zaart

Render images as ASCII art in your terminal.

Demo

Source:

Rendered:

$ ./zaart assets/google.png --width 80
     .:-=====-:.                                               .--
   -===-::::--===                                              :==.
 :===:         .                                               :==.
:===                     .....         :---:.        ..::. ... :==.    .....
===:      ::::::::::  .-===--===:   :+##*+*###=   .-========== :==.  -===--==-.
===:      -========= :==-     :==- -##*.    =##* :===.    -=== :==. ===.  .:===.
:===.           :=== ===       -==.*##:      +##.===.      === :==.:==--===-:.
 :===:         :===  -==.      === +##=     .*## -==-     .=== :==..===-.
   :====-:::--===:    -==-:.:-==-.  +##*=--+###:  -===:::-==== :==. :==-:.::==-
     .:---=---:.       .:-----:.     .-=+*++=:      :--=--:=== .--    .:----:.
                                                  :--     :==-
                                                  :===---===-
                                                    .::-::.

Build & run

zig build -Doptimize=ReleaseFast
./zig-out/bin/zaart image.png

Options

• --width N — output width in chars (default: terminal width, or 80)
• --width full — no downscaling; one char per pixel
• --invert — reverse the brightness ramp (for light-background terminals)

Built with Zig and stb_image.

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A learning project — written to get hands-on with Zig 0.16's core concepts (allocators, C interop, optionals, tagged unions, the build system). Not intended for serious use.