To skip to a place on the Table of Contents, do the following:
~Press CTRL and F
~That will open up your browser's search bar
~Type in the name of the section and press enter enough times to lead you straight to the topic.

This is a guide by: Vipers02, Brendansllvn, Superant1 ... Renewed once by: Lucius55 ... Renewed second time by: Cultred ... To view the original version, go to the RuneScape Forums and use the QFC: 55-56-113-55744377

This guide it brought to you by Vipers02 and Superant1.

Enjoy!
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Hello there.
We have created this guide to help amateur artists become great ASCII artists. There aren't many ASCII Artists among forums run by organizations other than RuneScape, since you can't post pictures or graphics or videos in their forums. That's why people there use ASCII art. I want to spread it out here. If you have any questions or comments please post them here or PM me.
We hope this guide helps you and was worth the time to make.
If you see any mistakes in our guide, please let us know!

ASCII = American Standard Code for Information. Used around the world.
_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________

Rules
- Please, do not spam or flame
- Stay on topic

Table of Contents
Introduction
Summary of Drawing Techniques

Aligned Art
Introduction
Aligned Shading
Aligned Angles
Aligned Curves

Unaligned Art
Introduction
Unaligned Lines
Unaligned Curves
Unaligned Angles
Unaligned Shading
Example(s) of this Art

Mixed Art
Introduction
Steps

Extra Information
What to create on
How to use ALT Codes
Many ALT Codes

Artist Spotlight: What the real artists say
Artist Spotlight: Mok55
Artist Spotlight: Mashpatato55
Artist Spotlight: Ben*92
Artist Spotlight: Mysterem
Artist Spotlight: Dockwa
Artist Spotlight: Tozarian Ix
Artist Spotlight: Robert Nick1
Artist Spotlight: Aq174
Those are real people and those are their account names on RuneScape. I give them full credit.


SUMMARY OF DRAWING TECHNIQUES

Have you ever wondered how those talented Ascii Logo artists out there do what they do? How do they make those outstanding logos?!
Well, this guide was made, to hopefully help you out.

First, you should know what types of logos there are.
They are:
- Alligned Logos
- Unalligned Logos
- Mixed Logos

First, we will start with Alligned logos.
Alligned is probably the easiest type of logos to make, and is where you should start when your new at this.
The symbols I recommend you use, when dealing with alligned are:
# $ ? ¥ § £ € _ and all the numbers
When using alligned, it's best if you use "__" as your background.

The next type of Ascii art, is Unalligned logos.
This technique is harder than alligned, and takes more practice. This is because the size of the symbols used to this way of drawings are not all the same, unlike Alligned art, and are much smaller.
The symbols I recommend you use, when dealing with unalligned are:
_ ¸ , . - • ~ ¬ ^ º ° ' ¹ ² ³ ` ˜ ¨ ¯ ; : / | *
When using unalligned, it's best if you use "..." as your background.

The last type of Ascii Art, is Mixed logos.
Mixed logos are a combination between alligned, and unalligned logos.
When making mixed logos, you use both, alligned and unalligned symbols.
Due to the major size differential, I suggest you only create mixed logos if you are an experienced logo artist, and know how to line up logos correctly. However, some artists find it easier to start with mixed. It depends.

Now that you have the drawings styles, and the symbols to use for each style down, there are a few things you should remember when dealing with Ascii Art:
• Be sure to press enter after each line. You cannot expect your logo to turn out correctly, if you hold down your chosen key until you get the amount of lines your desire.

ALIGNED ART INTRODUCTION

Now that were going to start with Alligned, there are a view things you should know:
• As stated above, the suggested symbols to use when dealing with alligned are:
? # $ _ € ¥ £ § and all of the numbers.
• When using alligned, the suggested background to use is "__".
• Each line can only hold 76 symbols.
• MOST of the symbols are equal in size, excluding % @ & and a few of the letters.
• It is suggested you start with Alligned if you are new to Ascii Art.

When starting alligned, you should have a background like this:
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________
__________________

Now that you have the background, it's time to add your drawing.
In this case, we will make a sword using #.
_______________
_______#_______
______###______
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_#___#####___#_
_############
______###______
______###______

How you have your sword, but as you see, it's quite boring. To fix this, you could perhaps add some shading, change some symbols around, or perhaps add a border?
For this logo, I'm just simply going to change the hilt to 1's.
_______________
_______#_______
______###______
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_____#####_____
_1___#####__1__
_1111111111111__
______###______
______###______

See how much different it looks now?
Now try to make something of your own!


