ASCII Box Tool

The ASCII Box tool lets you draw boxes, lines, and tables using Unicode box-drawing characters. It automatically selects the correct character based on surrounding connections—corners become corners, intersections become crosses, and lines connect seamlessly.

Tip

Quick access: Press Q to activate the ASCII Box tool from anywhere in the application.

Basic Usage

Select the ASCII Box Tool

Click the ASCII Box icon in the toolbar or press Q. A panel will open on the right side.

Choose a Drawing Mode

Select Rectangle, Free Draw, or Erase from the panel.

Choose a Line Style

Pick from single line, double line, rounded corners, etc.

Draw on the Canvas

Click and drag to draw boxes or lines. The tool automatically selects the correct characters.

Apply or Cancel

Click Apply to commit your changes, or Cancel to discard.

Drawing Modes

Rectangle Mode creates box shapes by clicking and dragging.

text

┌────────────┐
│            │
│            │
└────────────┘

Click to set the starting corner
Drag to define the opposite corner
Release to complete the box

Line Styles

Choose from multiple box-drawing character sets:

Style	Characters	Example
Single Line Thin	`─│┌┐└┘├┤┬┴┼`	`┌──┐`
Single Line Thick	`━┃┏┓┗┛┣┫┳┻╋`	`┏━━┓`
Double Line	`═║╔╗╚╝╠╣╦╩╬`	`╔══╗`
Rounded	`─│╭╮╰╯├┤┬┴┼`	`╭──╮`

Smart Character Selection

The ASCII Box tool automatically selects the right character based on connections:

Connections	Character
Left + Right	`─` (horizontal line)
Top + Bottom	`│` (vertical line)
Bottom + Right	`┌` (top-left corner)
All four sides	`┼` (cross)
Three sides (no left)	`├` (tee-right)

Info

When you draw over existing box characters, they automatically update to create proper connections. This makes building complex diagrams easy!

Canvas Preview

While drawing:

A purple highlight shows which cells will be affected
Live character preview shows what will be drawn
Characters update as you drag to show proper connections

Example: Creating a Table

Draw the Outer Box

Use Rectangle mode to create the table boundary.

text

┌────────────────────┐
│                    │
│                    │
│                    │
└────────────────────┘

Add Column Dividers

Switch to Free Draw and draw vertical lines. They'll connect at the edges.

text

┌──────┬──────┬──────┐
│      │      │      │
│      │      │      │
│      │      │      │
└──────┴──────┴──────┘

Add Row Dividers

Draw horizontal lines. Intersections update automatically.

text

┌──────┬──────┬──────┐
│      │      │      │
├──────┼──────┼──────┤
│      │      │      │
└──────┴──────┴──────┘

Tips & Techniques

Nested Boxes

Create depth with nested boxes using different line styles:

text

╔══════════════════╗
║ ┌──────────────┐ ║
║ │ ╭──────────╮ │ ║
║ │ │  Content │ │ ║
║ │ ╰──────────╯ │ ║
║ └──────────────┘ ║
╚══════════════════╝

Window Frames

Combine with ASCII Type for titled windows:

text

┌─ Title Bar ─────────┐
│                     │
│      Content        │
│                     │
└─────────────────────┘

Diagrams

Perfect for flowcharts and diagrams:

text

┌─────────┐     ┌─────────┐
│  Start  │────▶│ Process │
└─────────┘     └────┬────┘
                     │
                     ▼
                ┌─────────┐
                │   End   │
                └─────────┘

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Q`	Select ASCII Box tool
`Enter`	Apply changes
`Escape`	Cancel and close panel
`Cmd/Ctrl + Z`	Undo

Rectangle - For simple filled rectangles
ASCII Type - For stylized text in boxes
Text - For adding text labels