Csplk/THE.ASCII.ART.EMPORIUM · Datasets at Hugging Face

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It's important to remember that many RoundTables on GEnie (Such as the
FAMILY and Personal Growth RoundTable) frown on the use of excessive
ASCII art in regular topics. This is due to the fact that users who
are visually impaired and use voice synthesizers have a heck of a time
with this stuff... For instance, a blind user coming across the top
Christmas miniature would hear, "lesser than, backslash, o, O, o,
slash, greater than..." And that's only the FIRST ROW! Can you
imagine how irritating that would be?

Some voice synthesizers do not "pronounce" punctuation, but they do
pause for many punctuation marks. For instance, if your little ASCII
picture consists of a lot of periods and commas, the voice synthesizer
will pause for each. If there's enough there, the user may think that
he or she was discontinued.

If you are on a RoundTable and you don't know what their policy is,
it's best to preface any ASCII art with a warning phrase, placed a
line above the actual art: "WARNING: ASCII Art to follow." And
don't be offended if it's returned to you. There are many ASCII Art
topics on GEnie, and your work is VERY welcome there. :)

7. Big pictures, or "Bigger is better, right?"

Though a large picture can be a little intimidating, it is often
easier to do than a small picture. Large pictures give you room to
add detail. If you are doing a picture on, say, ten lines, you don't
have as much room to develop curves and angles. Your work has to be
much more precise, and it's not always possible. On the other hand,
on a large picture, you have much more room to develop not only curves
and angles, but also shading and highlighting.

Where do you start on a large picture? Well, first of all you'll
probably want more than one "canvas" to work on. Just add another
canvas or two on the end of the previous one so that you have plenty
of room. Get rid of the excess lines between them with the
"control-y" keysequence.

Some ASCII artists consistently start with the eyes, if the picture
HAS eyes. Personally, I start in a different place each time, but
most often I start on what will give me the most problems. For
instance, on the tiger I started with the nose. I'm not exactly sure
WHY that nose was such a bugger (sorry, couldn't resist... :) but once
I got that done, I figured I could finish the rest of the picture.
Other times, when there isn't an area that I feel I need to start on,
I might start at the very top, so that I can get a relative feel for
the width and length of the picture.

Once I've started the picture, I will most of the time go ahead and
tap in the rest of the basic shape. Afterwards I'll go through and
add the highlighting, shading, and other detail work that I want.
Sometimes when you're sitting so close to the screen, tapping in the
pictures, NOTHING you do looks right. If that's the case, stand back
from the screen.... Or squint your eyes. Or if you wear glasses, take
them off for a moment. Many times you'll see the picture "come
together" when you try one of these little tricks.

When you're finished, make sure you save your picture. You save your
picture the same way you saved the canvas; hold down the control key,
hit the K and then the W. When the screen comes up, give your picture
a name. That way you can bring it up again whenever you'd like.

8. ASCII Art protocol, or "Gee, this is neat, can I show my friends?"

ASCII art IS neat, and it's great to get it in the mail. Kids (and
the kid in all of us) enjoy watching it download, as the picture takes
shape right before our eyes. Though I can only speak for myself, I
don't mind at all when pictures are "shared" with others. Some of my
pictures have been to many different countries, on many other
continents, and that tickles me. Though tastes differ, appreciation
of art is something everyone has in common, especially in such a fun,
unexpected form as ASCII art. What I do ask, though, is that my name
be left on the picture. If you KNOW the source of the art, include
the artist's name. It's not enough to put in a line that says, "yes,
it's stolen."

There have been times in the past that I've received my OWN artwork
back in e-mail to me, along with a note that says, "See, you're not
the only one who can do this stuff..." Even more irritating is seeing
my own picture with credit given to someone else. This stuff may not
be as "important" as some great literary work, but ASCII artists DO
spend an hour or more on each picture to make something that will give
others pleasure. Give them credit.

9. Printing up ASCII Art -- or "Eww. Why does this look so bad on paper?"

Why is it when we print up this ASCII art it looks sort of squatty?
One reason is that the "characters per inch" is different on the paper
than it is on the screen. In old "typewriting" terms, "Pica" print is
ten characters to the inch. "Elite" print is twelve characters to the
inch. The screen is fairly close to "elite," the default pitch of
many printers is closer to "pica." The printer will print the
line character by character rather than inch at a time. The
difference isn't much, but when the picture is six inches wide, that
means when it's printed, it'll be seven and a half inches wide. Thus,
the "squatty" look. To correct it, when you print out the work,
change the default pitch to something that is closer to the size on
the screen. If you play with it enough, it'll work out.

