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⬡ RetroVault Tools

Image to ANSI Art Converter (BBS style)

Convert PNG or JPEG images to 16-colour CP437 ANSI • .ANS with SAUCE / PNG

Turn any picture into colour ANSI art as it lit up BBS screens and scene artpacks: the 16 VGA colours, IBM code page 437 block characters (█ ▀ ▄ ▌ ▐) and the classic ░ ▒ ▓ shades. For every character cell the converter picks the block, foreground and background that best match your image, then writes a real .ANS file with its SAUCE record, ready for PabloDraw, Moebius or a BBS terminal. It runs entirely in your browser — your image is never uploaded.

📁
DROP YOUR IMAGE HERE
or click to browse • PNG, JPG, BMP, GIF, WEBP
Source image for ANSI conversion
Conversion options
WIDTH
80 columns (80 = standard BBS screen)
CHARACTERS
COLOURS
BRIGHTNESS
0
CONTRAST
0
SATURATION
0
GAMMA
1.00
SAUCE
⏳ CONVERTING...
⬇ .ANS ⬇ .PNG
How to use

🎚 Getting a good result

  • Stay at 80 columns for a file that displays on any BBS terminal; wider pieces need a viewer that reads the SAUCE width
  • Bold, colourful pictures suit the 16-colour palette best; raise saturation for punchier colours, lower it if skin or beige tones turn orange
  • Dither trades flat areas for more intermediate tones; it is noisy at low widths
  • Options update the result live once the first conversion is done

📄 .ANS

Code page 437 bytes with ANSI SGR colour codes, CR LF line ends and a 128-byte SAUCE record (title, author, group, date, width, iCE flag, font IBM VGA). Open it in PabloDraw, Moebius, ansilove or a BBS terminal such as SyncTERM. Untick iCE colours for terminals that only know 8 backgrounds.

🖼 .PNG

The art rendered pixel-exact in the 8×16 VGA cell, shades included, as shown in the preview.

FAQ

What is an .ANS file?

A text file for IBM PC code page 437 with ANSI escape codes for colours, as drawn on BBS screens and in artpacks of the 1990s. It is meant to be displayed in an 80-column terminal with the 8x16 VGA font.

How do I open the .ANS file?

Use an ANSI editor or viewer such as PabloDraw, Moebius or ansilove, or display it in a BBS terminal like SyncTERM. A plain text editor shows the escape codes instead of the picture.

What are iCE colours?

Classic ANSI only has 8 background colours; the blink attribute can be reinterpreted as 16 bright backgrounds. The file then carries the iCE flag in its SAUCE record so viewers know. Turn it off for maximum compatibility with old terminals.

What is SAUCE?

A 128-byte metadata record appended to the end of the file (title, author, group, date, width, font), the standard of the ANSI art scene since 1994.

Are my images uploaded to a server?

No, everything runs in your browser; nothing leaves your device.

Prefer plain text? Try our Image to ASCII art converter for NFO-style 7-bit art, or browse all RetroVault tools.

Your image stays in your browser — it is never uploaded to our server

CP437 • 16 VGA colours • SAUCE 00 • PabloDraw / Moebius / SyncTERM