A Macintosh Picture into ASCII Art Conversion Application
Manual
Note: PICT->ASCII does not yet convert "PICT" files to ASCII, and I'm sorry if that confused you. It's coming. It does convert CURS, ICON, ICN#, ics#, kcs#, SICN, PAT#, ppat, and cicn resources to ASCII, though, and darned well, too!
PICT->ASCII is a very simple app, and as of now it's just an interface to the conversion algorithm; it's not very user-friendly. You type in how long by how high the image is, then paste in the hex data from ResEdit. It accepts any size up to 128x128, at 1 bit. It creates the art instantly and displays it. If your religion forbids you from using ResEdit, then you'll have to wait for the next version of this program, when it will have a nice Mac interface.
It's 5$ shareware, and pretty much well worth it :)
Quick Start: (Please read this even if you don't want a "Quick Start" — it'll give you the basics that you need to know.)
1. Open ResEdit
2. Open the file that contains the cursor, or icon you wish to convert to ASCII.
If you wish to paste in original PICT data, and the data is already 32x32 or smaller, do the following things:
A: Choose "New" from the File menu
B: Make a new ICON resource by typing Command-K or choosing "Create new resource" in the resource menu. Type in "ICON". It's case sensitive.
C: Paste in the picture data. It is not to exceed 32x32 pixels.
D: Close the window
3. Select the ICON you wish to convert
4. Choose "Open using hex editor" from the resource menu.
5. Choose "Select All" from the Edit menu, then "Copy"
PowerUser Tip: To speed up input of the picture data, do the following: make the hex window as big and long as you can. Select only the hex from offsets 0 to 78. Be sure to get all of offsets 0 and 78, because sometimes you miss a column. Then choose "copy".
6. Open PICT->ASCII converter
7. Type in 32, 32 at the appropriate prompts
8. Type in the style you would like to use:
If you decide not to use the smoothing feature, you picture will turn out will edges like this:
|~^~^~^~^~^~~|^~^~~|,
| | | ',
| | | ',
| .^~^~ '^~^~|
| | |
| ^~~| |
| | __, |
| | | | |
|~^~| |^~~|^~^~ '^~`
| \ , / |
| |__
| |
| |
| |^~
| |
|____________|
In this case, since the picture's mostly boxy, turning smoothing off is probably preferable. However, if your taste calls for something slightly smoother, you'll get this: (note the edges.)
(^^~^~^~^~^~~)^~^~~),
| | | ',
| | | ',
| .^~^~ '^~^~|
| | |
| ^~~) |
| | __, |
| | | | |
(^^~| |^~~)^~^~ '^~`
| \ , / |
| |__
| |
| |
| |^~
| |
(.__________.)
That's also nice. You of course are not bound to any choice you make — if you want to try it a different way, I'll explain how to do that in a second.
9. Paste in the data, and press return.
If you entered the dimensions right, and copied the resource correctly, it should automatically output your image.
10. Quit, or press return to rerun the program from the start.
Trying it again: If you would like to see your image with the alternate style (if you chose sharp and want to see it smooth, for example) press return when prompted. Then repeat the process, changing only your answer when it asks you if you would like rounding.
Quitting: You can save the output file if you want, but it's pointless, since the art's already saved in a file named "output.ascii," in the same folder as the program.
Now you have a semi-complete ASCII art image. If you're in a hurry, the straight output will do. But if you're going to post it somewhere, etc, I advise you to clean it up. This may include rounding corners, filling better black spaces, etc.
Notes for getting good results:
• Use larger images. 32x32s turn out very well. 16x16s can be hard to recognize.
• Use images that are bascially line drawings, etc. Scanned images will not fair well.
• Don't ever use images that contain a 50% grey. The algorithm freaks out, and you will get a bunch of slashes instead of grey. Try it yourself. (I'd replace the 50% grey with either black or white, completely.)
• Don't use busy images.
• Only use 1-Bit images that have been copied from ResEdit using the methods described.
• If an image isn't right, adjust it so that the program can handle it. That's about it!
Sizes Other Than 32x32
Sometimes you want something larger than 32x32. Or smaller. No matter. p2a can handle this. I will first cover all of the 16x16 pixel image methods. All of the following methods assume you understand how to create a graphic resource, or use one. If you need a refresher, from the main file window of ResEdit (the one with all of the resources) open the resource type you wish to copy from or create a new resource. From the picker, open the resource.
