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From: jdebruyn@access.usa.net (John Debruyn)
Subject: Help save ascii art from destruction by variable fonts
Date: 1996/12/24
Message-ID: <59ot4e$cu9@shiva.usa.net>#1/1
X-Deja-AN: 205839290
organization: Internet Express (800-592-1240 customer service)
newsgroups: alt.ascii-art


The ascii art audience must be dwindling because ascii art is becoming
more difficult to communicate.  The problem is the continuing growth of
the number of email, newsgroup and Web users who have their email
reader/editors and WWW browsers set to variable width character fonts.  On 
AOL for example users don't have a choice of a fixed width font setting
for their email or the AOL browser.

I did a beta test of an email picture post card with a picture using ascii
art.  To my dismay most of the beta testers did not have their email
reader/editors set to the traditional fixed width font (where Ms and Ns
are the same width) so that the ascii art came through to them as an
unintelligible mix mash.  (This also explains why I am seeing fewer and
fewer signature lines that use ascii art--many correspondents cannot make
heads or tails of it.) 

I put the ascii art up on the Web using the HTML <pre> code.  My browser
which is set to a fixed width font set picked the item up really well,
but again the other beta testers came up with unintelligible mix mash.
You can take a look at what I am working with at:

http://www.usa.net/~jdebruyn/postcard.html

Does any one have a lead to software that can be used to convert
"traditional" (not grey scale) ascii art into a gif or jpeg so that we can
put the ascii art up as a graphic image.  That way the addressees of the
card who think they got mix mash can go to the graphic via the Web URL. 

I was thinking that computer fax technology could be used to convert
a page of ascii art into a graphic of some kind.  Your thoughts
appreciated.

Thanks,

John

-- John DeBruyn, Denver, Colorado, The Mile High City, USA 
(jdebruyn@usa.net)