RetroTxt

v0.0.0

To get you started, here are a few links to sample some ANSI and ASCII pieces.
There is still a thriving text art community releasing monthly packs on 16colo.rs with dozens of new artworks every month.
Other than the RetroTxt ad, none of the fantastic artworks shown below, or their creators, endorse or have any association with RetroTxt.

RetroTxt ad

Zeus II, 2017

preview #2

WTF4

R5, 2014

preview #3

Spidertronics

Luciano Ayres, 2017

preview #6

The Lair

The Falcon's Lair, 1993

preview #7

Critical Condition

Aces of ANSI Art, 1990

preview #9

Colly

XD - 1997

preview #10

assskeyart

iks, 2017

preview #5

Escher Blockls

prismate, 2018

preview #13

Retired Larry

Angel of Hell, 2017

preview #4

The Dark Empire

Vito, 1993

preview #1

Blocktronics WTF4

Blocktronics, 2014

preview #0

Lahabana

XZ, 2017

preview #8

function party

iks, 2013

preview #12

Cyonx

Enz0, 2014

preview #14

zenith

Squidgilator2, 1998

preview #15

a 3D attempt

R5, 2014

preview #16

Orchestra

KE, 2016

preview #17

TDC15

VileR, 2018

preview #11

ju67

2016

preview #18

Blocktronics Horizontal

Whazzit, 2016

preview #19

Useful

Sites and videos that cover the ANSI art communities

Suggested fonts

A contemporary monospace font for reading text, code or system logs

For appreciating ANSI, BBS and NFO text art

For reading ANSI and NFO text in a classic font

For viewing text or art created on an Amiga


 ┌─────────────────────────────────────────────
 │ RetroTxt ▄▄█▀▀╔═╝░░▒▒▓▓ ⌐ ½ ≈ ¼ ♪→⌂
 │ The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.
 └─────────────────────────────────────────────_

Modern

Marked fonts support a broad range of Unicode glyphs and languages

IBM Plex

Plex was designed to capture IBM’s spirit and history

Spleen

Monospaced bitmap fonts

Unscii

A bitmapped Unicode font for blocky graphics

Browser configured font

Default monospace font configured in the browser's customise font settings (chrome://settings/fonts)

Home computers

Fonts support the English alphabet 126 character encoding (US-ASCII); Marked fonts support iso 8859-1 or cp1252; Marked fonts support Unicode Symbols for Legacy Computing

Amiga Kickstart

Kickstart is the bootstrap firmware of the Commodore Amiga series, includes A500, A1000, A2000, etc.

Amiga Kickstart v2

Kickstart 2 is the second generation bootstrap firmware of the Commodore Amiga series; includes A500+, A1200, A4000, etc.

Amiga Homebrew

Unofficial fonts created by the enthusiast community

Apple II

Also known as the apple ][ it was the original range of Apple 8-bit computers

GEOS for the Apple II

A third-party, graphical user interface operating system by Berkeley Softworks

Apple GS/OS

The 16-bit operating system for the IIGS computer range, the last of the Apple II series

Apple Lisa

Apple's shortlived computer range that first offered a graphical user interface but was then replaced by the Macintosh

Apple Macintosh

The first mass-market computer range featuring a graphical user interface and popularised Desktop publishing

Atari 8-bit

ATARI ASCII 1979 character set and font used by the 8-bit, 400/800 series

Atari ST

The successor to the Atari 8-bit family of computers that used a derivative of the IBM PC character set

Commodore 8-bit

PETSCII character set created by Commodore in 1976 for the PET line; later used in the C64, VIC-20, and others

Gameboy

The popular 1989 handheld console

Mattel Antiquarius

An extremely shortlived and poorly conceived computer based on the Z80 microprocessor

Sharp MZ

A Japanese computer line with a Z80 microprocessor

Tandy TRS-80

The Tandy/RadioShack computer series with a Z80 microprocessor

Tandy Color Computer (CoCo)

Confusingly released as the TRS-80 Color Computer but used an incompatible Motorola 6809 microprocessor

ZX Spectrum

The Sinclair Research computer line from the UK with a Z80 microprocessor

IBM 3270

A series of display terminals for IBM mainframes, introduced in 1971 (manditory font license)

Xerox Alto

A highly influential system that pioneered the graphical user interface, the mouse and Ethernet

IBM PC & family

Fonts support the original IBM PC, 256 character encoding (codepage 437); marked fonts expands support to some 780 characters

IBM PC BIOS (includes Jr., XT, AT, PS/2 etc.)