ALIGNED SHADING

Shading is an important part in Ascii Art. It's makes your drawing look 3-Dimentional.
When shading an alligned logo, the symbols which you use from darkest to lightest are:
_?£#$
There are always more symbols you COULD use, but these are the 5 suggested symbols.
An example of a shaded logo would be this:

____?$
___??$$
___??$$
___??$$
___??$$
___??$$
___??$$
___??$$
_#_??$$_#
_########
____##
____##

As you can see, the left half of the blade is dark, while the right half is light.
Another example of a shaded alligned logo could be this:
___________________
______???£$$$______
____?_??£?£##$$____
___??_???£££##$$___
___???_??£££##$$___
____?_??£?£##$$____
______???£$$$______

In this logo, I mixed up the symbols a bit. This makes your drawing more interesting. Here is how you should mix your symbols:

Darkest ____?___?_????£?£??£?£££#£##£##$#$$$ Lightest

Now as you can see, in both examples, I shaded from darkest to lightest. Takes note that by all means, you could shade from lightest to darkest. The order for that would be: $#£?_

Shading alligned isn't very easy, and could take some practice. After a while, it will become easier and easier.


ALIGNED ANGLES

While using alligned for Ascii art, you may come across a point where you will need to use some angles.
Well, I have put together a few that you may find you will need while drawing. Here they are:

#
#
#
#
#########

____#
___#
__#
_#
########

_______##
_____##
___##
_##
##########

______________###
___________###
________###
_____###
__###
#################

______________######
________######
__######
####################

Yes, those aren't ALL the angles, but those are the ones you will most likely come across the most while drawing.


ALIGNED CURVES

When using alligned, curves are very simple.
Here is an example of one:

________________###
________________###
________________###
________________###
_______________###
_____________####
__________#####
______######
#########

See at the top, I originally began with 3 symbols. I continued down for a couple rows, then slightly began to cut it. After I cut in, I began to add a symbol to each row. So instead of 3 symbols, I now have 4. Then again, I had 4, then went to 5. Then, I made the bottom row.
That is basically how you curve. You slightly cut it, and add another symbol to the inside of each row, to make it more rounded, rather than strait.

UNALIGNED INTRODUCTION

Unalligned is a different type of art completely different to both mixed and alligned although
it is alot harder to do. Most beginners start with alligned so this guide is for people who have
either mastered alligned, or want a challenge.Unalligned is useful when drawing in greater
deatail, as the keys are so much smaller, generally, people use these:


_¸.,-•~¬^º°"`´¨¯ }{|l!*<> and any other key which you can find with alt codes

This means it is quite complicated to master. However, if you find it too hard, you must never ever
ever copy other peoples. People, including myself and vipers despise copiers for their lack of
gratefulness towards the person who actually made it. Also, copiers out there, never copy the dragon
with a bump sign, the flying mario picture, peter and none of saphir*'s work either. Most copied
pictures are pictures with so much detail and look exactly what they are meant to look like and
are unalligned. Most people draw with what they want to draw in the background although
some people do draw over the picture, this is called tracing and will be explained later on.


UNALIGNED LINES

Lines are the most important part of the picture so you need to get them accurate. In order to do this your lines must be in the
right place and the right thickness. To my last point, the thickness, here is how you do it.


A thin Line

"-,
..."-,
......"-,

A thick Line

^=,
....^=,
........^=,


use bigger keys such as =^¬•¸ and keys as big as possible, to get thinner lines use keys such as _,-~"¯{} which are
pretty thin. Also notice that the lines are straight, this is because i keep the pattern the same, ^=,. Curved lines will be
explained later on.


UNALIGNED CURVES

the starting pattern is ~~~---,,,_


so we take the first character of that pattern, which is a ~ and put that in our next pattern.

~

the next one is a ~ aswell but we skip that one out

so still

~

The next one is a * so we put that in our pattern

~~

The next one is a - but we do not put it in.

Carry on doing that and in the end it looks like this

~~-,,_


So it would be...

~~~---,,,_
. . . . . . . ~~-,,_

which is a slight curve, you do the same thing with the second row and it carries on like that


carrying on still

~~~---,,,_
. . . . . . . ~~-,,_
. . . . . . . . . . . .~-,_
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . .~,
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,


UNALIGNED ANGLES

|
|
|_______
­ ­ ­ ­ ,'
­ ­ ,'
,'_______

­ ­ ­ ­ ,"
­ ­ ,"
,"_______

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ,-'
­ ­ ­ ,-'
,-'
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ,•"
­ ­ ­ ,•"
,•"
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­,,•¬"
,,•¬"
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ _,,-
_,,-~¬"
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯

__,,,,,,,-----~
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
____,,,,,,,,,,
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
__________
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯


UNALIGNED SHADING

Shading makes a picture look 3d so it is important in quite alot of pictures. In unalligned shading you need only 3 keys, .:;
and sometimes others but i won't say those. In shading you need to keep the same light source through the whole picture
otherwise it looks weird. You also need to think about the sides of the object you are shading say i was going to draw a sword,
i would shade it like this.


|.....;;;;;|
|.....;;;;;|
|.....;;;;;|
|.....;;;;;|
|.....;;;;;|

and it looks like it has 2 sides going to a high angled point. Also you can see that the light source is coming from the right.

