Replace Figlet ASCII art with TheDraw Fonts
If you’ve been using figlet to add ASCII art to your terminal projects, you’ve probably noticed that the standard FIGlet fonts can feel a bit plain.
There’s a whole world of retro ANSI art fonts waiting to make your CLI tools stand out.
TheDraw Fonts
Back in the DOS era, TheDraw was the go-to tool for creating ANSI art. Artists created fonts saved in the .tdf (TheDraw Font) format, complete with colors, shading, and unique character designs. These fonts have a distinctly retro aesthetic that can make your terminal output pop.
You can use these fonts today with tdfiglet.
Basic Usage
Using TDF fonts is straightforward:
tdfiglet -f /path/to/font.TDF "Your Text"
Unlike standard figlet (which uses .flf files), tdfiglet reads .tdf files.
There are thousands of TheDraw fonts available online.
Example
Here’s the difference between standard figlet and tdfiglet with a TheDraw font:
Standard figlet:
▄▄▄
▄█████▄ ▄███████████▄ ▄███████ ▄███████ ▄███████ ▄█ █▄ ▄█ █▄
███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███
███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ █▀ ███ ███ ███ ███
███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ▄███▄▄▄███ ▄███▄▄▄██▀ ███ ▄███▄▄▄███▄ ███▄▄▄███
███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ▀███▀▀▀███ ▀███▀▀▀▀ ███ ▀▀███▀▀▀███ ▀▀▀▀▀▀███
███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ██████████ ███ █▄ ███ ███ ▄██ ███
███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███ ███
▀█████▀ ▀█ ███ █▀ ███ █▀ ███ ███ ███████▀ ███ █▀ ▀█████▀
███ █▀
tdfiglet with a TDF font:
▒▀▀▀▓
▓ █ █▀▀▀█▀▀▀█
▄■▀▀▀■▄ █▀▀▀▀▀■▄▀▀■▄ ▄■▀▀▀■▄ ▄■▀▀▀■▄ ▄■▀▀▀▀▀▓ █ ▀▀■▄ █ ▓ █
▐▌ ▓ ▐▌ █ ▌ ▐▌ ▐▌ ▓ ▐▌ ▐▌ ▓ ▐▌ ▐▌ ▓ ▓ █ ▓ ▐▌ █ █ █
█ █ █ █ █ ▌ █ █▄■▀▀ █ █ █▄▄▄█ █ █ █ █ █ █ ▓ ▓ ▓
█ ▓ ▓ █ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▐▌ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▓■▀▀ ▓ ▓ ▓ ▒ ▒ ▒
▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒▄ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ▒ ░ ░ ░
░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ▀■░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ░ ▄■▄ ░ ░ ░ █ █ █
█ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █ █▀ █ █ █ █ ▐▌ ░ ░
▐▌ ░ ▐▌ █ ░ ░ █ ▐▌ ░ ▐▌ ░ █ ▐▌ ░ █ ░ █ ░ ▀■▄▄ ▒
▀■▄▄▄■▀ █▄▄▄█ █▄▄▄█ ▀■▄▄▄■▀ ▐▌ ░ ▀■▄▄▄▄▄█ ▒▄▄▄░▄▄▄▒ ▄▄▄▄█ ▐▌
▀■▄▒ █▄▄▄▄▄■▀
Next time you reach for figlet, consider giving tdfiglet and TheDraw fonts a try.