FIGlet is a

computer program A computer program is a sequence or set of instructions in a programming language for a computer to execute. Computer programs are one component of software, which also includes documentation and other intangible components. A computer program ...

that generates text

banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Als ...

s, in a variety of

typeface A typeface (or font family) is the design of lettering that can include variations in size, weight (e.g. bold), slope (e.g. italic), width (e.g. condensed), and so on. Each of these variations of the typeface is a font. There are thousands o ...

s, composed of

letter Letter, letters, or literature may refer to: Characters typeface * Letter (alphabet), a character representing one or more of the sounds used in speech; any of the symbols of an alphabet. * Letterform, the graphic form of a letter of the alphabe ...

s made up of conglomerations of smaller

ASCII ASCII ( ), abbreviated from American Standard Code for Information Interchange, is a character encoding standard for electronic communication. ASCII codes represent text in computers, telecommunications equipment, and other devices. Because ...

characters (see ASCII art). The name derives from "Frank, Ian and Glenn's letters". Being

free software Free software or libre software is computer software distributed under terms that allow users to run the software for any purpose as well as to study, change, and distribute it and any adapted versions. Free software is a matter of liberty, no ...

, FIGlet is commonly included as part of many

Unix-like A Unix-like (sometimes referred to as UN*X or *nix) operating system is one that behaves in a manner similar to a Unix system, although not necessarily conforming to or being certified to any version of the Single UNIX Specification. A Unix-li ...

operating systems (

Linux Linux ( or ) is a family of open-source Unix-like operating systems based on the Linux kernel, an operating system kernel first released on September 17, 1991, by Linus Torvalds. Linux is typically packaged as a Linux distribution, w ...

, BSD, etc.) distributions, but it has been ported to other platforms as well. The official FIGlet

FTP The File Transfer Protocol (FTP) is a standard communication protocol used for the transfer of computer files from a server to a client on a computer network. FTP is built on a client–server model architecture using separate control and data ...

site includes precompiled ports for the Acorn, Amiga, Apple II, Atari ST, BeOS,

Macintosh The Mac (known as Macintosh until 1999) is a family of personal computers designed and marketed by Apple Inc. Macs are known for their ease of use and minimalist designs, and are popular among students, creative professionals, and software en ...

MS-DOS MS-DOS ( ; acronym for Microsoft Disk Operating System, also known as Microsoft DOS) is an operating system for x86-based personal computers mostly developed by Microsoft. Collectively, MS-DOS, its rebranding as IBM PC DOS, and a few ope ...

NeXTSTEP NeXTSTEP is a discontinued object-oriented, multitasking operating system based on the Mach kernel and the UNIX-derived BSD. It was developed by NeXT Computer in the late 1980s and early 1990s and was initially used for its range of propri ...

OS/2 OS/2 (Operating System/2) is a series of computer operating systems, initially created by Microsoft and IBM under the leadership of IBM software designer Ed Iacobucci. As a result of a feud between the two companies over how to position OS/2 r ...

, and

Windows Windows is a group of several proprietary graphical operating system families developed and marketed by Microsoft. Each family caters to a certain sector of the computing industry. For example, Windows NT for consumers, Windows Server for ser ...

platforms, as well as a reimplementation in

Perl Perl is a family of two high-level, general-purpose, interpreted, dynamic programming languages. "Perl" refers to Perl 5, but from 2000 to 2019 it also referred to its redesigned "sister language", Perl 6, before the latter's name was offic ...

(Text::FIGlet). There are third-party reimplementations of FIGlet in

Java Java (; id, Jawa, ; jv, ꦗꦮ; su, ) is one of the Greater Sunda Islands in Indonesia. It is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the south and the Java Sea to the north. With a population of 151.6 million people, Java is the world's mos ...

(including one embedded in the JavE ASCII art editor),

JavaScript JavaScript (), often abbreviated as JS, is a programming language that is one of the core technologies of the World Wide Web, alongside HTML and CSS. As of 2022, 98% of websites use JavaScript on the client side for webpage behavior, of ...

PHP PHP is a general-purpose scripting language geared toward web development. It was originally created by Danish-Canadian programmer Rasmus Lerdorf in 1993 and released in 1995. The PHP reference implementation is now produced by The PHP Group. ...

Python Python may refer to: Snakes * Pythonidae, a family of nonvenomous snakes found in Africa, Asia, and Australia ** ''Python'' (genus), a genus of Pythonidae found in Africa and Asia * Python (mythology), a mythical serpent Computing * Python (pro ...

, and Go. FIGlet was featured as a Debian Package of the Day in 2007.

Behavior

FIGlet can read from

standard input In computer programming, standard streams are interconnected input and output communication channels between a computer program and its environment when it begins execution. The three input/output (I/O) connections are called standard input (stdin ...

or accept a message as part of the

command line A command-line interpreter or command-line processor uses a command-line interface (CLI) to receive commands from a user in the form of lines of text. This provides a means of setting parameters for the environment, invoking executables and pro ...

. It prints to

standard output In computer programming, standard streams are interconnected input and output communication channels between a computer program and its environment when it begins execution. The three input/output (I/O) connections are called standard input (stdin ...