Dark {.......:..:...::..:::.:::::;::;::;;::;;:;;;:;;;;:;;;;;;}Light

That is a gradient for shading in unalligned. Do remember that when you are drawing the darkest bits in your drawings is
the opposite on the forums. Also notice that the gradient is smooth and looks round, this is because i have mixed the
characters together. If i didn't, it would look like it has 3 sides:


{.................:::::::::::::::::::::;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;}


mixing is a useful skill and you need it for things like poles.


|..:.:.:::;:;;;|
|..:.:.:::;:;;;|
|..:.:.:::;:;;;|
|..:.:.:::;:;;;|
|..:.:.:::;:;;;|

Now that does not look like it has 3 sides but 1 side which is curved. The light source is still at the right though but it
doesn't have to be, it could be on the left..

|;;;:;:::.:.:..|
|;;;:;:::.:.:..|
|;;;:;:::.:.:..|
|;;;:;:::.:.:..|

EXAMPLE

.… … … …… … … …… … … …. . . ,-'. :;::… … … …. . . . , ', - '. . . . '-,
… … … …… … … …… … … …. . . ,". . :;;:::.. .:::.::::;:.,.:,::; ;;,:::::::.. . . ",
… … … …… … … …… … … …. . ,";;;,::;;;;;;:.:..;::. :::.:.. ;;;..,,;;:;::::::::.. . .. ^,
… … … …… … … …… … … … ,-";;:;;;:;;;;;:::.:;;;;:.::::.:;::;;..;;;;;;;:;:,,:::;;... .. . :',
… … … …… … … …… … … …,";;;:;;;;;:;;;:.::;;;;;::.:::;;;:;;,:::;::::,,::::...:::,,::::::.. .|
… … … …… … … ……………. ,";:;;;:;:;;;:;;.:;;:;;;;;;::::;;:;;.:;;:::;;;..::,,;;;;;;;,,,::::..::",
… … … …… … … ……………,";;;:;;:;:;::',;;;;|;;;;:;::::;;;;;,/:;;;;;:.:;;:,;;:;;""""""""••••:::'}
… … … …… … … …. . . . . ,'";;;;;:;;;;;"-,;;;',;;|;;;:;;;:;;;:;;.:;;;;.:::';;':::_,-~""""¯¯¯¯",. }
… … … …… … … …. . . . ,-';;;;;;;,,;:;;:;;;"-,;;;:;;;;:;;:;;:;;.:;;;.•:•;:;,-";;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;}-'
… … … …… … … …. . . . ,';;;;:;;;;;;"""..;;;-,;;;;;;;;;•;:;;;:;::;':.,;:,,-';;;;;;::.- •,;;;;;;;;,-'
… … … …… … … …. . ,--';;;;;::;:;;:;::::::::::"-,;;;;;;;:;;;;;::;;::::,-"::::, - ":. .,';;;;;;,-"
… … … …… … … …. {,,¸~•--,,,,,_____::.. .::;;;"-,;;;;;;;::;;,-" ::::::[¸ ,. ..,';;;;,-"
… … … …………… _,-";;;:;:"~~~~----,,,,,,",,"¸¸"_~•---,,¸;;,":. •-,¸. . . . '--';;;,-"
… … … …. . . _,,,-~";;;;;;:;:;:::,,;;;.::::::,,;;;"::,,-~•'¯""~-,"-,::::::"-,"-, :;:;;;,-"
. . . . . _,,,--~"{';;;;;;;;;;;;;:;:;,;;;:::.:..,;;;";_,-~"¯;":::_,,:,---~-,¸::;:;;,',"--';;,-"
. ,--~"_,,--"¯. ",;;;;;;;;;;;;;;:;:;:;;;;;;;",,-~";;;.._,--~":.. .. . . . . "-,::;;;,,-"
" ,-•"…………. "-,;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;;_,,,--~"::;:;:::.. .. .…………. -,
,-"… … … …. . . . "~--,,,,,,,_____,--~",-";;::::;::::::.:.. . .. .. . . . . ",
… … … …… … … …… … … …. ,-";;::::';;;;;::::::::::::::::::::::::::::',
… … … …… … … …… … … … ,";;::::;;;;;::::;:;:;::::::;:::::;;:;;:::;:: ',
… … … …… … … …………


MIXED ART INTRODUCTION

What is mixed art?
Mixed art is a combination of Alligned and Unalligned. Some people may find it complicated, however, other may find this method fairly easy.
When creating mixed logos, you use symbols from both, Alligned and Unalligned. With that said, there is no exact number of symbols that will fit on one line.

