art

ASCII Art Library For Python

art v6.5 1.6M downloads/30d#3,715 on PyPI★ 2,496

Permissive license MIT Active released 2025-04-12

What it is and what it does

ART is a Python library that generates ASCII art in two forms: one-line symbolic art (emoji-like text symbols) and multi-line ASCII text rendered in various fonts. It provides functions to return art as strings, print directly to the terminal, or save to files. The library includes a large collection of fonts, decorative styles, and pre-built one-line art symbols that can be repeated or randomized.

The package is designed for terminal output, text-based UI decoration, and creative text rendering. It handles character validation, supports both ASCII and non-ASCII fonts (with environment caveats), and offers control over spacing, line separators, and decorative borders. No external dependencies are required—it's a self-contained pure-Python implementation.

Use it for:

Generate fancy ASCII banners or headers for CLI tools and terminal applications.
Create decorative text output for logs, status messages, or terminal-based dashboards.
Build ASCII art galleries or save styled text to files for documentation or art projects.
Add visual flair to Python scripts with one-line emoji-like symbols and multi-line text art.
Render text in retro or stylized fonts for terminal games or interactive CLI experiences.

Worth the install?

AI-flagged interpretation of the facts on this page — verify before relying

Converts text and generates one-line ASCII art symbols, rendering them as multi-line ASCII text using various fonts and decorative styles.

Yes. Low install friction, no dependencies, actively maintained, MIT-licensed, and well-suited for terminal decoration and ASCII art generation. Install if you need to render fancy text or one-line symbols in CLI tools or terminal output.

Install

art on PyPI

pip

pip install art

uv

uv add art

poetry

poetry add art

Installing art

Before you install

Low friction—pure Python wheel with no runtime dependencies. Actively maintained with recent commits and a stable release cycle.

License in practice

MIT license permits unrestricted use, modification, and distribution in both open and closed projects.

Quickstart

pip install art
from art import tprint, art
tprint("hello")  # Print ASCII text
print(art("coffee"))  # Print one-line art

Verify before relying

Whether all 677 fonts and 711 one-line arts remain available in version 6.5 as documented.
Extent of Unicode/non-ASCII environment compatibility issues mentioned in the description.

Package facts

License	MIT (permissive)
Python support	supports the current Python release (>=3.6)
Install friction	low — pure-Python wheel
Runtime dependencies	none
Maintenance	actively maintained — 489 days since the last release
Last repo commit	2026-08-10
First released	2017-10-04
Downloads	1,617,412/month — #3,715 on PyPI (30-day window, as of 2026-08-14)
Known vulnerabilities	none known (OSV.dev, checked 2026-08-14)

Evidence: art-6.5-py3-none-any.whl

Keywords: ascii, art, python3, python, text, font, non-ascii, printing

Development Status :: 5 - Production/StableIntended Audience :: DevelopersIntended Audience :: EducationIntended Audience :: End Users/DesktopIntended Audience :: Science/ResearchLicense :: OSI Approved :: MIT LicenseNatural Language :: EnglishOperating System :: OS IndependentProgramming Language :: Python :: 3.10Programming Language :: Python :: 3.11Programming Language :: Python :: 3.12Programming Language :: Python :: 3.13Programming Language :: Python :: 3.6Programming Language :: Python :: 3.7Programming Language :: Python :: 3.8Programming Language :: Python :: 3.9Topic :: MultimediaTopic :: PrintingTopic :: Text EditorsTopic :: Text Processing :: FontsTopic :: Text Processing :: GeneralTopic :: Utilities