Conversions to ASCII

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                         Conversions to ASCII                 20/2/97

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**********************     IMPORTANT NOTE    ************************

   This information is taken from a copy of the last Ascii Art FAQ
   posted before Bob Allison retired as Moderator of the newsgroup
   "rec.arts.ascii" in June 1996.

   There is no guarantee that the references to Archives, Ftp Sites,
   Websites and Files are still valid.

********************************************************************


  15   How can I make Gray Scale pictures?

  You can make them from scratch if you are a very good ASCII
artist.  An easier way is to use a converter program.  There's
ASCGIF, Gifscii (with versions for many systems), ANSIrez,
"ansicv22", GIF2ANSI, and "gif2txt" for the PC.

  There's also the HyperCard stack called "asciipicter".  It allows
you to draw a picture, and convert it to ASCII art.  This is for the
Macintosh.

  These programs make an ASCII pic from any GIF (Graphics
Interchange Format) image (or image you can convert to a GIF).  Most
converters require the GIF to be in 87a format.  GIFs in 89a format,
must be converted to 87a format first.

  The exception to the GIF converters is a bitmap converter for
Windows called Pixel Characterizer (version 0.5) by Shi Y Chen.



 16  Where can I get Gray Scale converters?

  You can get Gifscii for many systems, and the source code from:


o FTP Sites:

          Chris' FTP site
->  Host: ftp.ncsu.edu
    Path: pub/ncsu/chking/Archive
     URL: ftp://ftp.ncsu.edu/pub/ncsu/chking

          Scarecrow's FTP Site
->  Host: ftp.wwa.com
    Path: pub/Scarecrow/Gifscii
     URL: ftp://ftp.wwa.com/pub/Scarecrow/Gifscii
          Also accessible through the Scarecrow's Gopher and WWW sites.

          Both Chris' and Scarcecrow's sites have Gifscii 2.2 for
          MSDOS, Unix (Sun), Macintosh, Amiga, Digital Alpha,
          Digital VAX, as well as the c-source code.  Scarecrow's
          site also has "ansicv22.zip", "ansirez1.zip", and
          "asciipicter.sit.hqx" (HyperCard stack).


  You can get ASCGIF from:

o FTP Sites:

->  Host: usc.edu
    Path: archive/usenet/sources/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif
URL: ftp://usc.edu/archive/usenet/sources/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif

          Scarecrow's FTP Site
->  Host: ftp.wwa.com
    Path: pub/Scarecrow/Misc
     URL: ftp://ftp.wwa.com/pub/Scarecrow/Misc
          Also accessible through the Scarecrow's Gopher and WWW sites.

->  Host: wuarchive.wustl.edu
    Path: usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif
    URL: ftp://wuarchive.wustl.edu/usenet/comp.sources.misc/volume30/ascgif


  You can get GIF2ANSI and "gif2txt" from:

o BBS Sites:

->   BBS: Exec-PC (414) 789-4210
    File: GIF2ANSI.ZIP, in the "Mahoney MS-DOS" file collection.

->   BBS: Aquila BBS (708) 820-8344]
    File: gif2txt.zip


   You can get the GDS GIF-JPEG to ANSI (for DOS) at:

o FTP Sites:

   ->  Host: ftp.netcom.com
       Path: pub/ph/photodex
       File: gds31d.zip
        URL: ftp://ftp.netcom.com/pub/ph/photodex/gds31d.zip

   ->  Host: oak.oakland.edu
       Path: SimTel/msdos/graphics
       File: gds31d.zip
        URL: ftp://oak.oakland.edu/SimTel/msdos/graphics/gds31d.zip



  17  How can I make better Gray Scale conversions?

  Most of us start out thinking that you just put a GIF into a
converter program and out comes a perfect ASCII pic.  Would you
believe ... there are some things you can do to improve the chances
of getting a good conversion.

  The following is not a complete list, but it is what I have
learned in making many conversions:

o Use an 8 bit gray scale or color image instead of a 2 bit B&W image.

o Use an image with a wide, even distribution of tones.

o Keep it simple, like a face or close-up of an object.

o Avoid busy backgrounds.  With exceptions, avoid bright backgrounds.

o Use an image that is tightly cropped, without a lot of waste.

o Be prepared to quickly run through a series of conversions.  You
  will probably not like 9 to 11 out of 12.

o It helps to do touch-up work on the converted picture.
  Concentrate on the focal points and important areas of the
  picture.

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