Well, i dont draw mixed art very often, but here is what i do know about it

First off, Mixed art is the hardest type of art, using all the characters. It is hard, since in able to do it correctly, you MUST draw in Wordpad or Notepad, and have a VERY good idea of how different characters work together (For example, how to make many different angled slopes)

The good part of Mixed is that you can make very, very detailed drawings, since you get a large amount of characters to work with.

Not many logo artists are extreme mixed drawers, but most people use mixed, even if they dont know it. technically, using mixed is simply using characters that arent the same size, so if you use _ and - in the same drawing, then according to the definition, you are using "Mixed" art.


However, serious mixed drawings use 95% of the characters on the keyboard, making it hard to learn. Some commonly used Mixed Charaters are # $ ? ¥ § £ € _ ¸ , . - • ~ ¬ ^ º ° ' ¹ ² ³ ` ˜ ¨ ¯ ; : / | *

The seriously mixed drawings I made were generally outlined by unalligned, and then filled in and shaded with alligned, with some unalligned for detail, so thats how im gonna write this guide.


MIXED ART STEPS

­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /#####
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ |######'
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ |#######­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /######
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ #######\­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /######''/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ########­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /#######/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ########­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /#######'/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ########­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /#######'/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ########­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /########/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ########­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /#########/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ########­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /#########/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ..--'''''''''########''­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /#########/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ .....-./#######\######''­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ /#########/
­ ­ ­ ..-####'\######\#######'\_____/#########/
­ |########\######\####################'/
­ ­ \#######|||_______&&&\##############/
­ ­ |#\#####||__________&&&&&##########'/
­ ­ |###\###\##############&&&########/
­ ­ |#########""""----__#########&&&###/
­ ­ |##########A######''\#########&&&&|
­ ­ ###BRENDAN######///#############''|
­ ­ ­ #####S(L)LVN#####///##############|
­ ­ ­ ­ ###ORIGINAL####|||###############'|
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ###############|||###############'|
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ##############\##############'''|
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ #############################''|
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ##########DONT COPY#######/
­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ##########################|

As you can see, in the above picture, I used unalligned to make the outline crisp, and i used the alligned to make the inside, but had some unalligned as detail.


So, to make Mixed, you need to follow a few steps.

1. Pick a few characters to work with, so you arent dealing with 20+ characters

2. Begin to outline the drawing in unalligned. make the outline light, but easy to see. (E.G. ` , instead of `-,)

3. When the outline is done, begin to add the unalligned detail to the drawing itself, and again, make it light.

4. When the detail is done, begin to add the Alligned characters as needed, wether it be for shading, fill-in, or for a different texture

5. Shade your drawing. If it is a large drawing (Close to 2K chars) then you may want to consider doing some shading with alligned (For the darker areas) and some with unalligned (The lighter areas that still need to be darkened in.)

6. PREVIEW your post on the Forums, making sure that everything looks right. If it doesnt, fix it. If you cant fix it, then post the drawing, point out what you want changed (E.G. the left side on the upper left tentacle) and wait for people to give you advice, or fix it.

By BrendanSllvn


WHERE TO CREATE

Good question. Many logo artists use one of three choices. There are:
- Wordpad
- Notepad
- The message box directly from forums

Most Logo Artists these days use Wordpad. It is very organized, and easy to work with.
When using Wordpad, however, you should make sure you have:
Font Size: 10
Font: Arial

Some Logo Artists also use Notepad. Like Wordpad, it is very organized, and easy to work with.
It would also be best if you have:
Font Size: 10
Font: Arial
While working with Notepad.


HOW TO USE ALT CODES

INTRODUCTION

A normal keyboard has a certain amount of symbols that are usable. With ALT codes, you can expand that into ALMOST any character that exists!

So, read on in this post and experience how to use these.

HOW DO I USE THEM?

To use ALT codes, ON A DESKTOP, you hold down ALT (right next to the Windows key on a normal keyboard) and type in the code on the number pad on the RIGHT SIDE. Noting will appear on your screen until you let go of ALT.

