Original Usenet thread from alt.ascii-art, started 19 May 1998.
Usable pagewidth for ascii pics
alt.ascii-art
· 3 messages · 19 May 1998 - 20 May 1998
What is the usable pagewidth for ascii pics? (This article is for interested readers only ;-)) There is linewrap, which limits the usable pagewidth on the right hand side of the page. And recently, a limit for the left hand side of the page has appeared, due to some "intelligent" email and newsgroup software that automatically purges single spaces at the beginning of the line. (This "intelligent" feature is useful for general usage of email and newsgroup software, but can do damage to ascii pics.) On linewrap, conventional wisdom says a safe right hand limit of column #80. A survey that I did some time ago, revealed a lower safe right hand limit of column #73. In other words, column #74 (and higher) of the test bar used in the survey has been linewrapped by email and newsgroups software in actual use. And now, with the above mentioned "intelligent" feature, the safe left hand limit is not at column #1, but in all likelyhood at column #3. The other options do not really help you gain usable pagewidth on the left hand side of the page. For example, if you put dots in column #1 (such that the "intelligent" software has no blanks to purge,) you may likely want to put a blank column or two between the dots column and the actual ascii pic, and that means that you then begin the ascii pic in column #3 or even further to the right. Simply starting the ascii pic in column #3 seems to be the simplest option in most cases, at least for now ... ... shudder, shudder ... if "even more intelligent" email and newsgroup software are released, that purges _all_ blanks at the beginning of the line, then we may well be forced to put dots at the beginning of each line ... But for now ... Holy Cow! Instead of a usable pagewidth of 80 columns, columns #1 to #80, the usable pagewidth for ascii pics that you can safely use without risking any damage from the right or left hand side of the page is from column #3 to #73, just 71 columns! ========================================================= [] ,, [] [] ( "> Visit the Gallery of the 'steins! [] [] ,(> )> http://www3.sympatico.ca/petecasso/ [] [] ( ^^ Devilstein, who sired all the 'steins [] [] [] =========================================================
.----- On Tue, 19 May 1998 01:33:22 GMT, Pete Casso posted:
|
|For example, if you put dots in column #1 (such that the "intelligent"
|software has no blanks to purge,) you may likely want to put a blank column or
|two between the dots column and the actual ascii pic, and that means that you
|then begin the ascii pic in column #3 or even further to the right.
|
'-----------------------------
I usually try to put the pic OVER my dots or whatever I use, and just forget
they are there, as this sig shows:
.------------------------------------------------------------------------.
:_ _ _ _ :
|_|_ _|_| _ _ _ _ _ _ _|_|_ _ |_| _ _ _ :
|_|_|_|_|_| _|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_| _ |_|_|_|_ :
|_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_|_| |_| |_| |_| | ||||| .-----------.
|_| |_| |_|_ _|_| |_| |_|_ _ |_| |_| | | o o ||mart.atkins|
|_| _ _ |_| |_|_|_| |_| _ |_|_| |_| |_| | | > || @ |
: _|_|_|_ _|_|_ _ |_| _ |_| _ _ _ _ _ _ | \_/ ||bigfoot.com|
:|_|_ _|_| |_|_|_|_| |_|_|_| _ |_|_|_|_ _|_|_|_| \___/ '-----------'
:|_|_|_|_| |_| |_|_|_ |_| |_| |_| |_|_|_ _ __| |__ :
:|_| |_| |_|_ _ |_| |_|_ |_| |_| |_| _ _|_| / \_/ \ :
:|_| |_| |_|_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_|_|_|| | | | :
: http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/ | | MGA | | :
: http://voices.vossnet.co.uk/a/atkins/ascii.htm | | | | :
'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
If you are new to the newsgroup, please read our FAQ list - posted weekly
and on the web at http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/ascfaq.htm
I can`t actually find the one I was using when this OE "feature" was
discovered... but for a while I dotted the side, then I put a box around it,
without dislocating the pic at all.
