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              Outbreak Magazine Issue #14 - Article 6 of 15
          '~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~'


How to make cool ASCII art. [Macro kills]
=========================================
By Sahal


Ok you're probably wondering...why would I need ASCII Art, and what the fuck is it?
Well ASCII art is made by placing ASCII characters, like the ones I'm 
typing, in a cool format or design. And you need it to impress
people because they will think that you are a skilled h4x0r (even though
you don't usually use ASCII art to hack). You've probably seen ASCII 
art in the logon page for some IRC's. You can also use ASCII art for 
bombing email inboxes. All you need to do is make a program that changes
the emails subject every subject, so when its done it will look like a 
picture. If you have gotten bombed before you can get the person back by
bombing them back... but only if u know how to ASCII--text, macro--. So
with that said here are the basics.

Basics
=====

First you will need a simple text editor like the one your probably 
already using (I use notepad). Then you will need to change the font
that you are working with by going to (on notepad) format>>font>>Fixedsys.
The reason I recommend fixedsys is that (on windows anyway) it is in a mono 
spaced font, which means what it says 'one space' font. Think of it this way
if the font weren't equal to one space per character you wouldn't be able 
to align things up. Like if you use Arial and try to make ASCII art with 
it, it will sometimes not align up and you'll be trying for hours to get it straight.
Use what ever you want. 

So anyway to make art you just have to line things up in a pattern or design.
It may take you days to make it look all professional and 'hooked up'... but 
it's worth it. 

Back Ground(s)
==============

The most commonly used background is probably the [] space because it can not 
be seen and looks good (takes the least time). But it depends on you. If you 
would like a darker background use a character that has more 'cover up' space 
like [#] or [@]. To make a lighter background do the completely opposite,
use a character that uses the least 'cover up' space. A [:] looks light 
and has less cover up space than a [@] which looks darker.

Here is a nice little handy chart...that may help you understand...

+------------------+Light 
|..................|  
|..................|
|..................|
|..................|
|..................|
|..................|
+------------------+
|::::::::::::::::::|
|::::::::::::::::::|
|::::::::::::::::::|
|::::::::::::::::::|
|::::::::::::::::::|
|::::::::::::::::::|
+------------------+Medium
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
|%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%%|
+------------------+
|##################|
|##################|
|##################|
|##################|
|##################|
|##################|
+------------------+
|@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
|@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
|@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
|@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
|@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
|@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@@|
+------------------+Dark

Note: there are a lot more characters that are in between these. 
You can basically use any char for background, but these (I think)
Look the best, and are the most common. 

Actual Art
==========

TO actually make your art use periods [.] colons [:] these things [`]
Comas [,] quotes ["]['] or any simple char that is in your keyboard. 
I do recommend using some kind of Unicode like the overscore
[](alt+0175) because you WILL need to sometimes. Remember these 
Unicode chars are not all that good because sometimes they change
when you change the font. 

This here is just a simple circle.

 .'`^`'.
 '     :
 `.,.,.`

If you look at it, you will see that it has varying characters. 
None of the characters next to each other are the same. If you put
two of the same characters together it will look bad. All you have
to do to make ASCII art is to put characters together to form a design.
Those are the basic steps to make ASCII art.

`Macro'Studio's
===============

A macro studio is a program that helps you make a macro faster because
you can move text around faster than on notepad.

I like Email Effects. It's supposed to be used for sending ASCII art in 
an email message but you can use it for making regular ASCII art. The
problem with this program is that you have to use a monospaced font, so
you can't use Arial.  

Another program is `Bit macro studio'. This is one of the first ones ever
and is easy to use. Just look for some kind of `macro studio' or 
`ASCII-art' thing on ...http://www.google.com (or any other search engine)

Final Thoughts
==============

I hope you learned something today. It is pretty easy once you get used to
it. So start [ASCII, text, macro]-ing today...

I wrote this to help you understand how ASCII art works. You may not become
artists just by reading this but it may answer some questions.

I am Sahal. To contact me, IM me on AIM, 'sex leG rapE', or E-mail me @
sahal@hackermail.com
