Contents

Introduction

Ever wondered how to turn an image into awesome ASCII art directly inside your terminal? In this beginner-friendly tutorial, you’ll learn how to load an image, convert it to grayscale, map pixels to ASCII characters, and display it line-by-line with a smooth animated effect.

This project is perfect for beginners learning:

  • Basic image processing
  • OpenCV fundamentals
  • ASCII art generation
  • Terminal animation

Requirements

Install the required library:

pip install opencv-contrib-python

You also need an image file named:

ia.png

Place it in the same folder as your script. Of course you can try any other image name but remember to change that name in the code as well.

Understanding the Code

1. Importing Libraries

import cv2
import time
import os
  • cv2 → Image loading and resizing
  • time → Adding animation timing
  • os → Optional file management

2. ASCII Character Set

ASCII = "@%#*+=-:. "

Characters are arranged from darkest (@) to lightest (). Each grayscale pixel finds its closest match in this set.

3. Load the Image

img = cv2.imread("ia.png", cv2.IMREAD_GRAYSCALE)
if img is None:
    raise FileNotFoundError("Image issue!")

Loads the image as grayscale. If missing → raises an error.

4. Resize While Keeping Aspect Ratio

h, w = img.shape
new_w = 90
ratio = h / w
new_h = int(new_w * ratio * 0.55)
resized = cv2.resize(img, (new_w, new_h))

Why multiply by 0.55? Because terminal text cells are taller than they are wide, so we shrink vertically to maintain the correct proportions.

5. Convert Pixels to ASCII (With Animation!)

for i, row in enumerate(resized):
    print("".join([ASCII[int(p) * len(ASCII) // 256] for p in row]))
    time.sleep(0.05)
  • Converts each pixel intensity to a matching ASCII character
  • Builds each line as a string
  • Prints it with a short delay to create the animation effect

Full Source Code

import cv2
import time
import os

ASCII = "@%#*+=-:. "
img = cv2.imread("ia.png", cv2.IMREAD_GRAYSCALE)
if img is None:
    raise FileNotFoundError("Image issue!")

h, w = img.shape
new_w = 90
ratio = h / w
new_h = int(new_w * ratio * 0.55)
resized = cv2.resize(img, (new_w, new_h))

for i, row in enumerate(resized):
    print("".join([ASCII[int(p) * len(ASCII) // 256]
                   for p in row]))
    time.sleep(0.05)

Running the Script

Save the script as:

ascii_art.py

Run it:

python ascii_art.py

Your ASCII animation will begin drawing line-by-line!

Full Source Code (Colored version)

Try the following for colorful version:

import cv2, time

ASCII = " .:-=+*#%@"
img = cv2.imread("ia.png")
if img is None: raise FileNotFoundError()
h, w = img.shape[:2]
new_w = 80
new_h = int(new_w * (h / w) * 0.5)
img = cv2.resize(img, (new_w, new_h))
gray = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)

for gy, row in zip(gray, img):
    line = "".join(
        f"\033[38;2;{r};{g};{b}m{ASCII[p*9//255]}\033[0m"
        for p, (b, g, r) in zip(gy, row)
    )
    print(line)
    time.sleep(0.01)

Breaking Down the Code for COLORFUL ASCII ART

  1. Importing Libraries
import cv2, time
  • cv2 → OpenCV library for image processing
  • time → To add a small delay for animated printing
  1. ASCII Characters
ASCII = " .:-=+*#%@"

Each character represents a different brightness level

” “ is the lightest, “@” is the darkest

  1. Loading the Image
img = cv2.imread("ia.png")
if img is None: 
    raise FileNotFoundError()
  • Reads the image file
  • Throws an error if the image is missing
  1. Resizing the Image
h, w = img.shape[:2]
new_w = 80
new_h = int(new_w * (h / w) * 0.5)
img = cv2.resize(img, (new_w, new_h))
  • Maintains aspect ratio
  • Scales the width to 80 characters
  • 0.5 factor compensates for character height vs width
  1. Converting to Grayscale
gray = cv2.cvtColor(img, cv2.COLOR_BGR2GRAY)
  • Converts image to grayscale
  • Each pixel now represents brightness (0–255)
  1. Mapping Pixels to ASCII Characters with Color
for gy, row in zip(gray, img):
    line = "".join(
        f"\033[38;2;{r};{g};{b}m{ASCII[p*9//255]}\033[0m"
        for p, (b, g, r) in zip(gy, row)
    )
    print(line)
    time.sleep(0.01)
  • Loops over each row of pixels
  • Maps brightness to ASCII character
  • Colors characters using ANSI escape codes:
\033[38;2;R;G;Bm
  • Sets RGB foreground color
  • \033[0m resets formatting
  • time.sleep(0.01) adds a small delay to create a smooth printing effect

Conclusion

You now know how to:

  • Load and process images with OpenCV
  • Convert image pixels to ASCII brightness levels
  • Create cool terminal animations

Try modifying:

  • The ASCII character set
  • Image size
  • Animation speed

Tips:

  • Increase new_w for higher-resolution ASCII art.
  • Use a terminal with truecolor support for best results.
  • You can experiment with different ASCII character sets for different artistic styles.

Enjoy experimenting, and happy coding!

Website: https://www.pyshine.com Author: PyShine