][

It's important to remember that many RoundTables on GEnie (Such as the

FAMILY and Personal Growth RoundTable) frown on the use of excessive

ASCII art in regular topics. This is due to the fact that users who

are visually impaired and use voice synthesizers have a heck of a time

with this stuff... For instance, a blind user coming across the top

Christmas miniature would hear, "lesser than, backslash, o, O, o,

slash, greater than..." And that's only the FIRST ROW! Can you

imagine how irritating that would be?

Some voice synthesizers do not "pronounce" punctuation, but they do

pause for many punctuation marks. For instance, if your little ASCII

picture consists of a lot of periods and commas, the voice synthesizer

will pause for each. If there's enough there, the user may think that

he or she was discontinued.

If you are on a RoundTable and you don't know what their policy is,

it's best to preface any ASCII art with a warning phrase, placed a

line above the actual art: "WARNING: ASCII Art to follow." And

don't be offended if it's returned to you. There are many ASCII Art

topics on GEnie, and your work is VERY welcome there. :)

7. Big pictures, or "Bigger is better, right?"

Though a large picture can be a little intimidating, it is often

easier to do than a small picture. Large pictures give you room to

add detail. If you are doing a picture on, say, ten lines, you don't

have as much room to develop curves and angles. Your work has to be

much more precise, and it's not always possible. On the other hand,

on a large picture, you have much more room to develop not only curves

and angles, but also shading and highlighting.

Where do you start on a large picture? Well, first of all you'll

probably want more than one "canvas" to work on. Just add another

canvas or two on the end of the previous one so that you have plenty

of room. Get rid of the excess lines between them with the

"control-y" keysequence.

Some ASCII artists consistently start with the eyes, if the picture

HAS eyes. Personally, I start in a different place each time, but

most often I start on what will give me the most problems. For

instance, on the tiger I started with the nose. I'm not exactly sure

WHY that nose was such a bugger (sorry, couldn't resist... :) but once

I got that done, I figured I could finish the rest of the picture.

Other times, when there isn't an area that I feel I need to start on,

I might start at the very top, so that I can get a relative feel for

the width and length of the picture.

Once I've started the picture, I will most of the time go ahead and

tap in the rest of the basic shape. Afterwards I'll go through and

add the highlighting, shading, and other detail work that I want.

Sometimes when you're sitting so close to the screen, tapping in the

pictures, NOTHING you do looks right. If that's the case, stand back

from the screen.... Or squint your eyes. Or if you wear glasses, take

them off for a moment. Many times you'll see the picture "come

together" when you try one of these little tricks.

When you're finished, make sure you save your picture. You save your

picture the same way you saved the canvas; hold down the control key,

hit the K and then the W. When the screen comes up, give your picture

a name. That way you can bring it up again whenever you'd like.

8. ASCII Art protocol, or "Gee, this is neat, can I show my friends?"

ASCII art IS neat, and it's great to get it in the mail. Kids (and

the kid in all of us) enjoy watching it download, as the picture takes

shape right before our eyes. Though I can only speak for myself, I

don't mind at all when pictures are "shared" with others. Some of my

pictures have been to many different countries, on many other

continents, and that tickles me. Though tastes differ, appreciation

of art is something everyone has in common, especially in such a fun,

unexpected form as ASCII art. What I do ask, though, is that my name

be left on the picture. If you KNOW the source of the art, include

the artist's name. It's not enough to put in a line that says, "yes,

it's stolen."

There have been times in the past that I've received my OWN artwork

back in e-mail to me, along with a note that says, "See, you're not

the only one who can do this stuff..." Even more irritating is seeing

my own picture with credit given to someone else. This stuff may not

be as "important" as some great literary work, but ASCII artists DO

spend an hour or more on each picture to make something that will give

others pleasure. Give them credit.

9. Printing up ASCII Art -- or "Eww. Why does this look so bad on paper?"

Why is it when we print up this ASCII art it looks sort of squatty?

One reason is that the "characters per inch" is different on the paper

than it is on the screen. In old "typewriting" terms, "Pica" print is

ten characters to the inch. "Elite" print is twelve characters to the

inch. The screen is fairly close to "elite," the default pitch of

many printers is closer to "pica." The printer will print the

line character by character rather than inch at a time. The

difference isn't much, but when the picture is six inches wide, that

means when it's printed, it'll be seven and a half inches wide. Thus,

the "squatty" look. To correct it, when you print out the work,

change the default pitch to something that is closer to the size on

the screen. If you play with it enough, it'll work out.