Me Make Picture Art With Computer Magic
Last updated: By Audeos on
I used Claude Code to build and deploy an ASCII art image converter in 20 minutes. Here's what I built, how it works, and why the output surprised me.
Me was skeptical of AI coding tools. Then me use one. Now me less skeptical.
What It Do
You give picture. It turn into ASCII art. Like old C# app called Ascgen2 me always like. Now it website.
Live here: benpetty.github.io/ascgen2
The Tech Rocks
- Astro — build static site
- React — handle UI and state
- Canvas API — shrink picture, look at pixel, do math
- TypeScript — keep thing from fall apart
- GitHub Pages — free hosting, deploy when push to main
How It Work
Picture go in. Canvas make small. Each pixel become character. Dark pixel = M. Light pixel = . Many character = ASCII art.
Also have filter pipeline. Stretch, brightness, contrast, levels, sharpen, dither, flip. That order. Order matter.
Can export as text, HTML, PNG, or copy to clipboard.
The AI Part
Me describe project. Twenty minute later it deployed.
Code was good. Not "good for AI." Just good. Clean module, correct type, sensible structure. Me rename some variable and tweak styling. That it.
Me expect slop. Me not get slop.
Big Credit
Original Ascgen2 made by Jonathan Mathews. He make the real thing. Me just make web version. Thank you Jonathan. You smart human.
Source on GitHub.
Meta note: Me write blog post using AI (Claude Code — basically blog slop generator). Me ask it write like caveman. It do that.