. Some common arguments (options) are: * -f to select a font file. (font files are availabl
here
* -d to change the directory for fonts. * -c centers the output. * -l left-aligns the output. * -r right-aligns the output. * -t sets the output width to the

terminal Terminal may refer to: Computing Hardware * Terminal (electronics), a device for joining electrical circuits together * Terminal (telecommunication), a device communicating over a line * Computer terminal, a set of primary input and output dev ...

width. * -w specifies a custom output width. * -k enables

kerning In typography, kerning is the process of adjusting the spacing between characters in a proportional font, usually to achieve a visually pleasing result. Kerning adjusts the space between individual letterforms, while tracking (letter-spac ...

, printing each letter of the message individually, instead of merged into the adjacent letters.

Sample usage

An example of output generated by FIGlet is shown below. ser@hostname ~ figlet Wikipedia __ ___ _ _ _ _ \ \ / (_) , _(_)_ __ ___ __, (_) __ _ \ \ /\ / /, , , / / , '_ \ / _ \/ _` , , / _` , \ V V / , , <, , , _) , __/ (_, , , (_, , \_/\_/ , _, _, \_\_, .__/ \___, \__,_, _, \__,_, , _, The following command: ser@hostname ~ figlet -ct -f roman Wikipedia generates this output:

oooooo   oooooo     oooo  o8o  oooo         o8o                             .o8   o8o            
 `888.    `888.     .8'   `"'  `888         `"'                            "888   `"'            
  `888.   .8888.   .8'   oooo   888  oooo  oooo  oo.ooooo.   .ooooo.   .oooo888  oooo   .oooo.   
   `888  .8'`888. .8'    `888   888 .8P'   `888   888' `88b d88' `88b d88' `888  `888  `P  )88b  
    `888.8'  `888.8'      888   888888.     888   888   888 888ooo888 888   888   888   .oP"888  
     `888'    `888'       888   888 `88b.   888   888   888 888    .o 888   888   888  d8(  888  
      `8'      `8'       o888o o888o o888o o888o  888bod8P' `Y8bod8P' `Y8bod88P" o888o `Y888""8o 
                                                  888                                            
                                                 o888o

The -ct options centers the text and makes it take up the full width of the terminal. The -f roman option specifies the 'roman' font file.

Font examples

Invita

 __       __)                          
(, )  ,   /  , /)   ,           /) ,    
   ,  /,  /    (/_    __    _  _(/    _  
   , / , /  _(_/(___(_/_)__(/_(_(__(_(_(_
   /  ,           .-/                   
                (_/

Banner (same of
banner A banner can be a flag or another piece of cloth bearing a symbol, logo, slogan or another message. A flag whose design is the same as the shield in a coat of arms (but usually in a square or rectangular shape) is called a banner of arms. Als ...
utility)

#     #                                          
#  #  # # #    # # #####  ###### #####  #   ##   
#  #  # # #   #  # #    # #      #    # #  #  #  
#  #  # # ####   # #    # #####  #    # # #    # 
#  #  # # #  #   # #####  #      #    # # ###### 
#  #  # # #   #  # #      #      #    # # #    # 
 ## ##  # #    # # #      ###### #####  # #    #

Larry3d

 __      __      __                             __                  
/\ \  __/\ \  __/\ \      __                   /\ \  __             
\ \ \/\ \ \ \/\_\ \ \/'\ /\_\  _____      __   \_\ \/\_\     __     
 \ \ \ \ \ \ \/\ \ \ , < \/\ \/\ '__`\  /'__`\ /'_` \/\ \  /'__`\   
  \ \ \_/ \_\ \ \ \ \ \\`\\ \ \ \ \L\ \/\  __//\ \L\ \ \ \/\ \L\.\_ 
   \ `\___x___/\ \_\ \_\ \_\ \_\ \ ,__/\ \____\ \___,_\ \_\ \__/.\_\
    '\/__//__/  \/_/\/_/\/_/\/_/\ \ \/  \/____/\/__,_ /\/_/\/__/\/_/
                                 \ \_\                              
                                  \/_/

FIGlet-based ASCII typefaces

Eric Olson's 2002 FIG typeface family is a series of

OpenType OpenType is a format for scalable computer fonts. It was built on its predecessor TrueType, retaining TrueType's basic structure and adding many intricate data structures for prescribing typographic behavior. OpenType is a registered trademark ...

fonts similar to the output of FIGlet. TOIlet seeks to extend FIGlet to use colour text. FIGlet supports TOIlet fonts as of version 2.2.4.

References

External links

* ** tp://ftp.plig.net/figlet/ Alternate
FIGfont
Documentation version 2 FIGfont and FIGdriver Standard *

PHP library
at PHP *Online FIGlet ASCII art generators
Text Art Figlet Generator
at TextArt.io
TAAG (Text Ascii Art Generator)
at Pat or JK
ASCII signature
at Julius Kammerl
ASCII generator
at Network Science ASCII art Free software programmed in C Free typesetting software Cross-platform software