Text Tool

The Text tool lets you type text directly onto the ASCII canvas. It's perfect for adding labels, titles, dialogue, and any readable content to your artwork.

Tip

Quick access: Press T to activate the Text tool from anywhere in the application.

Basic Usage

Select the Text Tool

Click the text icon in the toolbar or press T.

Click to Place Cursor

Click anywhere on the canvas where you want to start typing.

Type Your Text

Start typing. Characters appear at the cursor position and advance automatically.

Confirm or Cancel

Press Enter to confirm the text, or Escape to cancel.

Type directly onto the canvas with the Text tool

Text Modes

Insert Mode places text at the cursor, shifting existing content if needed.

Standard typing behavior
Existing content moves right
Good for: Adding text to existing layouts

text

Before: Hello[cursor]World
Type:   " Beautiful "
After:  Hello Beautiful World

Text Options

Direction

Control which direction text flows:

Direction	Description	Example
Horizontal (→)	Left to right (default)	`Hello World`
Vertical (↓)	Top to bottom	Stacked letters
Right-to-Left (←)	Right to left	For RTL languages
Bottom-to-Top (↑)	Upward text	Artistic effects

Alignment

For text boxes and multi-line text:

Left: Align to left edge
Center: Center each line
Right: Align to right edge
Justify: Spread text to fill width

Color

Apply foreground and background colors to your text:

Text inherits current color settings
Change colors mid-text by selecting and recoloring
Use background color for highlighted text effects

ASCII Art Fonts

ASCII Motion includes several built-in ASCII art font styles:

Standard Fonts

Normal uses standard ASCII characters as-is.

text

Hello World

FIGlet Fonts

ASCII Motion supports FIGlet-style banner fonts:

text

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

Popular FIGlet fonts included:

Font	Style	Best For
Standard	Classic banner	Titles
Slant	Italicized	Headers
Banner	Wide letters	Logos
Mini	Compact	Space-limited
Script	Cursive	Artistic

Preview and select from various ASCII art fonts

Custom Fonts

Import or create your own ASCII fonts:

Open Font Manager

Go to Settings → Fonts → Manage Custom Fonts.

Import Font File

Import a .flf (FIGlet) or .tlf (TOIlet) font file.

Preview and Save

Preview the font and save it to your library.

Advanced Features

Text Along Path

Type text that follows a curved or custom path:

Draw a Path

Use the Pencil or Line tool to create a path.

Select Text Tool

Activate the Text tool and click "Along Path" option.

Click the Path

Click on your drawn path to start typing along it.

text

      t e
    x     x
  T         t
              
A             l
  l         a
    o n g   P

Text Effects

Apply effects to your text:

Outline: Add a border around each character
Shadow: Create a shadow effect
Gradient: Apply color gradients to text
Animation: Animate text entry (for animations)

Find and Replace

Search and replace text across the canvas:

Press Cmd/Ctrl + H to open Find and Replace
Enter search text and replacement
Replace individually or all at once

Text Editing

Selecting Text

Click and drag: Select a range of text
Double-click: Select a word
Triple-click: Select a line
Cmd/Ctrl + A: Select all text in current text box

Editing Operations

Shortcut	Action
`Cmd/Ctrl + X`	Cut selected text
`Cmd/Ctrl + C`	Copy selected text
`Cmd/Ctrl + V`	Paste text
`Cmd/Ctrl + B`	Toggle bold (if supported)
`Delete`	Delete selected or next character
`Backspace`	Delete previous character

Moving Text

Arrow keys: Move cursor
Cmd/Ctrl + Arrow: Jump by word
Home/End: Start/end of line
Cmd/Ctrl + Home/End: Start/end of text

Practical Examples

Creating Labels

text

┌─────────────────────────┐
│    ╔═══════════════╗    │
│    ║  MAIN MENU    ║    │
│    ╚═══════════════╝    │
│                         │
│    [1] New Game         │
│    [2] Load Game        │
│    [3] Options          │
│    [4] Exit             │
│                         │
└─────────────────────────┘

Dialogue Boxes

text

╭─────────────────────────────╮
│ NPC: "Welcome, traveler!    │
│       What brings you to    │
│       our humble village?"  │
╰─────────────────────────────╯

Banner Headlines

text

 █████╗ ███████╗ ██████╗██╗██╗
██╔══██╗██╔════╝██╔════╝██║██║
███████║███████╗██║     ██║██║
██╔══██║╚════██║██║     ██║██║
██║  ██║███████║╚██████╗██║██║
╚═╝  ╚═╝╚══════╝ ╚═════╝╚═╝╚═╝
         MOTION

Keyboard Shortcuts

Shortcut	Action
`T`	Select Text tool
`Enter`	Confirm text / New line
`Escape`	Cancel current text
`Backspace`	Delete previous character
`Arrow keys`	Move cursor

Tips & Best Practices

Tip

Readability Tips:

Use contrasting colors for text visibility
Leave padding around text in boxes
Choose simple characters for clarity

Info

For stylized ASCII art fonts (FIGlet-style banners), use the ASCII Type tool instead.

ASCII Type - For stylized ASCII art fonts
Rectangle - Create boxes around text
Fill - Add backgrounds to text areas