Nexus
Open the editor

ASCII Art Effect

Rebuilds any picture as a grid of text glyphs, with slanted edge strokes tracing its outlines.

Portrait rebuilt as a grid of horizontal bar glyphs and diagonal edge strokes, with skin tones showing through a bright lime green field.
Close-up portrait of a young man with short dark hair, light eyes and freckles, wearing a cream knit top against a pale blue sky.
Try this look →Get the plugin

Made with Edge ASCII

Works in

The ASCII art effect turns any image into a grid of characters. Brightness picks a glyph from a ramp of blocks, shades, bars or braille, and a contour pass draws slanted, upright and flat strokes along edges. You can change the glyph set, the cell size, the colors and how many edges show.

Same effect, different settings

12 photos, each with its own settings. Try it on yours

  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a black horse
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a woman in black sunglasses
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a young man in black
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a woman with a black bob and red earrings
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a woman in white cat-eye sunglasses
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a woman in orange glasses and a knit collar
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a man with pink hair and black sunglasses
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a man with slicked blond hair and sunglasses
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a woman in an orange turtleneck
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a man in a white shirt
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a man in white sunglasses
  • ASCII Art Effect on a photo of a man in a suit under yellow light

Use ASCII Art Effect in Photoshop, After Effects, Illustrator, Affinity or Figma

The plugins are free with an account. Paid plans add bigger renders and your own filters. See pricing

Settings worth touching

Glyph Set
Picks the characters that fill each cell: Blocks, Shades, Bars, Braille, or Edges Only for pure contour strokes.
Cell Size
Sets how big each character cell is. Small cells keep detail, large cells give a coarse, chunky grid.
Edge Threshold
Controls how strong an edge must be before it gets a stroke. Lower values trace more outlines, higher values keep only bold ones.

Frequently asked questions

How do I add the ASCII art effect in Photoshop?

Install Nexus for Photoshop, free with a Nexus account. Apply the look as a Smart Filter on a Smart Object, or render it as a new layer. Double-⁠click the Smart Filter to change settings later.

Can I animate an ASCII effect in After Effects?

Yes. Nexus for After Effects adds it as a native effect. Drop it on a layer and keyframe any control, such as Cell Size or Edge Threshold. Each frame is processed on its own, with no temporal tracking.

Is the ASCII art filter output vector?

Yes. The effect outputs vector shapes. The web editor exports SVG on the Creator plan, and Illustrator and Figma can bring the result back as native vector paths you can edit.

Can I try the ASCII art effect for free?

Open the look in the Nexus web editor and try it on your own image without an account. Exporting needs a free account, which exports images up to 720px and video up to 720px with the Nexus mark.

How do I change the colors of the glyphs?

Color Mode switches between Sample Source, which keeps the picture's own colors, Duotone and Fixed Color. Ink Color and Shadow Color set the tones, and Invert flips light and dark.

Related effects

Try ASCII Art Effect in your browser

Free to try. Exporting needs a free account.

Try this look →See every effect