions of Windows)
- to_image_file()
- to_character_list()
- print_palette()
- Removed Craiyon support (API no longer available)

### v2.3 - Feb 2023
- Craiyon support: from_craiyon()

### v2.2 - Feb 2023
- Stable Diffusion support: from_stable_diffusion()

### v2.1 - Feb 2023
- DALL-E support: from_dalle()

### v2.0 - Feb 2023
- Complete rewrite, full OOP, no longer compatible with 1.x
- Added support for foreground color
- to_html()

### v1.6 - Sep 2021
- OOP functionality
- to_file()

### v1.5 - Nov 2020
- First public release

# How to install

    pip install ascii_magic

# Quickstart

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('moon.jpg')
my_art.to_terminal()
```

Result:

![ASCII Magic example](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LeandroBarone/python-ascii_magic/master/example_moon.png)


# Colors don't work on Windows? Try this
Install [Colorama](https://github.com/tartley/colorama) and run ```colorama.init()``` before printing to the console.

```
pip install colorama
```

```python
import colorama
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('moon.jpg')
colorama.init()
my_art.to_terminal()
```


# The class AsciiArt

This module's entire functionality is contained within the class AsciiArt, which has a collection class methods, such as ```AsciiArt.from_image()```, that return ```AsciiArt``` objects with pictures from different sources: files, URLs, the clipboard, etc.

These objects have multiple methods, such as ```my_art.to_terminal()```, that generate ASCII art pieces from the picture. These methods have parameters such as ```columns``` that allow you to change the appearance of the art piece.

For convenience, the module ```ascii_magic``` also exposes a collection of functions with the same name as the class methods mentioned above, which do exactly the same.

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt, from_image

# This:
my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.to_terminal()

# Does the same as this:
my_art = from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.to_terminal()
```

This class is essentially a wrapper for a Pillow image. The property ```AsciiArt.image``` exposes the underlying Pillow object so you can manipulate it directly.

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt
from PIL import ImageEnhance

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.image = ImageEnhance.Brightness(my_art.image).enhance(0.2)
my_art.to_terminal()
```

## quick_test()

Loads a cat picture from [Cat as a Service](https://cataas.com/) with the default parameters and prints it to the terminal, allowing you to verify in a single line of code that everything is running O.K.

```python
AsciiArt.quick_test() -> None
```

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

AsciiArt.quick_test()
```

## from_image()

Creates an ```AsciiArt``` object from an image file.

```python
from_image(path: str) -> AsciiArt
```

Parameters:

- ```path (str)```: an image file compatible with Pillow, such as a jpeg or png

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt, Back

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.to_terminal(columns=200, back=Back.BLUE)
```

Result:

![ASCII Magic TERMINAL mode example](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LeandroBarone/python-ascii_magic/master/example_lion_blue.png)

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.to_html_file('ascii_art.html', columns=200, width_ratio=2)
```

Result:

![ASCII Magic HTML mode example](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LeandroBarone/python-ascii_magic/master/example_lion_html.png)

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.to_terminal(columns=200, monochrome=True)

```

Result:

![ASCII Magic ASCII mode example](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LeandroBarone/python-ascii_magic/master/example_lion_ascii.png)


## from_gemini()

Creates an ```AsciiArt``` object with [Gemini](https://aistudio.google.com/), a generative platform that can create realistic images from a description in natural language. Requires a [free API key](https://aistudio.google.com/api-keys). The API key can be set in the environment variable ```GEMINI_API_KEY``` or passed as an argument.

```python
from_gemini(
    prompt: str,
    model: str = 'gemini-2.0-flash-preview-image-generation',
    api_key: Optional[str] = None,
) -> AsciiArt
```

Parameters:

- ```prompt (str)```: a description of an image in natural language
- ```model (str, optional)```: the model to use for generation
- ```api_key (str, optional)```: a Gemini API key

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

api_key = 'aFaKeGeMiNiApIkEy'
my_art = AsciiArt.from_gemini('A portrait of a cow with noble clothes', api_key=api_key)
my_art.to_image_file('example_gemini.png', columns=80, full_color=True)
```

