Photo to ASCII art
ASCII portraits replace pixels with characters. Ghostglyph adds neon palettes and CRT signal effects, but the image still succeeds or fails on three fundamentals: density, contrast, and proportion.
Make an ASCII portrait
How conversion works
A photo is sampled into a grid. Every cell is measured for brightness, then matched to a character whose visual weight represents that brightness. A space can represent darkness; a dense block can represent a bright highlight.
Ghostglyph preserves the source proportions by measuring the selected monospace font. That matters because text cells are not square. Without compensation, faces look stretched even when the brightness mapping is correct.
Build a readable portrait
Choose an image with one clear subject and directional light. Separation between face and background produces cleaner glyph edges.
Start near the middle of the resolution range. Lower values feel graphic; higher values preserve fine facial detail.
Raise contrast until features separate, then adjust exposure so shadows retain enough visible characters to read.
Glyph choice changes the voice of the result. Blocks produce bold arcade silhouettes. Dense ramps behave more like grayscale photography. Binary and katakana sets trade tonal precision for a stronger graphic identity.
Private first, public by choice
Uploaded files and camera captures are transformed on your device. Public image URLs and GitHub avatars are fetched transiently. Ghostglyph does not store any source image.
You can save a full-resolution PNG or copy the character grid without publishing. If you choose to broadcast a render, the web-optimized image appears in Ghostfeed for 24 hours and then disappears.
Questions
What images work best?
Portraits with a clear subject, visible highlights, and separation from the background usually produce the most readable ASCII art. Extremely flat lighting gives the glyph mapper less structure to work with.
Is the ASCII art generator free?
Yes. Ghostglyph runs free in a modern browser. You can generate, download, and copy ASCII art without creating an account.
Does Ghostglyph store my photo?
No. File uploads and camera captures remain in your browser. Public URL sources and GitHub avatars are fetched transiently and never stored. Only a finished render you explicitly publish is saved.
Can I keep a render private?
Yes. Use Save PNG or Copy as text. Publishing to Ghostfeed is a separate, explicit action.
Why do public signals expire?
The 24-hour lifespan keeps the gallery current, limits stored data, and gives shared links a little urgency. Expired links lead back to the generator instead of exposing the deleted image.