Maybe this wouldn`t be good for pics, but for sigs it is fine.
||||| __________________________________________________
|||( o| / Hmmm... my sig for this month isn`t OE friendly /
||| > _____/ ______________________________________________/
| -| /________/ \
\__/ | | |
| | | | |
/ " \ __ |____|__|
|\\ |/.-' _.|______|__| mga
| \\// """""""""""""
||||| _
| o o | Martin Atkins / |
| > | AKA mga / |
| \_/_________________________________/___|_
__/___| o o o o o o o o o o o A _______
| MGA Airlines _-"
-________________\ \____________-"
mart.atkins. \_____\ .bigfoot.com
'-- @ ---'
http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/
http://voices.vossnet.co.uk/a/atkins/ascii.htm
--------------- ICQ: 11920822 -------------------
If you are new to the newsgroup, please read
our FAQ list - posted weekly and on the web at
http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/ascfaq.htm
| ||||| _
|| o o | Martin Atkins / |
|| > | AKA mga / |
|| \_/_________________________________/___|_
|__/___| o o o o o o o o o o o A _______
| MGA Airlines _-"
|-________________\ \____________-"
| mart.atkins. \_____\ .bigfoot.com
| '-- @ ---'
| http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/
http://voices.vossnet.co.uk/a/atkins/ascii.htm
--------------- ICQ: 11920822 -------------------
If you are new to the newsgroup, please read
our FAQ list - posted weekly and on the web at
http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/ascfaq.htm
This is one time when | will not do... it interferes with the pic
: ||||| _
:| o o | Martin Atkins / |
:| > | AKA mga / |
:| \_/_________________________________/___|_
:__/___| o o o o o o o o o o o A _______
| MGA Airlines _-"
:-________________\ \____________-"
: mart.atkins. \_____\ .bigfoot.com
: '-- @ ---'
: http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/
http://voices.vossnet.co.uk/a/atkins/ascii.htm
--------------- ICQ: 11920822 -------------------
If you are new to the newsgroup, please read
our FAQ list - posted weekly and on the web at
http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/ascfaq.htm
My 'Other Newsgroups' sig (which I use here accidentally sometimes <g>) is OE
friendly totally by accident :)
|\/| _..__|_o._ /\_|_| o._ _ mart.atkins@--
| |(_|| |_|| | /--\|_|<|| |_> --bigfoot.com
This ascii sig is smaller than a lot of non-ascii sigs!
Enough pointless drivel
Goodbye,
Martin
.------------------------------------------------------------------------.
:_ _ _ _ :
|_|_ _|_| _ _ _ _ _ _ _|_|_ _ |_| _ _ _ :
|_|_|_|_|_| _|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_| |_|_|_|_| _ |_|_|_|_ :
|_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_|_| |_| |_| |_| | ||||| .-----------.
|_| |_| |_|_ _|_| |_| |_|_ _ |_| |_| | | o o ||mart.atkins|
|_| _ _ |_| |_|_|_| |_| _ |_|_| |_| |_| | | > || @ |
: _|_|_|_ _|_|_ _ |_| _ |_| _ _ _ _ _ _ | \_/ ||bigfoot.com|
:|_|_ _|_| |_|_|_|_| |_|_|_| _ |_|_|_|_ _|_|_|_| \___/ '-----------'
:|_|_|_|_| |_| |_|_|_ |_| |_| |_| |_|_|_ _ __| |__ :
:|_| |_| |_|_ _ |_| |_|_ |_| |_| |_| _ _|_| / \_/ \ :
:|_| |_| |_|_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_| |_|_|_|| | | | :
: http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/ | | MGA | | :
: http://voices.vossnet.co.uk/a/atkins/ascii.htm | | | | :
'------------------------------------------------------------------------'
If you are new to the newsgroup, please read our FAQ list - posted weekly
and on the web at http://vibes.vossnet.co.uk/i/ighaig/ascfaq.htm
If you use a bordered panel, sig or pic, you should be fine. Not everyone likes the pic or sig flush with the border though. A variation on this theme is when the pic or sig itself is flush to the extreme left of the page. The safe condition for the pic or sig in this case is that no line should begin with a single blank, or to say things the other way around, all lines should begin with either a character or with two or more blanks. If the maker of such a pic or sig (flush to the extreme left of the page) knows exactly what s/he is doing then that should be fine too. But generally speaking, and considering all the diddlings in the process of making a pic or sig, it is much safer to begin in column #3. ========================================================= [] ,, [] [] ( "> Visit the Gallery of the 'steins! [] [] ,(> )> http://www3.sympatico.ca/petecasso/ [] [] ( ^^ Devilstein, who sired all the 'steins [] [] [] =========================================================
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