Introduction to the ASCII Art C/C++ Interfaces - https://pixlab.io/art

ascii_art.c

/*
* Compile this file together with the ASCII Art source code (https://pixlab.io/art - https://github.com/symisc/ascii_art)
* to generate the executable. For example:
*
*  gcc -W -Wall -O6 ascii_art.c sample.c -o ascii -D ART_ENABLE_STB_IMAGE
* ./ascii test.png
*
* ART_ENABLE_STB_IMAGE directive must be defined in order to load images from disk.
* Otherwise you have to rely on an external library such as OpenCV to load the target images.
*
* If you get a compile-time error, it means that the `ascii_art.hex` model is missing.
* Download it from: https://pixlab.io/art
*/
#include <stdio.h>
#include <stdlib.h>
#include "ascii_art.h"

int main(int argc, char **argv) {
	ascii_render sRender; /* Stack allocated */

	unsigned char *zText, *zBlob;
	int width, height;
	unsigned int nBytes;

	if (argc < 2) {
		puts("Missing input image");
		return -1;
	}

	/* Initialize the render structure */
	AsciiArtInit(&sRender);

	/* Load the target image */
	zBlob = AsciiArtLoadImage(argv[1], &width, &height);
	if (zBlob == 0) {
		puts("Cannot load image");
		return -1;
	}

	/* Allocate a buffer big enough to hold the entire text output */
	nBytes = AsciiArtTextBufSize(&sRender, width, height);
	zText = malloc(nBytes);

	/* Finally, process */
	AsciiArtRender(&sRender, zBlob, &width, &height, zText, 1);

	/* Output the result */
	fwrite(zText, sizeof(char), nBytes, stdout);
	/* zBlob[] hold the binary ASCII glyphs now */

	/* Release memory */
	free(zText);
	free(zBlob);

	return 0;
}

ASCII Art is a single file, C/C++ library developed by PixLab and based on the work of Nenad Markus that let you transform an input image or video frame into printable ASCII characters at real-time using a single decision tree. Real-time performance is achieved by using pixel intensity comparison inside internal nodes of the tree.

For a live demonstration including tests on static images, Webcam/Camera stream and a general overview on how the algorithm works, please visit https://art.pixlab.io.