Result:

![ASCII Magic Gemini example](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LeandroBarone/python-ascii_magic/master/example_gemini.png)

## from_swarmui()

Creates an ```AsciiArt``` object from [SwarmUI](https://swarmui.net/), a text-to-image user interface. Requires the URL of a SwarmUI instance, which is usually running on localhost, port 7801. The URL can be set in the environment variable ```SWARMUI_SERVER``` or passed as an argument.

```python
from_swarmui(
    prompt: str,
    width: int = 1280,
    height: int = 720,
    steps: int = 20,
    raw_input: dict = {},
    model: Optional[str] = 'auto',
    server: str = 'http://localhost:7801',
) -> AsciiArt
```

Parameters:

- ```prompt (str)```: a description of an image in natural language
- ```width (int, optional)```: the width of the image
- ```height (int, optional)```: the height of the image
- ```steps (int, optional)```: the number of steps to generate the image
- ```raw_input (dict, optional)```: additional raw input to pass to the SwarmUI API
- ```model (str | 'auto', optional)```: the model to use for generation, if 'auto', the first model will be used
- ```server (str, optional)```: the URL of a SwarmUI instance

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_swarmui(
    'A portrait of a cow with noble clothes',
    width=640,
    height=480,
    steps=50,
    raw_input={
        'seed': 42,
        'cfgscale': 8.0,
        'negative_prompt': 'low quality, pixelated, blurry',
    },
    server='http://localhost:12345'
)
my_art.to_image_file('example_swarmui.png', full_color=True)
```

## from_url()

Creates an ```AsciiArt``` object from an image URL. Raises an ```urllib.error.URLError``` if something goes wrong while requesting the image, but you can also catch it as an ```OSError``` if you don't want to import ```urllib``` into your project.

```python
from_url(url: str) -> AsciiArt
```

Parameters:

- ```url (str)```: an URL which will be loaded via urllib (supports redirects)

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

try:
    my_art = AsciiArt.from_url('https://cataas.com/cat')
except OSError as e:
    print(f'Could not load the image, server said: {e.code} {e.msg}')
my_art.to_terminal()
```

## from_clipboard()

Creates an ```AsciiArt``` object from the contents of the clipboard. Raises an ```OSError``` if the clipboard doesn't contain an image. Requires [PyGObject](https://pygobject.readthedocs.io/en/latest/getting_started.html) under Linux.

```python
from_clipboard() -> AsciiArt
```

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

try:
    my_art = AsciiArt.from_clipboard()
except OSError:
    print('The clipboard does not contain an image')
my_art.to_terminal()
```

## from_pillow_image()

Creates an ```AsciiArt``` object from an image object created with Pillow. This allows you to handle the image loading yourself.

```python
from_pillow_image(img: PIL.Image) -> AsciiArt
```

Parameters:

- ```img (obj)```: an image object created with Pillow

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt
from PIL import Image

img = Image.open('lion.jpg')
my_art = AsciiArt.from_pillow_image(img)
my_art.to_terminal()
```

## print_palette()

Prints the entire 8-color palette to the console.

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

AsciiArt.print_palette()
```

# The AsciiArt object

An ```AsciiArt``` object created as explained above has a collection of methods, such as ```to_ascii()```, that allows you to create and display ASCII art pieces. All of them return a string, and some have additional functionality, as described below.


## to_ascii()

Returns a string containing ASCII art and, by default, control characters that allows most terminals (also known as shells) to display color.

