ASCII Type Tool

The ASCII Type tool lets you create stylized ASCII art text using FIGlet fonts. These are large, decorative text banners made from ASCII characters—perfect for titles, headers, and eye-catching text.

Tip

Quick access: Press Y to activate the ASCII Type tool from anywhere in the application.

Basic Usage

Select the ASCII Type Tool

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

Enter Your Text

Type your text in the multiline text box at the top of the panel.

Choose a Font

Select a FIGlet font from the dropdown. Fonts are grouped by category.

Position the Preview

Click on the canvas to position where your text will appear. A live preview shows exactly how it will look.

Apply the Text

Click Apply to commit the text to the canvas, or Cancel to discard.

Panel Options

The ASCII Type panel provides several customization options:

Text Input

A multiline text box (5 rows) where you enter the text you want to render. Supports multiple lines.

Font Selection

Choose from a wide variety of FIGlet fonts, organized by category:

Category	Style	Example Fonts
Banner	Wide, blocky	Banner, Banner3
Block	3D-style	Block, Colossal
Classic	Traditional	Standard, Big
Decorative	Ornate	Gothic, Roman
Script	Cursive	Script, Cursive
Thin	Minimal	Thin, Mini

Layout Options

Horizontal Layout:

Normal - Default spacing
Narrow - Reduced spacing
Squeezed - Tight fitting
Fitted - Characters touching
Wide - Extra spacing

Vertical Layout:

Same options as horizontal, controlling line spacing for multi-line text

Transparent Whitespace

When enabled, whitespace characters in the FIGlet output leave existing canvas content intact instead of overwriting with spaces. Great for overlaying text on existing art.

Preview All Fonts

Click "Preview all fonts" to open a dialog showing your text rendered in every available font. Click "Use this font" to quickly select one.

Canvas Preview

When the ASCII Type tool is active:

A live preview appears on the canvas with a dotted bounding box
Click to reposition the preview
Drag to move the preview to a new location
The preview uses your current foreground and background colors

Colors

ASCII Type respects your current color settings:

Foreground color: Applied to all non-whitespace characters
Background color: Applied to all characters (unless transparent whitespace is enabled)

Use the Color Palette to change colors before applying.

Example Output

text

  _   _      _ _        __        __         _     _ 
 | | | | ___| | | ___   \ \      / /__  _ __| | __| |
 | |_| |/ _ \ | |/ _ \   \ \ /\ / / _ \| '__| |/ _` |
 |  _  |  __/ | | (_) |   \ V  V / (_) | |  | | (_| |
 |_| |_|\___|_|_|\___/     \_/\_/ \___/|_|  |_|\__,_|

Tips & Techniques

Choosing the Right Font

Banner fonts: Best for short titles (1-2 words)
Thin fonts: Good for longer text or limited space
Block fonts: High impact, use sparingly
Script fonts: Elegant, better at larger sizes

Size Considerations

Info

FIGlet text can be quite large. Make sure your canvas is big enough before applying, or the text will be clipped to the canvas boundaries.

Combining with Other Tools

Use ASCII Type for your main title
Add a box around it with ASCII Box
Fill backgrounds with Fill

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`Y`	Select ASCII Type tool
`Enter`	Apply text (when panel focused)
`Escape`	Cancel and close panel

Text - For simple text without styling
ASCII Box - For decorative boxes around text
Fill - For filling backgrounds