What is ASCII Art? First of all let's define the term we are using; ASCII is the acronym for "The American Standard Code for Information Interchange", and is pronounced 'ASS-kee'. It is a character-encoding scheme based on the ordering of the English alphabet. ASCII codes represent text in computers, meaning the letters, numbers and punctuation marks of the English language. Using special computer software, a photograph can be converted to ASCII art, where the colours and contrast are represented by the density of the various shaped characters (letters, numbers and punctuation marks.) When a photograph that has been converted to ASCII art is viewed from a distance, you will see the illusion of a grainy black and white photograph, not unlike what you might see in a B&W photo in a newspaper. When this image is viewed close up, the image starts to disappear as you start to see the actual computer printed characters on the canvas.