ALT CODES ON LAPTOPS

Normal laptops don't have the number pad, and so this will help. To do this, do the following:

~Hold down the Fn key, on laptops next to the CTRL and Windows keys
~While holding down Fn, press SCROLL/NUM LK
~Now, some of your letters will turn into numbers.

7=7 8=8 9=9
U=4 I=5 O=6
J=1 K=2 L=3
M=0

Now, you can press ALT and use ONLY THOSE. To switch back to letters, repeat the steps needed for setting them up.

By Cultred
MANY ALT CODES

ALT-0128 €
ALT-0131 ƒ
ALT-0132 „
ALT-0133 …
ALT-0134 †
ALT-0135 ‡
ALT-0136 ˆ
ALT-0162 ¢
ALT-0191 ¿
ALT-0192 À
ALT-0193 Á
ALT-0194 Â
ALT-0195 Ã
ALT-0196 Ä
ALT-0197 Å
ALT-0198 Æ
ALT-0199 Ç
ALT-0200 È
ALT-0201 É
ALT-0202 Ê
ALT-0203 Ë
ALT-0204 Ì
ALT-0205 Í
ALT-0206 Î
ALT-0207 Ï
ALT-0208-Ð
ALT-0209 Ñ
ALT-0210 Ò
ALT-0211 Ó
ALT-0212 Ô
ALT-0213 Õ
ALT-0214 Ö
ALT-0215 ×
ALT-0216 Ø
ALT-0217 Ù
ALT-0218 Ú
ALT-0219 Û
ALT-0220 Ü
ALT-0221 Ý
ALT-0222 Þ
ALT-0223 ß
ALT-0224 à
ALT-0225 á
ALT-0226 â
ALT-0227 ã
ALT-0228 ä
ALT-0229 å
ALT-0230 æ
ALT-0231 ç
ALT-0232 è
ALT-0233 é
ALT-0234 ê
ALT-0235 ë
ALT-0236 ì
ALT-0237 í
ALT-0238 î
ALT-0239 ï
ALT-0240 ð
ALT-0241 ñ
ALT-0242 ò
ALT-0243 ó
ALT-0244 ô
ALT-0245 õ
ALT-0247 ÷
ALT-0248 ø
ALT-0249 ù
ALT-0250 ú
ALT-0251 û
ALT-0137 ‰
ALT-0252 ü
ALT-0253 ý
ALT-0254 þ
ALT-0255 ÿ
ALT-0138 Š
ALT-0139 ‹
ALT-0140 Œ
ALT-0141 
ALT-0142 Ž
ALT-0246 ö
ALT-0147 “
ALT-0148 ”
ALT-0149 •
ALT-0152 ˜
ALT-0153 ™
ALT-0154 š
ALT-0155 ›
ALT-0156 œ
ALT-0157 
ALT-0158 ž
ALT-0159 Ÿ
ALT-0163 £
ALT-0164 ¤
ALT-0165 ¥
ALT-0166 ¦
ALT-0167 §
ALT-0168 ¨
ALT-0169 ©
ALT-0170 ª
ALT-0171 «
ALT-0128 €
ALT-0131 ƒ
ALT-0132 „
ALT-0133 …
ALT-0134 †
ALT-0135 ‡
ALT-0136 ˆ
ALT-0137 ‰
ALT-0138 Š
ALT-0139 ‹
ALT-0140 Œ
ALT-0140 Œ
ALT-0141 
ALT-0142 Ž
ALT-0147 “
ALT-0148 ”
ALT-0149 •
ALT-0152 ˜
ALT-0153 ™
ALT-0154 š
ALT-0155 ›
ALT-0156 œ
ALT-0157 
ALT-0158 ž
ALT-0159 Ÿ
ALT-0163 £
ALT-0164 ¤
ALT-0165 ¥
ALT-0166 ¦
ALT-0167 §
ALT-0168 ¨
ALT-0169 ©
ALT-0170 ª
ALT-0171 «
ALT-0172 ¬ ¬
ALT-0174 ®
ALT-0175 ¯
ALT-0176 °
ALT-0177 ±
ALT-0178 ²
ALT-0179 ³
ALT-0181 µ
ALT-0182 ¶
ALT-0184 ¸
ALT-0185 ¹
ALT-0186 º
ALT-0187 »
ALT-0188 ¼
ALT-0189 ½
ALT-0190 ¾
ALT-01910191 ¯
ALT-753 ±
ALT-0444 ¼
ALT-0445 ½
ALT-0446 ¾
ALT-014793 É
ALT-014783 ¿
ALT-014789 Å
ALT-014725 …
ALT-014756 ¤
ALT-0147 “
ALT-01473 Á
ALT-0185 ¹
ALT-0186 º
ALT-0187 »
ALT-1789 ²
ALT-01790 þ
ALT-02223 ¯

MORE COMING!


ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Note: Multi-spacing does NOT work on Mozilla Firefox!

Spacing? Simple!

There are 3 ALT codes for multi spacing

1.ALT+0173
2.ALT+0160
3.Alt+255

ALT+0173 is to make copyable spaces. Try and copy the following
| ­ ­ ­ ­ |
It is copyable! Since it is only a spacer you will have to do Space, 0173, space, 0173, etc (be warned, for this ALT code, every space uses 2 characters since it is just and invisible spacer)

ALT+0160 is to make UN-copyable spacing. This is the most commonly use of the three. Try and copy the following
|.....|
Didn't work did it? Unlike ALT+0173, You only need to do the alt code

ALT+255 is the least common of them all. It is just another way to do ALT+0160
|.....|

By: Mok55

ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

---<Realism>---

Ever wondered why your picture just doesn't look real, even though you've got all the details, everything down to a 't'?

Well, many artists struggle in this part of ascii drawing.

Here's some simple guidelines to follow, when trying to recreate a realistic drawing:

1) Remember, shading can make outlines less visable.
2) Shading is still important though, as it gives the drawing a 3D effect.
3) Never forget the right curvature. If you draw a hexagon and call it a ball, no one will believe you, because it uses straight lines, not curves.
4) Use a model. Some drawings, if based on realistic things, can be drawn using a model or photograph, which can more than likely be found somewhere online, a photo is easy to reference to and will also give you an idea as to how close your picture looks to the realistic thing.
5) Keep a consistant use of keys. If you use every key on the keyboard in a drawing, it'll look messed up. Try to keep it simple. Find a nice set of gradient keys. Two good examples I use are .,:;`'"¯–_ and s5$§_š
6) Patience. No drawing will come out perfectly on your first try. It'll take a couple revisions to certain points in the picture.
7) Practice. The more you draw, the better you'll get, if you learn to apply techniques differently.
8) Don't open your mouth. You might swallow a bug.

If these 8 simple guidelines can't improve your ascii, then I'm not trying hard enough.

By: Mashpotato55


ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Drawing words
¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯¯
¯|¯ ­ |¯| ­ # ­ /¯/
_|_ ­ |_| ­ # /_/

When wanting to draw words, there are many things to consider. First of all, do you want it single lined, block, or shaded (alligned symbols)?
Next thing is CAPITALS or small case lettering. Then when you get really adventurous, Italic or Straight?

Once you have chosen, you can begin to make your grid. When writing words especially with alligned symbols, it is best to use 5 lines deep.

If you are a beginner, stick to straight, CAPITALS alligned symbol '#' and make ur grid from '_'s

______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________
______________________________

Then practice with the word CHEESE

######__##__##__
##___#__##__##__
##______######__
##___#__##__##__
######__##__##__

I have started it here for you. Carry it on and finish the word.

When you become more experienced you can start using different grids (ie. ... or even . . . . ) and different symbols with alligned (ie # $ ? ¥ § £ € )

Play around with different words and start to add Italics. You can do this using / or bye adding extra characters before the word.

........######.....##....##
.......##......#....##....##
......##............######
.....##......#....##....##
....######....##....##

Once you have mastered this, you can start to use the multi-space.

This symbol which is 0pixels big, allows the use of more than one space at a time, so eliminating the need for a grid. To see how to use the multispace, see above.

Once you get the hang of it you can start making words with great ease and in no time at all.

­ ­ ­­ ­ ­ ###### ­ ­ ## ­ ­ ##
­ ­ ­ ­ ## ­ ­ ­ ­ # ­ ­ ## ­ ­ ##
­ ­ ­ ## ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ ­ '######
­ ­ ## ­ ­ ­ ­ # ­ ­ ## ­ ­ ##
­ ###### ­ ­ ## ­ ­ ##