Any 16x16 pixel image (starting from the ics#, kcs#, SICN, PAT# or CURS picker)
1. Select the resource from the picker, or create one as described.
• You can paste a 16x16 1 bit picture into the editor. To create a resource, choose "Create new resource," and type "ics#"
2. Select the resource you wish to open, (if you made one, it's already open, so close it.) and open it using the hex editor, in the resource menu.(as described above.)
3. Choose "Select All," from the Edit menu, and then "Copy."
4. Paste data into PICT->ASCII. Be sure to set the dimensions to 16x16.
A 32x32 pixel image in a cicn resource:
You don't want to mess with a cicn when you don't have to. That's why I recomend opening the cicn using the standard picker, choosing the "Black and White" image, (if there is one. If there isn't, drag the small image of the color icon onto the space where the b&w icon would be.) selecting all of it, pasting it into a regular ICON resource, and using the described methods.
A 64x64 pixel image:
Ok, ok, so you've gotta have a giant image. I can identify with that. It's just that the cicn resource is so messy...here goes.
A brief explanation of the cicn: (read this) theres a color image, a bw image, and a mask. Nuff said. You know where the representations of them are? Of course you do. Just to the left of the picture editing area. The color one will automatically be selected, even if there's nothing in it.
1. If you've already got a Black and white 64x64 cicn you want to convert, skip to number 7.
2. Create a new cicn resource by choosing "create new resource," at the main window and typing "cicn." A window will pop up, with the standard editing tools.
3. Make the cicn 64x64 pixels by choosing "icon size" from the "cicn" menu.
4. Click on the box labeled "B&W"
5. Draw or paste in your jumbo image
6. Close the editing window.
7. Select the cicn you wish to convert.
8. Open it using the hex editor, from the resource menu.
9. Choose "Find Offset..." from the "Find" menu
10. Type in "250", and click "Find". Close the find window.
• You will be at the begining of 4 columns of hexidecimal numbers. (in the middle.) Place the text-insertion cursor before the first character of the second row by clicking at that spot. The row should look something like this: (numbers will of course vary.)
Offset Hexadecimal Rows....... Garbage
___________________________________________
000250 FFFF I0000 00FF FF00 ˇˇˇ ˇˇˇˇ ˇ
^ You click there.
I feel it's important to inform you that we're doing this because that's the begining of the part we're going to select. It's very important that you click on only the start of the second row of hex in the offset 000250, because that's where your picture begins.
11. Scroll down to offset 000458. It's only a few screen fulls down — you should be able to get it.
12. Hold down shift, and click right in the middle of the the row 458. In other words, we're shift clicking a bunch of hex, to select everything from the second row of the offset 250 to offset 458. You don't have to be exact about where you click with offset 458, because it's mostly unused information. Clicking right in the middle of the row of hex will do.
13. Pat yourself on the back, because it's almost over!
14. Copy the data from the window (File menu)
15. Open up PICT->ASCII, and enter the fitting numbers (64,64,[1/0])
16. Paste in the hex, and press return. Yeeeeeeaah! It's all over!
A ppat Image:
[64x64]
1. Open the ppat resource using the ppat picker.
2. Select all, and choose "copy"
3. Open a new cicn resource, and click on the box labeled "B&W"
4. Choose "Icon Size" from the cicn menu, and make the cicn 64x64
5. Choose "paste" from the edit menu
6. Follow the directions for converting a cicn, located above.
[32x32]
Copy the picture from the ppat to a new ICON resource. You should be able to do this by now!
[16x16]
Copy the picture from the ppat to a new ics# resource.
[8x8]
Copy the picture from the ppat to a new ics# resource. You'll have plenty of free space.
A PICT Image:
1. If the PICT image is 32x32 or smaller, paste the PICT into a new ICON resource. If it's larger, paste it into a 64x64 cicn resource, as described above.
• If you wish to use a PICT that's in the resources of a file (or application), open the file in ResEdit, double click on the PICT resource, double click on the PICT you want, then paste it into the appropriate resource as outlined in #1.
2. Use the described methods of coversion relating to what type of resource you pasted your pict into.
In all cases:
If the program just sits there after you paste in the data and press return, it means it didn't have enough allocated memory. Do this:
Quit P->A.Go to the finder and select PICT->ASCII's icon. Choose "Get Info" from the File menu. Increase the "prefered size" (the text box towards the bottom) to at least 571. Close the Get Info window and start up P->A again. Voila!
Hey, by the way, if you do something creative or interesting with p2a, email it to me! I'd be glad to hear how you use it, etc. I'd especially like to hear from you if you use it in the creation of ASCII art for a BBS or Telnet site. I'm just interested. Thanks :)
