ASCII art

Software

Asciiquarium — An aquarium/sea animation in ASCII art.

https://robobunny.com/projects/asciiquarium/ || asciiquarium

boxes — Text mode box and comment drawing filter.

https://boxes.thomasjensen.com/ || boxes^AUR, boxes-git^AUR

FIGlet — A program for making large letters out of ordinary text.

http://www.figlet.org/ || figlet

jp2a — A small utility for converting JPG and PNG images to ASCII.

https://csl.name/jp2a/ || jp2a

TOIlet — Free replacement for the FIGlet utility.

http://caca.zoy.org/wiki/toilet || toilet^AUR

For diagrams there is https://asciiflow.com/.

Arch ASCII logos

See the original forum thread.

 \e[H\e[2J
           \e[0;36m.
          \e[0;36m/ \
         \e[0;36m/   \      \e[1;37m               #     \e[1;36m| *
        \e[0;36m/^.   \     \e[1;37m a##e #%" a#"e 6##%  \e[1;36m| | |-^-. |   | \ /
       \e[0;36m/  .-.  \    \e[1;37m.oOo# #   #    #  #  \e[1;36m| | |   | |   |  X
      \e[0;36m/  (   ) _\   \e[1;37m%OoO# #   %#e" #  #  \e[1;36m| | |   | ^._.| / \ \e[0;37mTM
     \e[1;36m/ _.~   ~._^\
    \e[1;36m/.^         ^.\ \e[0;37mTM

From screenfetch 3.6.5-1:

                   -`
                  .o+`
                 `ooo/
                `+oooo:
               `+oooooo:
               -+oooooo+:
             `/:-:++oooo+:
            `/++++/+++++++:
           `/++++++++++++++:
          `/+++ooooooooooooo/`
         ./ooosssso++osssssso+`
        .oossssso-````/ossssss+`
       -osssssso.      :ssssssso.
      :osssssss/        osssso+++.
     /ossssssss/        +ssssooo/-
   `/ossssso+/:-        -:/+osssso+-
  `+sso+:-`                 `.-/+oso:
 `++:.                           `-/+/
 .`                                 `

From 0.4.7-1:

From 0.5-2:

               +              
               #              
              ###             
             #####            
             ######           
            ; #####;          
           +##.#####          
          +##########         
         #############;       
        ###############+      
       #######   #######      
     .######;     ;###;`".      
    .#######;     ;#####.       
    #########.   .########`     
   ######'           '######    
  ;####                 ####;   
  ##'                     '##   
 #'                         `#

ArchWiki's birthday celebration:

User art:

by Cyllos

by LnLcFlx

Code page 437 save (e.g. /etc/issue):

by Hendrikto (modified from the version by LnLcFlx)

Cowsay

Here are some examples of and fortune used together:

Default cow with fortune

Combined with the program :

$ cowthink $(fortune)
 ________________________________________ 
( The best cure for insomnia is to get a )
( lot of sleep. -W.C. Fields             )
 ---------------------------------------- 
        o   ^__^
         o  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

Display a potentially offensive fortune:

$ cowsay $(fortune -o)
 _________________________________ 
< Chastity is its own punishment. >
 --------------------------------- 
        \   ^__^
         \  (oo)\_______
            (__)\       )\/\
                ||----w |
                ||     ||

The ASCII images are generated by text files located in , and all themes can be listed with the . These files can be edited to the user's liking; custom images can also be created from scratch or found on the net. The easiest way create a custom cow file is to use an existing one as a template. To test the custom file:

$ cowsay -f /path/to/file $(fortune)

Random cow with fortune

$ fortune -c | cowthink -f $(find /usr/share/cows -type f | shuf -n 1)
  ___________________________________________
( (computers) % A language that doesn't )
( affect the way you think about                  )
( programming is not worth knowing.       )
  ------------------------------------------------------
         o      (__)
          o     /oo|
           o   (_"_)*+++++++++*
                    //I#\ \ \ \ \ \ \ \   I \
                   I[I|I | | | | |   I I `
                   I`I ' /  /  /  '  '     I I
                   I I                       I I
                  ~ ~                     ~ ~
                        Scowleton

Random custom cow with fortune

Complex commands can be chained to produce detailed ASCII art such as this Futurama example.

Display a random cow with a random facial expression and wrap long lines of fortune text:

$ fortune -a | fmt -80 -s | $(shuf -n 1 -e cowsay cowthink) -$(shuf -n 1 -e b d g p s t w y) -f $(shuf -n 1 -e $(cowsay -l | tail -n +2)) -n
    ________________________________________ 
( Fry: I must be a robot. Why else would )
( human women refuse to date me?         )
    -------------------------------------------------- 
      o
        o
          o  
             ,'``.._   ,'``.
            :,--._:)\,:,._,.:
            :`--,@@@:`...';\        
             `,'@@@@@@@`---'@@`.     
             /@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@:
            /@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@\
          ,'@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@:\.___,-.
         `...,---'``````-..._@@@@|:@@@@@@@\
           (                 )@@@;:@@@@)@@@\  _,-.
            `.              (@@@//@@@@@@@@@@`'@@@@\
             :               `.//@@)@@@@@@)@@@@@,@;
             |`.            _,'/@@@@@@@)@@@@)@,'@,'
             :`.`-..____..=:.-':@@@@@.@@@@@_,@@,'
            ,'\ ``--....-)='    `._,@@\    )@@@'``._
           /@_@`.       (@)      /@@@@@)  ; / \ \`-.'
          (@@@`-:`.     `' ___..'@@_,-'   |/   `.)
           `-. `.`.``-----``--,@@.'
             |/`.\`'        ,',');
                 `         (/  (/

Ponysay

For full 256-colored cowsay-like art use ponysay (version 3.0 has 422 ponies). The syntax is the same, meaning to say something and for a complete list of ponies. To select a pony to display, run , where x is a pony. To create more ponies use and store them in and for desktop and TTY, respectively.