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One Line ASCII Art

One line ASCII art: tiny pictures that fit on a single line, so they survive any app, font or text box. Tap to copy.

By Maya Chen, lettering designer and type educator · Checked by Jordan Hale · · How we review content

Animals

Most of these have been passed around chat rooms and forums for decades; nobody knows who drew them first.

One line, 5 wide · traditional
One line, 7 wide · traditional
One line, 8 wide · traditional
One line, 4 wide · traditional
One line, 4 wide · traditional
One line, 5 wide · traditional
One line, 5 wide · traditional
One line, 8 wide
One line, 7 wide · traditional
One line, 11 wide

Hearts and flowers

One line, 2 wide · traditional
One line, 6 wide · traditional
One line, 9 wide · traditional
One line, 8 wide · traditional
One line, 34 wide
One line, 6 wide · traditional

Objects

One line, 4 wide · traditional
One line, 22 wide · traditional
One line, 11 wide · traditional
One line, 4 wide
One line, 18 wide
One line, 4 wide
One line, 5 wide
One line, 13 wide

Moods and actions

Faces made famous by forums and chat. More on the text faces pages.

One line, 24 wide · traditional
One line, 12 wide · traditional
One line, 13 wide · traditional
One line, 8 wide · traditional
One line, 7 wide · traditional
One line, 15 wide · traditional

30 pieces on this page. All are drawn for this site except those marked traditional, which have been shared online for years without a known author. Copy one and paste it into a code block, a terminal or any app that uses a monospace font; in a proportional font the lines drift apart. Make your own with the text to ASCII generator or the image to ASCII converter.

Key facts

  • One-line ASCII art is a picture squeezed into a single row of characters, so it does not depend on font width.
  • Pure ASCII pieces such as =^.^=, <3 and c[_] work everywhere, including terminals and code.
  • Pieces that borrow Unicode symbols such as ᴥ, ⌐ or ┻ are more expressive, but a very old device or font may show a box.
  • The fish ><((((º> and the rose @}->-- work because one shape says the whole picture; changing one character usually breaks it.
  • Some apps turn :) or <3 into emoji automatically, so test a one-liner in the app you plan to use.

What makes one line ASCII art work?

One-line ASCII art is a picture squeezed into a single row of characters. Because there is no second row to line up with, it does not care about font width, which is why it is the only kind of text art that survives in Instagram bios, TikTok comments, game chats and SMS.

The tricks are the same ones cartoonists use: pick the one shape that says “fish” or “rose” and draw only that. ><((((º> is a fish because the brackets read as scales and the >< as a tail. @}->-- is a rose because @ looks like a bloom from the side. The order of the characters is the whole design, so changing one character usually breaks the picture.

Is it plain ASCII or Unicode?

Type Example Works in Risk
Pure ASCII =^.^= <3 c[_] Everywhere, including terminals and code None, but fewer shapes are possible
ASCII plus symbols ʕ•ᴥ•ʔ ▬▬ι═══════ﺤ Phones, browsers, chat apps A missing character shows as a box

If the art will be pasted somewhere old or technical, such as a terminal, a game console chat or an email that may be read as plain text, stay with the pure ASCII pieces.

How do I make my own one-line art?

Start from a shape you can name in one or two characters: @ for a bloom, o for an eye, /\ for ears, ~ for water or a tail. Then build outwards and test it in the app you plan to use, because some apps turn :) or <3 into emoji automatically. For bigger pictures, see the ASCII art galleries or turn a photo into text with the image to ASCII converter. The more you practise, the faster you will spot a shape that works as one line ascii art in any chat.

Frequently asked questions

Basics

Why use one-line ASCII art instead of a bigger picture?
A single line never breaks. Multi-line art needs a monospace font and enough width, so it falls apart in most chat apps, bios and comment boxes. A one-line piece looks the same wherever it is pasted, as long as the app has the characters.
Are these pure ASCII?
Some are. =^.^=, <3, @}->-- and c[_] use only the 95 printable ASCII characters, so they work on any device. Others borrow symbols from Unicode, such as ᴥ, ⌐ or ┻, which makes them more expressive but means a very old device or font may show a box instead.
Who made these?
Most one-liners on this page are traditional: they have been copied between forums, chats and email signatures for decades and the original authors are not known, so we mark them as traditional rather than claim them. The unmarked ones were made for this site.
What characters are the building blocks of one-liners?
Start with @ for a bloom, o for an eye, /\ for ears and ~ for water or a tail. Then build outwards one character at a time. The order of the characters is the whole design, so changing one usually breaks the picture.
Why is the fish ><((((º> a fish?
The brackets read as scales and the >< at the left reads as a tail. Cartoonists use the same trick: pick the one shape that says fish and draw only that. That is why changing even one character usually breaks the picture, and the order is the whole design.

Where it works

Which one-liners work in Instagram bios, TikTok comments and SMS?
Any of them, because one-line art does not care about font width. It survives Instagram bios, TikTok comments, game chats and SMS, as long as the app has the characters. Pure ASCII pieces are the safest. If a symbol shows as a box, use a pure ASCII piece instead.
When should I stay with pure ASCII?
Use pure ASCII when the art will be pasted somewhere old or technical: a terminal, a game console chat or an email that may be read as plain text. Unicode symbols can show as a box on very old devices.
Where are the faces like shrug and table flip?
The text faces pages cover those: kaomoji, the lenny face, the shrug and the table flip. This page stays with tiny pictures of animals, hearts, roses, swords and objects, so faces are linked rather than repeated. Those pages own the face intent, so you will find the full sets there.

Tips & limits

How do screen readers read one-line art?
Character by character. A screen reader reads <3 as "less than 3" and a table flip as a string of symbol names. Put the words first and the art after, and do not use art as the only way to say something.
Why did my one-liner turn into an emoji?
Some apps replace :) or <3 with emoji automatically. Test the piece in the app you plan to use, and if it changes, add a space between the characters or paste it inside a code block where available. Some apps convert text such as <3 only when you send the message.

More ASCII art and tools