Used in normal-aspect graphics modes, e.g. 320x200

IBM Color/Graphis Adapter

Used in 40-column text mode

IBM Color/Graphis Adapter (alternate font; requires addition of a jumper/solder bridge)

Used in 40-column text mode

IBM Monochrome Display/Printer Adapter

Used for 80x25 text (the only supported mode); also duplicated by the Hercules Graphics Card and other compatibles

IBM EGA video BIOS

Used for 80x25 text (color EGA), 640x350 graphics

IBM VGA (PS/2) video BIOS

Used in the default 80x25 VGA text mode (characteracters are 9 dots wide)

IBM MCGA and VGA (PS/2) video BIOS

Used for 80x25 text (MCGA; VGA with 8-dot character width), 640x480 graphics

IBM VGA (PS/2) video BIOS

Used for 80x28 text (8-dot characteracter width), 640x350 graphics; identical to the IBM EGA 8x14 font

IBM 5271 (3270PC) display board

Used in 80x25 text mode; 720x350 monochrome graphics

IBM Professional Graphics Controller

Used in 80x25 (emulated CGA) text mode

IBM 5410 (PC Convertible)

Seen in: internal LCD - 80x25 text, 640x200 graphics; external CRT - 40x25 text, 320x200 graphics

IBM PS/2 Model 30 (MCGA), 'revision 0' BIOS (86.09.02)

Used in 80x25 text mode, 640x480 graphics

IBM PS/2 Models 30/35 (MCGA), alternate font

Can be set as a custom text/graphics font (undocumented?)

IBM PS/55 (Japan)

PS/55 video used 12x24-dot characteracter bitmaps, placed in a 13x29 cell. This yielded 80x25 text at an effective 1040x725 resolution (close enough to 1024x768 for a square aspect).

Adapter Interface drivers for IBM's 8514/A, XGA, XGA-2, Image Adapter/A

Used in extended Adapter Interface 1024x768 mode (providing 146x51 characteracters)

IBM PC-DOS 5.02

Can be loaded from ISO.CPI, for 80x25 text mode (VGA with 8-dot character width)

IBM PC-DOS J-7.00/V (Japan)

Usage depends on display driver, e.g. 106x40 characteracters at 640x480

IBM PC-DOS J-5.02/V, J-7.00/V (Japan)

Usage depends on display driver, e.g. 80x30 characteracters at 640x480, 128x48 characteracters at 1024x768

MS-DOS J-5.00/V, J-6.20/V (Japan)

Usage depends on display driver, e.g. 80x30 characteracters at 640x480, 128x48 characteracters at 1024x768

MS-DOS J-6.20/V (Japan)

Usage depends on display driver, e.g. 84x32 characteracters at 1024x768, 132x50 characteracters at 1600x1200

IBM PC-DOS T-7.0/V (Taiwan, Chinese Traditional)

Usage depends on display driver, e.g. 80x30 characteracters at 640x480, 128x48 characteracters at 1024x768

IBM PC-DOS P-7.0/V (PRC, Chinese Simplified)

Usage depends on display driver, e.g. 80x30 characteracters at 640x480, 128x48 characteracters at 1024x768

MS-DOS compatibles

Fonts support the original IBM PC, 256 character encoding (codepage 437); marked fonts expands support to some 780 characters

Acer 710 on-board video

Used in normal-aspect CGA modes, 40-column text

Amstrad PC1512, PC1640, PPC series

Used for 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

AST Premium Exec portable

Used for 80x25 text on the internal 640x480 LCD (with 'Stretch Mode' enabled)

AT&T PC6300, Olivetti M24 (also used in some other Olivetti models)

Used for 80x25 text, 640x400 graphics

Compaq Portable III, Portable 386 (plasma display controller)

Used in 80x25 text mode on the 640x400 plasma panel

Compaq-DOS 3.31 and higher (alternate font files)

Can be loaded from the included ?THIN?.CPI file(s)

Cordata (Corona Data Systems) PPC-21 portable

Used for 80x25 text on the internal 640x300 CRT (there is no 40-column mode)

Cordata (Corona Data Systems) PPC440-12 portable

Used for 80x25 text on the internal 640x400 CRT (there is no 40-column mode)

Data General/One portable (first model)

Used for 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

Data General/One portable (first model), alternate font

Actual usage unknown (40-column text/320x200 graphics?)

