01_Getting Started

This guide will help you get started with p5.asciify by showing you how to install the library and use it in your p5.js projects.

Note

If you've read the entire README on the front page already, there's nothing new here!

Prerequisites

• p5.asciify requires p5.js version 1.8.0 or higher to work.
• p5.asciify only runs in WEBGL mode, so make sure to set up your canvas accordingly:

function setup() {
  createCanvas(800, 800, WEBGL);
}

That's it! You're now ready to install and use p5.asciify in your p5.js projects.

Installation

Download the latest version of p5.asciify from the GitHub releases page. The library is distributed as a single JavaScript file, which you can include in your project by adding the following script tag to your HTML file after importing p5.js:

<!-- Import p5.js before p5.asciify -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/lib/p5.js"></script>

<!-- Import p5.asciify after p5.js -->
<script src="path/to/library/p5.asciify.min.js"></script>

Alternatively, the library can be imported directly from a CDN like jsDelivr:

<!-- Import p5.js before p5.asciify -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/lib/p5.js"></script>

<!-- Import p5.asciify after p5.js -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/p5.asciify.umd.js"></script>

Tip

To capture a canvas with libraries like p5.capture and p5.asciify applied, make sure to import them after p5.asciify to ensure the correct rendering order.

<!-- Import p5.js before p5.asciify -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/lib/p5.js"></script>

<!-- Import p5.asciify after p5.js -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/p5.asciify.umd.js"></script>

<!-- Import p5.capture after p5.asciify -->
<script src="https://cdn.jsdelivr.net/npm/[email protected]/dist/p5.capture.umd.min.js"></script>

At this point, when imported correctly, the p5.js canvas in WEBGL mode should already be converted into a grid of ASCII characters with the default settings applied! (｡◕‿‿◕｡)

Instance mode

p5.asciify supports both global and instance mode. To use the library in instance mode (through npm for example), you need to load the library in a specific way:

npm install p5.asciify

import p5 from 'p5';
import { p5asciify } from 'p5.asciify';

const theSketch = (sketch) => {

    // Pass the p5 instance to the p5asciify library before setup
    p5asciify.instance(sketch); 

    sketch.setup = () => {
      sketch.createCanvas(800, 800, sketch.WEBGL);
    };

    // Setup function specific to the p5.asciify library, 
    // which is executed automatically after the p5.js setup function is finished
    sketch.setupAsciify = () => {

      // Set the font size for all ASCII renderers of the library
      p5asciify.fontSize(finalOptions.fontSize);

      p5asciify.renderers().get("brightness").update({
        characters: " .,:;i1tfLCG08@", // ASCII characters used for rendering
        invertMode: true, // Swap the ASCII character colors with it's cell background colors
      });
    };

    sketch.draw = () => {
      sketch.clear();
      sketch.background(0);
      sketch.fill(255);
      sketch.rotateX(sketch.radians(sketch.frameCount * 3));
      sketch.rotateZ(sketch.radians(sketch.frameCount));
      sketch.directionalLight(255, 255, 255, 0, 0, -1);
      sketch.box(800, 100, 100);
    };
};

let myp5 = new p5(theSketch);

Note

All examples and explanations in the Wiki are given in global mode. To use them in instance mode, you need to adjust the code accordingly, as shown in the example above.

Essentially, besides importing p5.asciify, you need to initially pass the p5 instance to the library using p5asciify.instance(sketch) before preload/setup.

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To dive deeper and start creating your own amazing visualizations with p5.asciify, check out the Usage section to learn how to customize the ASCII conversion! You'll find step-by-step instructions and examples on how to effectively use p5.asciify in your projects.