Made By: Beng92


ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

|ZZZ| I¨¨¨I |AAA| |¡¡¡| |¬¬¬| |°°°| || IWWWI |¼¼¼| |¶¶¶| |%%%| |JJJ| |'''| |‰‰‰|
|111| |ªªª| |BAB| |¦¦¦| |¿¿¿| |ººº| |©©©| |@@@| I½½½I |###| |***|
|222| |---| |CCC| |III| |FFF| |"""| |®®®| |………| |¾¾¾| |???|
|333| |²²²| |DDD| ||||| |<<<| |^^^| |OOO| |ŒŒŒ| |MMM| |–––|
|444| |³³³| |EEE| |!!!| |>>>| |***| IGGQ| |———| |mmm|
|555| |´´´| |HHH| |‚‚‚| |===*| |***| *GGG| |™™™|
|666| |•••| I**** |‘‘‘| |+++| |vvv|
|777| |¸¸¸| |NNN| |fff| |~~~|
|888| |¹¹¹| |PPP| |iii|
|999| |\| |RRR| |jjj|
|000| |///| |SSS| |lll|
|§§§| |,,,| |UUU|
|###| |...| |VVV|
|¢¢¢| |;;;| |YYY|
|£££| |:::­| |&&&|
|¤¤¤| |]]]| IwwwI
|¥¥¥| |[[[|
|«««| |{{{|
|±±±| |}}}|
|»»»| |(((|
|LLL| |)))|
|TTT| |```|
|¯¯¯| |„„„|
|___| |ˆˆˆ|
|µµµ| |‹‹‹|
|†††| |“““|
|$$$| |”””|
|‡‡‡| |˜˜˜|
|ƒƒƒ| |›››|
|aaa| |...|
|bcb| |rrr|
|ccc| |ttt|
|ddd| |¹¹¹|
|eee|
|ggg|
|hhh|
|khh|
|nnn|
|ooo|
|ppp|
|ppq|
|sss|
|uuu|
|###|
|yyy|
|zzz|

By: Mysteryem


ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Whenever I make logos now, I like to see what they look like on the forums. A lot of times logos just look a lot better in that white text on that black background. But I don't always wanna do the whole thing and enter forums...So here's what you do:

On Wordpad/Notepad/Wherever, scroll up/down until you get a clear view of your picture. Hit the "Print Screen" button some where on your keyboard. Then, open up paintbrush.

Hit Ctrl + V/Paste. You will now see the screenshot of your picture. Move it around on paint to get a clear view of it. Now here comes the great part...

Hit Ctrl + I (Invert Colours)! It reverses the normal black text to white, and normal white background to black!

By: Dock­wa


ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

Shading
¯¯¯¯¯¯
I shade differently to most people. Most unalligned artist shade with the same pattern
eg. ;;:;:.:.:.. .
|;;:;:.:.:.. . |
|;;:;:.:.:.. . |
|;;:;:.:.:.. . |
|;;:;:.:.:.. . |
|;;:;:.:.:.. . |
which works very well, however for rougher objects, and to add a touch of excitement i alternate my patern eg.
|;;:;:.:.:.:. .|
|;::.:.. .. . ­ |
|;;:;::.:.. .. |
|;;::.:.. .. .­ |
|;:::..:. .. . |
notice that each line of shading is different to the others.

Types

I believe that ascii art can be split into 4 categories. the two obvious ones are Mixed and Alligned. However Unalligned cannot be shoved into one category. Unalligned art can be split into Unalligned-Alligned and Unalligned-Unalligned, It sounds stupid but can be very helpful when creating Unalligned art.

Unalligned-Alligned

This is the type of Unalligned drawing that i use. It uses characters which are almost all the same size, which makes lining up your picture and borders ALOT easier.
Characters the same size ¨ ` - . , ¸ ; : ´
Characters double the size = ~ ¬
Character Half the size '
Those characters have an even number of pixels, which makes them good for drawing with.

Unalligned-Unalligned

These characters have an Uneven number of pixels, which makes it hard to line up drawings. I almost Never use these in my drawings
| i ! ¦ º ° • " * ^ ¤ _ ¯ – ) ( ] [ { } /
_ and ¯ are the exclusion for my rule as theyre very usefull in creating angles.
Instead of using | for the edge of a sword use ; which is still very good and makes the drawing alot easier to controll.

Conclusion

I'm not saying that by following my section you'll be able to draw better than with the proper guide. I'm saying that drawing like that is easier for me.
As you progress in Ascii art and you begin to draw better things you must find your own style that suits you and your drawings.

~Toz


ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

­ Hello, and I am going to teach you the wonderful strategy of visualality.
Visualality is where you look at an item down to the details and get it. No matter if it is a pikachu, zapdos, Moltres, you need to get the details in unalligned and alligned. To get all the details without being incorrect. If it is a fictional object, such as a Pikachu with a Cheri Berry, look at a Pikachu, and a Cheri Berry. Try to find out what would happen if a Pikachu held one. Just try to get all the details once again, exept for its un-real.
If you are making something exotic, like a tiger, search the internet, find a good picture, and make a picture containing the exact same details.

If you are a beginning Ascii artist, and you are a good real life drawing artist, draw a picture, and grab all the details from the paper like I did with this picture.