ITT Xtra

Used for 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

Kaypro 2000 portable

Used in 320x200 graphics mode only (BIOS includes only the ASCII characteracters; the rest are custom additions)

Leading Edge Model D on-board video

Used for 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

Micro Byte PC230 firmware (v2.12) and SOFTBIOS

Used in CGA-compatible 40-column text and 320x200 graphics

Nixdorf 8810 M15 PC07 portable

Used for 80-column text on the internal 640x400 LCD panel

Nixdorf 8810 M16 PC17 portable (CGA model)

Used for 80-column text on the internal 640x400 LCD panel

Nixdorf 8810 M35 on-board video

Used for 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

Olivetti M15 / M15 Plus portables

Used for 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

Olivetti VGA-based laptops (M211v, M316, D33)

Used for 80x25 text on the internal 640x480 panel

Sanyo MBC-16

Seequa Chameleon portable

Used for 40-column text (and 320x200 graphics?)

Sperry PC (HT 3070-03) video hardware

Used for 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

Early Tandy 1000 series ('Video I' chip: 1000, 1000A, HD, EX, SX, TX, HX)

Used in 'TV mode' 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

Later Tandy 1000 series ('Video II' chip: 1000SL, SL/2, TL, TL/2, TL/3, RL)

Used in 'TV mode' 40-column text, 320x200 graphics

Toshiba Satellite portables (4200, others)

Used in normal-aspect graphics modes and text modes (80x43/50)

Toshiba T-Series portables (later) - T3100, T3200, T1000LE, T1200XE, T5100/5200, T2200SX, others[?]

Usage depends on model

Copam XT compatible BIOS (TD3.86)

Used in 320x200 graphics mode only (BIOS includes only the ASCII characteracters; the rest come from DOS)

DTK/ERSO XT compatible BIOS (v2.42)

Used in 320x200 graphics mode only (BIOS includes only the ASCII characteracters; the rest come from DOS)

Phoenix Technologies BIOS v2.xx

Used in 320x200 graphics mode only (BIOS includes only the ASCII characteracters; the rest are custom additions)

Vtech Laser XT BIOS

Used in 320x200 graphics mode only (BIOS includes only the ASCII characteracters; the rest are custom additions)

Video hardware

Fonts support the original IBM PC, 256 character encoding (codepage 437); marked fonts expands support to some 780 characters

Acer M3125 VGA BIOS

American Megatrends Inc. EGA video BIOS (Matrox PG1281)

ATI video cards - EGA/VGA Wonder, Mach, Rage, etc.

ATI Small Wonder Graphics Solution

Provides 132x44 characteracters on MDA-type monochrome displays

CGA board for Eagle Spirit PC (70-50244B), alternate font

Actual usage unknown (40-column text/320x200 graphics?)

Epson MGA Q205A Multimode Graphics Adapter

Used in normal-aspect CGA modes, 40-column text

Epson MGA Q205A Multimode Graphics Adapter, alternate font

Actual usage unknown (40-column text/320x200 graphics?)

Epson MGA Q205A Multimode Graphics Adapter

Used in MDA/Hercules compatible (80x25) text mode on a monochrome monitor

Everex Micro Enhancer Deluxe EV-657 (EGA+, BIOS v1.30)

Provides 132x44 characteracters on normal EGA monitors (EVA mode 0Bh)

Everex Micro Enhancer EV-659A (EGA+, BIOS v1.54)

Actual usage unknown (80-column text at 640x480?)

Paradise VGA Plus drivers

Provides 132x43 characteracters on non-multisync VGA monitors

Phoenix Technologies EGA video BIOS (also: Phoenix PC BIOS v3.xx)

Phoenix Technologies EGA video BIOS

Trident TVGA series video BIOS

Trident TVGA8900B (from an Octek 1138F0211 board)

Used for enhanced text modes: 80x43 (TVGA mode 51h), 132x43 (TVGA mode 55h)

Rendition Verite series video BIOS

Wyse WY-700 hi-res video board

Used in 40x25 and 80x50 text modes

Semi-compatibles

Fonts support the original IBM PC, 256 character encoding (codepage 437); marked fonts expands support to some 780 characters

ACT Apricot series - PC, Xi, F1, F2, Xen

Provides 80x25 text on the Apricot 800x400 monochrome CRT

ACT Apricot series - PC, Xi, F1, F2

Provides 40x25 text on 200-line color monitors

Apricot Portable system-loaded font

Provides 80x25 text on the internal 640x200 LCD

Apricot Xen

Used in 80x25 text mode (and 640x350 graphics)

Fujitsu FM-Towns firmware

Mindset Computer M1001 ROM BIOS (v1.07)

Seen in normal-aspect modes (320x200, 640x400 interlaced)

