Talk: For best results in viewing ASCII art ...

   Here is the answer to Question 7 in the ASCII Art Resources file:


   For best results in viewing ASCII art, try the following:

   o  A 'non-proportional' font, also called a 'mono-spaced' font.  This is a
      font that displays the same number of characters per inch, no matter
      what the actual width of the characters.  So the letters i and n and m
                                                      are displayed at the
      iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii   same characters per
      nnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn   per inch.  If you are
      MMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMMM   actually viewing with
                                                      a non-proportional,
      or mono-spaced, font, the three lines in the inset area above should
      appear the same length.  If they don't look the same length, try another
      font.  Names to look for on various systems include: Courier, System,
      Monaco, Line Printer, etc.  This is a simple Geometric Article.  It is
      used as a wrap-around for the lines of characters.

   o  A small, say, 9 point font, will help to increase the apparent
      resolution.  A small font also helps the illusion of gray scale images.

   o  Viewing from a distance of a meter or more also helps.

   o  Use light characters on a dark background.  Many ASCII pictures are
      meant to be viewed light on dark.  This is because the artist can more
      easily control the light and get a better lighting effect.  Also, the
      viewer benefits because there is less glare than you would get from a
      light background.


   And in some instances:

   o  While most gray scale pics are made to be viewed light characters on a
      dark background, some will be dark on light.  This is because it is
      meant to be printed with dark ink on light paper.  Use dark characters
      on a light background, or print out the picture.

   o  While most ASCII pics are made to be viewed on a monitor that displays
      80 characters across, some ASCII art is wider, say, 81 to 132 characters
      across.  It is meant to be printed.  Use a small, say, 4 point type, and
      view dark on light, or print out the picture.

   o  While mast ASCII art is either ready to view, 'cat' or print, you may
      find art that has been saved as a picture in a bitmap, EPS, GIF, or
      other binary format, which must be viewed or printed with the
      appropriate software.


   There are a few important things to remember when making, viewing, or
talking about an ASCII art image.  And they're obvious but almost always
forgotten.

   o  Even though different fonts may all be mono-spaced, they ARE different,
      and can give a picture a different look.  Some artists may mention the
      font the picture was made with.

   o  A font may be serif or sans-serif (serifs are the little feet on
      characters.  The ascenders and descenders may be straight or curved.
      And characters may be wider or narrower.

   o  The weight, or heaviness of characters can vary.  Serifs, the little
      feet on characters, can make them look heavier.  Especially effected by
      weight inconsistencies are symbols like:

      #  hatch/hash mark
      $  dollar sign
      @  at sign

   o  Shapes can vary too.  Here are some of the more consistent shapes:

      -  dash
      /  slash
      \  backslash

      Richard Kirk says "Shapes to be wary of are:"

      ~  sometimes sits high, sometimes in middle
      ^  same reason
      *  same reason
      &  sometimes closed, sometimes open
      |  same reason
      '  sometimes hooked left, sometimes straight
      [] sometimes centered, sometimes far off
      <> sometimes touch top and bottom, sometimes centered
      0  sometimes with slash, sometimes open
      l  sometimes with base, sometimes not
      y  sometimes straight tail, sometimes curved

   o  According to Jorn in his "asciitech" file, "Unfortunately, this narrow
      standard ignored the needs of many other cultures: the British 'pound'
      sign, letters with accents in French and Scandinavian alphabets, etc.,
      which led them to introduce slight modifications to the standard, making
      the following symbols (at least) non-universal:"

      ^  caret
      `  backquote
      #  hatch/hash mark
      |  pipe
      {} curly braces
      ~  tilde
      \  backslash
      [] square brackets
      $  dollar sign
      @  at sign

   o  Different systems display text differently.  If you look at a picture on
      a terminal at a Unix site, and then bring it home and view it on a Mac,
      it will look different.  On the Mac, it will have a greater aspect
      ratio.  In other words, it will be displayed shorter top to bottom.
      Even though it contains the same number of lines.


   This is an Aspect Ratio Scale:

        0.0  0.5  1.0  1.5  2.0  2.5  3.0  3.5  4.0  4.5  5.0
        -+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+----+---->
         |
         |                                             |
         |          To get the aspect ratio of         |
         |          the screen you are viewing:        |
         |                                             |
         |   ______ Measure the vertical line (at      |
         |          the left) on your screen.          |
         |                                             |
         |          Read off the same distance on the horizontal
        -+-         scale (above).  That number is the aspect ratio.


--
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