...................../
..................../..
.................../....
................../......
................./........
................/..........
.............../_______
............../::::::::::/
............./..::::::::/..
............/....::::::/....
.........../......:::::/......
........../........:::/........
........./..........::/..........
......../_______/_______

I drew this Zelda Signal, then made it into great Ascii Art. This strategy is perferred for unaligned, for ANY time I use Unaligned art, I draw the picture before i post it. Even simple Drawings like this:

.......,-'''''''-,
.....,"::::::::",
...."::::::::::::".
...¯¯¯|..|¯¯¯¯
........|..|
........|_|©

Well, this is My Guide to Visualality. Enjoy!

By: Robert Nick1


ARTIST SPOTLIGHT

For unaligned, my favorite borders are these , . ; : ' " _ - ~ ¬ — ¯ and / | sometimes its fun to use a combination for an edge such as

,'

,"

,/"

,;'

etc.

For shading.... the darkest color would be farthest from the light source and the darkest character is obviously a space, and the lightest for unaligned you should use this ; however for aligned it would be this #, this is a scale for shading ranges.

. ..,. ., ..,,:;::;;:; :;:!;;!;!!!;!!!???:;:$$;;$$;##$#$###%%#%$##%

I would recomend to start out by doing shapes as you dont have to trace anything to make them and they are quite easy and good for practicing.

example:
.... ,-'-,
...,". . ",
.,'. . . . .",
..`¬~-~¬´


......................... ,.~•*'*•~., . . . . . . . . . . . . . ',º`*¬~~•-,._¸_
....................... ,':::::::::::;;;;', . . . . . . . . . . . . . ',. ,~,._,.,__.`,
....................... ',:::::::::::;;;;,' . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,' ,'
........................ '.,::::::::;;;;,' . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,' ,'
........................... '"*•~•*'´. . . . . . . . . . . . . . ,' ,'
......._,.-~•¬*´º,`,.~•*'~. , .~'*•~., _.-•~¬*º~_.. ,' ,'
... , '.............. ,' ::: :: ;::;;; ;;:;;::', . . . . . . . . ,' ,'
.... ' , ........... ,' :::::: ;;::::;:: ::;;:;', . . . . . . .,' ,'
........' ~,._,,..,' :;;:;;; ;:::;::::;:;;: ::;',..,,_.,~,'' ,'
................. ,' :::::,' ;:::;::::;::: ', ::;:', . . . ,' ,'
................ ,' :::;:,' ;;:::;::;:;::;: ', ;:::', . .,' ,'
............... ,' ;;;::,' ;;:;::;::::;;::;: ', ;;::', ,' ,'
.............. ,', :, ;,' ;;:::;::;::::;::;:; ', ;;::,' ,'
.............. ,':;::;', ;:;::;;;::::::::::::; ,'; ,' ,'
...............` ' ' ´ ;.:::;::;::;::;::;:::: . ,' ,'
..................... ;..:;;;;::;;;:;;::::;: ,' ,'
..................... ;..,::;;;;::::;;;;::::' ,'
.................... ; ...::;;;;;::;;;;;::::;
.................... ; ..,:::;;;;:::;;;::;;;:
.................... ; ..,.,.:::;;;:::::;;:;:
.................... ; .,.,:::;;;;:;;:;;:;::;
................... ,' .,.::;;;;:;;;::;;::::.;
................ , ' ..,.::;;;::::;;;:::;;;;: ' ,

Notice the circle for the head?

Any characteristics in a picture should be made after the base is made.
example:

.....,-'-,
...," . .",
.,' . . . .",
..`¬~-~¬´

If I were to add...say a face to this triangle I would do that after I made the boundary's.

.....,-'-,
...,"OO ,
.,' |___| ",
..`¬~-~¬´

This is a very poor example but it helps adding it after i have finished making the rest.

By: Aq174

THANKS TO EVERYONE WHO TOOK THEIR PART IN WORKING TO COMPLETE THIS GUIDE. I'M NOT SURE IF THIS SHOULD GO IN THE GUIDES FORUM OR THE FAN ART, BUT SINCE IT'S ABOUT ART AND NOT POKéMON, WELL, IT'S HERE. IF IT'S NOT IN THE RIGHT PLACE, PLEASE MOVE. IT.

wow! very nice. I've been wondering how people do those ASCII things so perfectly. Must have taken you a while to tye all that up.

Here's something relevant and interesting:

Open up CMD (Start -> Run -> type CMD. Or hold WIN Key and press R)
Type in Telnet
Then type in towel.blinkenlights.nl
Wait a few moments until Star Wars: A New Hope in ASCII comes up!

=O

wow very cool if i get time i hsall try this out

i've always wondered how people do that!