Calligraphy For Linux

Even though we're way past the 90s, ASCII art is still a thing. Granted, we're more focused on AI art in today's world, but there's quite a bit of nostalgia involved when it comes to ASCII art.

Calligraphy is a free and open-source, Linux application that is all about turning text into more or less impressive ASCII art banners.

The main thing about Calligraphy is that it uses pyfiglet. pyfiglet is "An implementation of figlet written in Python." Created out of boredom by one Peter Waller, pyfiglet is a full port of FIGlet (a computer program for making large letters out of ordinary text). In short, it takes ASCII text and renders it into ASCII art fonts (or banners, or font blocks).

Even though Calligraphy can be built from source for any Linux distribution out there, it's an app mainly designed for GNOME environments, and it's fully compliant with the GNOME Code of Conduct.

Apart from being free, open-source, and looking right at home on GNOME desktops, another advantage of Calligraphy is the fact that it provides its users with a staggering number of ASCII art styles/fonts.

The app is also remarkably easy to use, as you only have to enter the text on the left panel, and the the result is instantly displayed on the right. There's also a useful copy button on the lower right side of the GUI, and that's about it. No settings, no configuration options, just a straightforward app for transforming text into ASCII art.

If you're a fan of 90s aesthetics, or you simply want to add a bit of ASCII nostalgia in your online conversations, then Calligraphy is a nice little app that can help you with just that.