How do you convert a bitmap image to ASCII art in C ?

Image to ASCII art conversion in C

Converting a bitmap image to ASCII art involves using mono-spaced fonts and keeping the process simple. There are two main approaches:

Pixel/area intensity based:

This approach treats each pixel or area of pixels as a single dot. It computes the average gray scale intensity of the dot and replaces it with a character of closest intensity.

Character fitting (hybrid):

This approach tries to replace areas (character shaped) with characters of similar intensity and shape. It leads to better results but is slower due to computations.

Detailed Implementation:

Pixel/area intensity based:

Divide the image into gray-scale pixels or rectangular areas (dots). Compute the intensity of each dot. Replace it with a character from a character map (precomputed intensities) with the closest intensity.

A sample character map: " .,:;ox%#@&"

Intensity computation:

<code class="C++">i  = p[x+x+x+0];
i += p[x+x+x+1];
i += p[x+x+x+2];
i = (i*l)/768;
s += m[l-i];</code>

where:

• i is the summation of pixel intensities
• l is the length of the character map
• m is the character map
• s is the output string

Character fitting:

Divide the image into rectangular areas with the same aspect ratio as the characters. Divide the character area into zones and compute the intensity of each zone. Find the character in the map with the closest intensity and shape fit.

This approach leads to best, most visually pleasing results when using larger fonts.

Code Example:

<code class="C++">class intensity
{
public:
    char c;                    // Character
    int il, ir, iu ,id, ic;    // Intensity of part: left,right,up,down,center
    intensity() { c=0; reset(); }
    void reset() { il=0; ir=0; iu=0; id=0; ic=0; }

    void compute(DWORD **p,int xs,int ys,int xx,int yy) // p source image, (xs,ys) area size, (xx,yy) area position
    {
        int x0 = xs>>2, y0 = ys>>2;
        int x1 = xs-x0, y1 = ys-y0;
        int x, y, i;
        reset();
        for (y=0; y<ys; y++)
            for (x=0; x<xs; x++)
            {
                i = (p[yy+y][xx+x] & 255);
                if (x<=x0) il+=i;
                if (x>=x1) ir+=i;
                if (y<=x0) iu+=i;
                if (y>=x1) id+=i;

                if ((x>=x0) && (x<=x1) &&
                    (y>=y0) && (y<=y1))

                    ic+=i;
        }

        // Normalize
        i = xs*ys;
        il = (il << 8)/i;
        ir = (ir << 8)/i;
        iu = (iu << 8)/i;
        id = (id << 8)/i;
        ic = (ic << 8)/i;
        }
    };


AnsiString bmp2txt_big(Graphics::TBitmap *bmp,TFont *font) // Character  sized areas
{
    int i, i0, d, d0;
    int xs, ys, xf, yf, x, xx, y, yy;
    DWORD **p = NULL,**q = NULL;    // Bitmap direct pixel access
    Graphics::TBitmap *tmp;        // Temporary bitmap for single character
    AnsiString txt = "";            // Output ASCII art text
    AnsiString eol = "\r\n";        // End of line sequence
    intensity map[97];            // Character map
    intensity gfx;

    // Input image size
    xs = bmp->Width;
    ys = bmp->Height;

    // Output font size
    xf = font->Size;   if (xf<0) xf =- xf;
    yf = font->Height; if (yf<0) yf =- yf;

    for (;;) // Loop to simplify the dynamic allocation error handling
    {
        // Allocate and initialise buffers
        tmp = new Graphics::TBitmap;
        if (tmp==NULL)
            break;

        // Allow 32 bit pixel access as DWORD/int pointer
        tmp->HandleType = bmDIB;    bmp->HandleType = bmDIB;
        tmp->PixelFormat = pf32bit; bmp->PixelFormat = pf32bit;

        // Copy target font properties to tmp
        tmp->Canvas->Font->Assign(font);
        tmp->SetSize(xf, yf);
        tmp->Canvas->Font ->Color = clBlack;
        tmp->Canvas->Pen  ->Color = clWhite;
        tmp->Canvas->Brush->Color = clWhite;
        xf = tmp->Width;
        yf = tmp->Height;

        // Direct pixel access to bitmaps
        p  = new DWORD*[ys];
        if (p  == NULL) break;
        for (y=0; y<ys; y++)
            p[y] = (DWORD*)bmp->ScanLine[y];

        q  = new DWORD*[yf];
        if (q  == NULL) break;
        for (y=0; y<yf; y++)
            q[y] = (DWORD*)tmp->ScanLine[y];

        // Create character map
        for (x=0, d=32; d<128; d++, x++)
        {
            map[x].c = char(DWORD(d));
            // Clear tmp
            tmp->Canvas->FillRect(TRect(0, 0, xf, yf));
            // Render tested character to tmp
            tmp->Canvas->TextOutA(0, 0, map[x].c);

            // Compute intensity
            map[x].compute(q, xf, yf, 0, 0);
        }

        map[x].c = 0;

        // Loop through the image by zoomed character size step
        xf -= xf/3; // Characters are usually overlapping by 1/3
        xs -= xs % xf;
        ys -= ys % yf;
        for (y=0; y<ys; y+=yf, txt += eol)
            for (x=0; x<xs; x+=xf)
            {
                // Compute intensity
                gfx.compute(p, xf, yf, x, y);

                // Find the closest match in map[]
                i0 = 0; d0 = -1;
                for (i=0; map[i].c; i++)
                {
                    d = abs(map[i].il-gfx.il) +
                        abs(map[i].ir-gfx.ir) +
                        abs(map[i].iu-gfx.iu) +
                        abs(map[i].id-gfx.id) +
                        abs(map[i].ic-gfx.ic);

                    if ((d0<0)||(d0>d)) {
                        d0=d; i0=i;
                    }
                }
                // Add fitted character to output
                txt += map[i0].c;
            }
        break;
    }

    // Free buffers
    if (tmp) delete tmp;
    if (p  ) delete[] p;
    return txt;
}</code>

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