image-to-ascii

# image-to-ascii Convert an image file to ASCII art from the command line — to stdout, a `.txt` file, or a rendered `.png`/`.svg` — using shape-aware glyph matching. The converter is `scripts/image_to_ascii.py`: Pillow-only, pure-Python, Python 3.9+. ## Mental model - A naive ASCII converter picks one glyph per cell off a brightness ramp (`" .:-=+*#%@"`). That is nearest-neighbour downsampling — every cell is treated as a pixel, so edges come out jagged and curves look like staircases. - This converter instead reduces **both** each glyph **and** each image cell to a **6D shape vector** (six staggered sampling circles in a 2×3 grid) and matches the glyph whose *shape* is closest. A diagonal edge picks `/` or `\`, a top bar picks `"`/`^`, a base picks `_`. Edges stay crisp because shape, not just average brightness, drives the choice. - Glyph vectors are computed by **actually rasterizing the bundled font**, so the match reflects the real ink — and `png`/`svg` output draws with that same font, so the rendered image is self-consistent with the text. - **Polarity:** by default **dark pixels → dense glyphs** (`@`, `#`), which looks right as text on a light background (a README, a `.txt`). For light-on-dark output (terminal style, e.g. white-on-black), add `--invert`. For the full technique — circle geometry, the contrast-enhancement formulas, the luminance coefficients, caching — read `references/technique.md`. ## Setup The converter needs Pillow (nothing...