NEC APC III

Used in 320x200 graphics mode

Philips :YES firmware and system

Used in 320x252 graphics mode (color monitor)

RM Nimbus PC-186

Used for 40x25 text / 320x250 graphics

Siemens PC-D system font

Used for text mode (and 640x350 mono graphics)

Tandy 2000 system font

Used in 80-column text mode

Telenova Compis system font

Toshiba T-300 system font

Used in 320x200 graphics/40-column text mode, 200-line monitor or TV

Text

Line height

Line height lets you add margin spacing to each line of text. The line-height value is relative to the size of the font. Line height 1 matches the font size while a weight of 1.25 would be 25% larger than the font's height.

recommend 1

1

Background scan lines

Apply a subtle scan line effect to the backdrop of the page. The result is more pronounced on light backgrounds and it does not overlay text.

Blinking cursor and text

When off, all pulsing and blinking text effects are disabled.

recommend on

Center align text

Toggle the position of the text document from the left-top margin to the center of the display.

recommend on

DOS control glyphs

The IBM PC, DOS character set is not standards-compliant as it uses C0 controls usually reserved for formatting as text characters. Normally hidden, enabling this option will reveal these glyphs in the text document. Any open tabs will require a reload.

recommend off

◘ backspace
○ tab
♪ carriage return
→ end of file
⌂ delete

Accurate 9px EGA/VGA fonts

Use the original 9-pixel wide, EGA, and VGA fonts found on the IBM graphic hardware. These can introduce unintended vertical gaps in both blocks and shaded artworks.
Nearly all modern software that simulates the DOS typeface use 8-pixel width fonts sourced from the Joseph (Yossi) Gil font collection. When scaled to 9 pixels, these fonts display slightly different from the originals from IBM.

recommend for artwork off

accurate 9px EGA/VGA font IBM original

 ◘░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓███▄▐▌▀███■ ABCabc 

accurate fonts off scaled VGA 8x16 font

 ◘░░░▒▒▒▓▓▓███▄▐▌▀███■ ABCabc 

Text render

recommend normal

Let the host operating system or browser handle the font smoothing.

Normal: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

Apply a subtle shadow effect on each character.

Shadow: The quick brown fox jumps over the lazy dog.

ANSI

80 column wrap

Unless SAUCE width information exists, this enforces an 80 character width for all ANSI files to emulate the classic 80 column terminal screen. Any open tabs will require a reload.

recommend on

Page wrap

By design, ANSI text preserves white space sequences with any text-overflow reachable via horizontal scrollbars. With page wrap enabled, ANSI text will behave as HTML, where overflow lines can break to wrap the text.
Page wrap is useful for reading colored text and logs, but the 80 column wrap should be off.

recommend for artwork off

Use iCE colors

ANSI offers 16 static foreground colors, eight additional blinking foreground colors, and eight background colors. The iCE Color mode, or the non-blink mode, replaces the eight blinking colors with eight replacement backgrounds.

recommend on

Colors

Text pairs

Here you can choose a font and a background color for all text handled by RetroTxt. The named themes are inspirations from the color choices found on historic home computer systems and terminals.

recommend ms-dos

Custom color values

Allows you to supply your own foreground and background colors for the Text pairs.

ANSI color palette

Unlike modern CSS and HTML color names, the ANSI standard does not provide RGB values for the colors it defines. These have always been left to the hardware or software to interpret.
Most artworks expect the IBM VGA palette.
Xterm is the standard terminal palette for X11 found on Linux, OpenVMS, etc.

recommend ibm vga

Settings

Privacy policy for the browser API permission requests

Run RetroTxt on files hosted on these domains

Runs in the background and applies RetroTxt to text files hosted on these websites.

recommend on

Only the hostname is saved

Setting disabled

As the Monitor downloads feature duplicates this functionality, this setting is unavailable.

Use RetroTxt as a local text file viewer

Your browser can display text files stored on your PC using the file URL scheme.
file:///
With this option, RetroTxt renders all text files using file URLs, allowing you to use this browser as a text file viewer.

recommend off (unless this feature is wanted)

Information header

When styling text RetroTxt injects a text header detailing the document metadata and style controls.

recommend always

New update notice

Loads the Options Home tab when RetroTxt is updated.

recommend on

Monitor downloads,
Use RetroTxt as a local text file viewer

When enabled, RetroTxt will monitor all downloads to open saved text files. It is the browser that decides which are text. Firefox does not support the feature.
The feature may display duplicate ghost transfers in Downloads.

recommend off