The module ```ascii_magic``` exposes two enums to handle color: ```Front``` and ```Back``` which allow you to select terminal-compatible colors.

```python
AsciiArt.to_ascii(
    columns: int = 120,
    width_ratio: float = 2.2,
    char: Optional[str] = None,
    enhance_image: bool = False,
    monochrome: bool = False,
    front: Optional[Front] = None,
    back: Optional[Back] = None,
) -> str
```

Parameters:

- ```columns (int, optional)```: the number of characters per row, more columns = wider art
- ```width_ratio (float, optional)```: ASCII characters are not squares, so this adjusts the width to height ratio during generation
- ```char (str, optional)```: specifies one or more characters sorted by brightness, such as ' .$@'
- ```enhance_image (bool, optional)```: if set to True, enhances the image before generating ASCII art
- ```monochrome (bool, optional)```: if set to True, completely disables color
- ```front (enum, optional)```: overrides the foreground color with one of:
  - ```Front.BLACK```
  - ```Front.RED```
  - ```Front.GREEN```
  - ```Front.YELLOW```
  - ```Front.BLUE```
  - ```Front.MAGENTA```
  - ```Front.CYAN```
  - ```Front.WHITE```
- ```back (enum, optional)```: sets the background color to one of:
  - ```Back.BLACK```
  - ```Back.RED```
  - ```Back.GREEN```
  - ```Back.YELLOW```
  - ```Back.BLUE```
  - ```Back.MAGENTA```
  - ```Back.CYAN```
  - ```Back.WHITE```

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt, Back

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_output = my_art.to_ascii(columns=200, back=Back.BLUE)
print(my_output)
```

Result:

![ASCII Magic TERMINAL mode example](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LeandroBarone/python-ascii_magic/master/example_lion_blue.png)


## to_terminal()

Identical to ```AsciiArt.to_ascii()```, but it also does a ```print()``` of the result, saving you one line of code ;)

## to_file()

Identical to ```AsciiArt.to_ascii()```, but it also saves the result to a text file.

```python
AsciiArt.to_file(
    path: str,
    # ... same parameters as AsciiArt.to_ascii()
) -> str
```
Parameters:

- ```path (str)```: the output file path

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.to_file('lion.txt', monochrome=True)
```

## to_html()

Returns a string with ASCII art created as HTML markup. Accepts the same parameters as ```AsciiArt.to_ascii()```, except for ```back``` and ```front``` colors. By default the HTML ASCII art is generated with a 24-bit palette (16 million colors).

```python
AsciiArt.to_html(
    full_color: bool = True,
    # ... same parameters as AsciiArt.to_ascii(), except back and front colors
) -> str
```

Parameters:

- ```full_color (bool, optional)```: if set to False, limits color palette to 8 colors

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_html_markup = my_art.to_html(columns=200)
```

## to_html_file()

Identical to ```AsciiArt.to_html()```, but it also saves the markup to a barebones HTML file inside a ```<pre>``` tag with a bunch of default CSS styles that you can easily open in your browser.

```python
AsciiArt.to_html_file(
    path: str,
    styles: str = '...',  # See description below
    additional_styles: str = '',
    auto_open: bool = False
    # ... same parameters as AsciiArt.to_html()
) -> str
```

Parameters:

- ```path (str)```: the output file path
- ```styles (str, optional)```: a string with a bunch of CSS styles for the ```<pre>``` element, by default:
  - display: inline-block;
  - border-width: 4px 6px;
  - border-color: black;
  - border-style: solid;
  - background-color: black;
  - color: white;
  - font-size: 8px;
- ```additional_styles (str, optional)```: use this to add your own CSS styles without removing the default ones
- ```auto_open (bool, optional)```: if True, the file will be opened with ```webbrowser.open()```


Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.to_html_file('lion.html', columns=200, additional_styles='font-family: MonoLisa;')
```

Result:

![ASCII Magic HTML mode example](https://raw.githubusercontent.com/LeandroBarone/python-ascii_magic/master/example_lion_html.png)

## to_image_file()

Generates a image file with the resulting ASCII art. Accepts the same parameters as ```AsciiArt.to_ascii()```. By default the ASCII art is generated with a 24-bit palette (16 million colors). If both width and height are set to auto, no resizing will be performed. If width or height is set to 'auto', the output will be resized proportionally. If both width and height are specified, the output will be resized to the specified dimensions, ignoring aspect ratio. Returns a 2d character list (see ```to_character_list()``` below).

