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       improved versions or variations of other people's ASCII art, and   
       generally have fun.   
      
   ========================================================================   
   [2]  What is ASCII art?   
   ========================================================================   
       ASCII art is any sort of pictures or diagrams drawn with the   
       printable characters in the ASCII character set.   
       (For a definition of ASCII, see Question 3.)   
      
       :-) Probably the most common ASCII art picture is the smiley (-:   
       =)  but it can get a lot more sophisticated than that.        (=   
                  ____   
               .-" +' "-.      Here's a small ASCII picture of   
              /.'.'A_'*`.\     a snow-scene paperweight,   
             |:.*'/\-\. ':|    drawn by Joan Stark:   
             |:.'.||"|.'*:|   
              \:~^~^~^~^:/     If this picture looks very strange and   
               /`-....-'\      you can't really tell what it is,   
          jgs /          \     don't panic -- see Question 5.   
              `-.,____,.-'   
      
       People use ASCII art for a number of reasons. Here are some of them.   
       *   It is the most universal computer art form in the world --   
           every computer system capable of displaying multi-line text can   
           display ASCII art, without needing to have a graphics mode or   
           support a particular graphics file format.   
       *   An ASCII picture is hundreds of times smaller in file size   
           than its GIF or BMP equivalent, while still giving a good idea   
           of what something looks like.   
       *   It's easy to copy from one file to another (just cut and paste).   
       *   It's fun!   
      
   ========================================================================   
   [3]  What does ASCII mean?   
   ========================================================================   
       ASCII (American Standard Code for Information Interchange)   
         7-bit as defined in ISO-646 is a basic set of 128 numbered symbols   
         which almost all kinds of computer can display. Here are the ones   
         that are used for ASCII art:   
      
       032 [space] 048 0   064 @   080 P   096 `   112 p   
       033 !       049 1   065 A   081 Q   097 a   113 q   
       034 "       050 2   066 B   082 R   098 b   114 r   
       035 #       051 3   067 C   083 S   099 c   115 s   
       036 $       052 4   068 D   084 T   100 d   116 t   
       037 %       053 5   069 E   085 U   101 e   117 u   
       038 &       054 6   070 F   086 V   102 f   118 v   
       039 '       055 7   071 G   087 W   103 g   119 w   
       040 (       056 8   072 H   088 X   104 h   120 x   
       041 )       057 9   073 I   089 Y   105 i   121 y   
       042 *       058 :   074 J   090 Z   106 j   122 z   
       043 +       059 ;   075 K   091 [   107 k   123 {   
       044 ,       060 <   076 L   092 \   108 l   124 |   
       045 -       061 =   077 M   093 ]   109 m   125 }   
       046 .       062 >   078 N   094 ^   110 n   126 ~   
       047 /       063 ?   079 O   095 _   111 o   
      
       There are other characters in the set (with the numbers 0 - 31 and   
       127), but they can do bad stuff to Usenet readers, so PLEASE DON'T   
       USE THEM in your pictures (except characters 10 and or 13 which   
       are used to insert a new-line by a variety of Operating Systems).   
      
   ========================================================================   
   [4]  Why do the pictures look strange?   
   ========================================================================   
       If one particular picture posted to this group looks faulty, but the   
       rest of them look fine, then its most likely a problem with that   
       particular picture, or with the poster's Usenet program. But if   
       *all* the pictures look bad, then your Usenet reader may be set to   
       display messages in a proportional font (see Question 5).   
      
       *   If using Google-Groups from a web-browser try "uBlock Origin" a   
           plugin for user style-sheets so you can use the following to fix   
           the layout when using Chrome or FireFox by inserting these lines   
           in "My filters" in the settings:   
   groups.google.com##div[role="region"]:style(white-space:pre!important)   
   groups.google.com##div[role="region"]:style(font-family:monospace)   
   groups.google.com##div[role="region"]:style(line-height:100%)   
   groups.google.com##div[role="region"] br:style(display:none!important)   
      
       *   If there are a lot of almost-blank lines in the picture, then   
           the message is probably suffering from `wrapping'. This   
           wrapping may be being done by your newsreader; see if it has an   
           option called `wrap long lines' or similar, and make sure it is   
           turned off. If this doesn't work, then the wrapping was probably   
           done by the news program of the person who sent the picture, in   
           which case there's not much you can do -- everybody else will be   
           seeing the same thing.   
      
       *   If there are a lot of < and > symbols in the  picture, with   
           words like HTML, FONT COLOR, B, I, and so on inside them, then   
           the picture has been sent in HTML format and your newsreader   
           does not understand HTML (most newsreaders don't).   
      
   ========================================================================   
   [5]  What font do you use for ASCII art?   
   ========================================================================   
       ASCII art is created using a fixed-width font (like on a traditional   
       typewriter), because this is the only way to make it portable.   
       However, several Usenet readers now display messages in a   
       proportional font (where different characters are different widths).   
      
       When using proportional fonts you can never be sure whether your   
       image will look the same in a different proportional font. If you're   
       making art in Arial and the receiver has Times New Roman or whatever   
       then perhaps their space character will be wider but their semicolon   
       is narrower and then things don't line up properly.   
      
       The following two lines tell you which kind of font you're using.   
       The arrow ends up in a different place for different font types and   
       is right most of the time:   
      
       You are using a [Proportional] [Monospaced] font   
       ................................. --^--   
      
       Also, to see what your program is doing, look at these two lines:   
       iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii|   
       WWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWWW|   
       If they look the same length, you're using a fixed-width font and   
       all should be ok. If the second line is longer than the first, you   
       need to change your settings to use a fixed-width font.   
      
           In Mozilla Thunderbird, the option is set in   
              Tools > Options > Language & Appearance   
           In Forte Agent, the option is set in   
              Options > Display Preferences > Fonts   
           and Free Agent, the option is set in   
              Options > General Preferences > Fonts   
           In Outlook, the option is set in   
              Tools > Options > Read > Fonts                       ____   
              Tools > Options > Send > Automatically wrap text at |____|   
      
           set both the PROPORTIONAL font and FIXED-WIDTH font to   
           LUCIDA CONSOLE, and FONT SIZE to SMALLER   
       --------------------------------------------------------------------   
       NOTE : If LUCIDA CONSOLE is not available as a font, pick another   
              such as CONSOLAS or COURIER NEW   
       --------------------------------------------------------------------   
       Detailed information on how to configure other Usenet readers is   
       available at the:  ASCII-Art Documentation Archive.   
      
      
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    * Origin: you cannot sedate... all the things you hate (1:229/2)