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View Images as ASCII With asciiview

Convert a PNG or JPEG into ASCII art in the terminal or a text file.

LinuximagesmediaASCII artLow risk
Run asciiview photo.png to render the image as ASCII art.

01Command

Command
$ asciiview photo.png

02What it does

asciiview decodes an image with AAlib and prints it as text, either interactively or to a file. It can output plain ASCII or HTML and supports brightness and contrast options, making it useful for old-school previews and text-only docs.

03Risk

RiskLow risk
Requirementssudo apt install aview
!Warning: The output is monochrome; use chafa or catimg for color previews.

04Undo

✓No undo needed — this command does not change persistent state.

05Sources

  • Debian package: aview
    Debian · vendor-doc · 2026-09-20
    Evidence: Installs asciiview and aview, which render images as ASCII/text.
  • aview — ASCII image viewer
    AA Project · vendor-doc · 2026-09-20
    Evidence: Documents asciiview usage and output formats.

Last verified: 2026-09-20 · Category: Media

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