```python
AsciiArt.to_image_file(
    path: str,
    width: int | 'auto' = 'auto',
    height: int | 'auto' = 'auto',
    border_width: int = 2,
    stroke_width: float = 0.5,
    file_type: 'PNG'|'JPG'|'GIF'|'WEBP' = 'PNG',
    font: str = 'courier_prime.ttf',
    width_ratio: float | 'auto' = 'auto',
    char: Optional[str] = None,
    enhance_image: bool = False,
    monochrome: bool = False,
    full_color: bool = False,
    front: Optional[str] = None,
    back: str = '#000000',
) -> list[list[dict]]
```

Parameters:

- ```path (str)```: the output file path
- ```width (int | 'auto', optional)```: the width of the image
- ```height (int | 'auto', optional)```: the height of the image
- ```border_width (int, optional)```: the width of the border around the entire image
- ```stroke_width (float, optional)```: the width of the stroke around the characters
- ```file_type (str, optional)```: the file type of the image, must be one of 'PNG', 'JPG', 'GIF', 'WEBP'
- ```font (str, optional)```: the font to use for the image
- ```width_ratio (float | 'auto', optional)```: the width ratio of the image, if 'auto', it will be calculated based on the font
- ```char (str, optional)```: specifies one or more characters sorted by brightness, such as ' .$@'
- ```enhance_image (bool, optional)```: if set to True, enhances the image before generating ASCII art
- ```monochrome (bool, optional)```: if set to True, completely disables color
- ```full_color (bool, optional)```: if set to True, uses the full color palette (16 million colors), otherwise uses the terminal color palette (8 colors)
- ```front (str, optional)```: overrides the foreground color with a hex color (e.g. '#00FF00')
- ```back (str, optional)```: background color (default: '#000000')

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_art.to_image_file('lion_output.png')
```

## to_character_list()

Generates a 2d character list where each character is an object that contains the character, the terminal color, the terminal hex color, and the full hex color.

```python
AsciiArt.to_character_list(
    full_color: bool = False,
    # ... same parameters as AsciiArt.to_ascii()
) -> list[list[dict]]
```

Parameters:

- ```full_color (bool, optional)```: if set to True, uses the full color palette (16 million colors), otherwise uses the terminal color palette (8 colors)

Example:

```python
from ascii_magic import AsciiArt

my_art = AsciiArt.from_image('lion.jpg')
my_character_list = my_art.to_character_list(columns=60)
print(my_character_list)
```

Output:

```python
[
    [
        { 'character': 'o', 'terminal-color': '\x1b[31m', 'terminal-hex-color': '#FF0000', 'full-hex-color': '#FF3742' },
        { 'character': '%', 'terminal-color': '\x1b[33m', 'terminal-hex-color': '#FF00FF', 'full-hex-color': '#FF43AA' },
        { 'character': '#', 'terminal-color': '\x1b[31m', 'terminal-hex-color': '#FF0000', 'full-hex-color': '#FF3742' },
        # ...
    ],
    [
        { 'character': 'o', 'terminal-color': '\x1b[31m', 'terminal-hex-color': '#FF0000', 'full-hex-color': '#FF3742' },
        { 'character': '%', 'terminal-color': '\x1b[33m', 'terminal-hex-color': '#FF00FF', 'full-hex-color': '#FF43AA' },
        { 'character': '#', 'terminal-color': '\x1b[31m', 'terminal-hex-color': '#FF0000', 'full-hex-color': '#FF3742' },
        # ...
    ],
    # ...
]
```

# Testing

With ```pytest``` installed, run it inside ```ascii_magic/tests/```.

# Licence

Copyright (c) 2020 Leandro Barone.

Usage is provided under the MIT License. See LICENSE for the full details.