ANSI Art Viewer - BBS Text Art Display

View ANSI art files from the BBS era. Render escape codes, colors, and block characters. Browser-based retro art viewer, works offline.

Drop ANSI art file here or click to browse

.ans, .ansi, .nfo, .asc, .txt files

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Frequently Asked Questions

ANSI art is a computer art form using ANSI escape codes to create colored text graphics. Popular in BBS (Bulletin Board System) culture of the 1980s-90s, it's still created today by dedicated artists.

ANSI escape sequences control text formatting: colors (16 foreground, 8 background), cursor position, and effects like bold and blink. They start with ESC[ (ASCII 27).

Standard .ANS files, .NFO files, .ASC (plain ASCII), and .TXT with ANSI codes. The viewer auto-detects CP437 encoding used in DOS-era art.

Code Page 437 is the DOS character set with block characters (▄▀█░▒▓), box drawing (─│┌┐└┘), and special symbols. Essential for authentic ANSI art display.

ANSI art requires specific fonts and character sets. The viewer uses a monospace font with CP437 support. Some modern characters may not match original DOS rendering.

Yes. iCE (iCE Color) extended the palette to 16 background colors by sacrificing blink. Toggle the iCE mode if your art uses high-intensity backgrounds.

SAUCE (Standard Architecture for Universal Comment Extensions) metadata at file end is detected and displayed, showing author, group, and creation date.

Archives like textfiles.com, 16colo.rs, and pouet.net host thousands of ANSI artworks. Many BBS door games and demoscene productions include ANSI graphics.

Yes. Export as PNG image to preserve colors and layout. You can also copy the raw text for terminals that support ANSI codes.

ANSI art represents early digital creativity under severe constraints. Artists created stunning visuals using only 80x25 characters and 16 colors, influencing pixel art and demoscene.

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