Recently, we have explained about how to randomly display predefined ASCII art on the Linux terminal, using a program called ASCII-Art-Splash-Screen. In this article, we will show how to create your own appealing ASCII text banners from plain text, using two command-line utilities called FIGlet and TOIlet.
Read Also: 20 Funny Linux Commands to Have Fun in Terminal
FIGlet is a simple command-line utility for creating ASCII text banners or large letters out of ordinary text, whereas TOIlet (a sub-command under figlet) is a command-line utility for creating colorful large characters from ordinary text.
How to Install and Use Figlet and Toilet Tools in Linux
To use FIGlet and TOIlet tools together, you first need to install them on your Linux system using default package manager as shown.
$ sudo apt install figlet toilet [On Debian/Ubuntu] $ sudo yum install figlet toilet [On CentOS/RHEL] $ sudo dnf install figlet toilet [On Fedora 22+]
Once installed, the basic way of using figlet is by providing as an argument, the text that you want to transform as a banner or large text, as shown.
$ figlet TecMint.com _____ __ __ _ _ |_ _|__ ___| // (_)_ __ | |_ ___ ___ _ __ ___ | |/ _ // __| |//| | | '_ /| __| / __/ _ /| '_ ` _ / | | __/ (__| | | | | | | | |_ | (_| (_) | | | | | | |_|/___|/___|_| |_|_|_| |_|/__(_)___/___/|_| |_| |_|
Set Output Justification
If you want the output to be created at the center, use the -c flag as shown.
$ figlet -c TecMint.com
_____ __ __ _ _
|_ _|__ ___| // (_)_ __ | |_ ___ ___ _ __ ___
| |/ _ // __| |//| | | '_ /| __| / __/ _ /| '_ ` _ /
| | __/ (__| | | | | | | | |_ | (_| (_) | | | | | |
|_|/___|/___|_| |_|_|_| |_|/__(_)___/___/|_| |_| |_|
In addition, also use -l to set the output to the left or -r to print it to the right.
Define Output Width
You can also control the output width with the -w switch, the default width is 80 columns.
$ figlet -w 100 I Love TecMint.com ___ _ _____ __ __ _ _ |_ _| | | _____ _____ |_ _|__ ___| // (_)_ __ | |_ ___ ___ _ __ ___ | | | | / _ / / / / _ / | |/ _ // __| |//| | | '_ /| __| / __/ _ /| '_ ` _ / | | | |__| (_) / V / __/ | | __/ (__| | | | | | | | |_ | (_| (_) | | | | | | |___| |_____/___/ /_/ /___| |_|/___|/___|_| |_|_|_| |_|/__(_)___/___/|_| |_| |_|
If you have a wider terminal, you can use the full width of your terminal with the -t switch.
$ figlet -t TecMint.com
Add Space Between Output Characters
For a more clear output, you can use the -k flag to add a little space between the printed characters: check out the different between the above and below output as shown.
$ figlet -t -k I Love TecMint.com ___ _ _____ __ __ _ _ |_ _| | | ___ __ __ ___ |_ _|___ ___ | // |(_) _ __ | |_ ___ ___ _ __ ___ | | | | / _ / / / // _ / | | / _ / / __|| |//| || || '_ / | __| / __|/ _ / | '_ ` _ / | | | |___| (_) |/ V /| __/ | || __/| (__ | | | || || | | || |_ _| (__| (_) || | | | | | |___| |_____|/___/ /_/ /___| |_| /___| /___||_| |_||_||_| |_| /__|(_)/___|/___/ |_| |_| |_|
Read Input From a File
Rather than type your text on the command-line, you can read text from a file, using the -p option as shown.
$ echo "I wish I could chmod 644 my Girlfriend" >girlfriend.txt
$ figlet -kp < girlfriend.txt
___ _ _ ___ _ _
|_ _| __ __(_) ___ | |__ |_ _| ___ ___ _ _ | | __| |
| | / / // / /| |/ __|| '_ / | | / __|/ _ / | | | || | / _` |
| | / V V / | |/__ /| | | | | | | (__| (_) || |_| || || (_| |
|___| /_//_/ |_||___/|_| |_| |___| /___|/___/ /__,_||_| /__,_|
_ _ __ _ _ _ _
___ | |__ _ __ ___ ___ __| | / /_ | || | | || |
/ __|| '_ / | '_ ` _ / / _ / / _` | | '_ / | || |_ | || |_
| (__ | | | || | | | | || (_) || (_| | | (_) ||__ _||__ _|
/___||_| |_||_| |_| |_| /___/ /__,_| /___/ |_| |_|
____ _ _ __ _ _
_ __ ___ _ _ / ___|(_) _ __ | | / _| _ __ (_) ___ _ __ __| |
| '_ ` _ / | | | | | | _ | || '__|| || |_ | '__|| | / _ /| '_ / / _` |
| | | | | || |_| | | |_| || || | | || _|| | | || __/| | | || (_| |
|_| |_| |_| /__, | /____||_||_| |_||_| |_| |_| /___||_| |_| /__,_|
Change Output Font
You can specify another font, using the -f flag, font is a .flf or .tlf file stored in /usr/share/figlet. You can check out available fonts like so.
$ ls /usr/share/figlet/ 646-ca2.flc 646-es.flc 646-kr.flc 646-yu.flc 8859-9.flc 646-ca.flc 646-fr.flc 646-no2.flc 8859-2.flc ascii12.tlf 646-cn.flc 646-gb.flc 646-no.flc 8859-3.flc ascii9.tlf 646-cu.flc 646-hu.flc 646-pt2.flc 8859-4.flc banner.flf 646-de.flc 646-irv.flc 646-pt.flc 8859-5.flc bigascii12.tlf 646-dk.flc 646-it.flc 646-se2.flc 8859-7.flc bigascii9.tlf 646-es2.flc 646-jp.flc 646-se.flc 8859-8.flc big.flf
Then use a particular font, for example, I use font slant.tlf as shown.
$ figlet -f slant "Sudo I Love You" _____ __ ____ __ __ __ / ___/__ ______/ /___ / _/ / / ____ _ _____ / // /___ __ __ /__ // / / / __ / __ / / / / / / __ / | / / _ / / / __ // / / / ___/ / /_/ / /_/ / /_/ / _/ / / /___/ /_/ / |/ / __/ / / /_/ / /_/ / /____//__,_//__,_//____/ /___/ /_____//____/|___//___/ /_//____//__,_/
Use TOIlet to Create Colored ASCII Text Banners
The toilet command is also used to transform text to large ASCII characters. The simplest way of running it is as follows.
$ toilet TecMint.com mmmmmmm m m " m # mmm mmm ## ## mmm m mm mm#mm mmm mmm mmmmm # #" # #" " # ## # # #" # # #" " #" "# # # # # #"""" # # "" # # # # # # # # # # # # "#mm" "#mm" # # mm#mm # # "mm # "#mm" "#m#" # # #
To change to a particular font, use the -f option, it also reads fonts from the same source as figlet.
$ toilet -kf script TecMint.com
______ ,__ __
(_) | /| | | o
| _ __ | | | _ _ _|_ __ __ _ _ _
_ ||/ / | | | | / |/ | | / / /_/ |/ |/ |
(_/ |__//___/| | |_/|_/ | |_/|_/o/___//__/ | | |_/
A number of the options for figlet that we have looked at above also apply to toilet. For more information, refer to their man pages.
$ man figlet $ man toilet
Read Also: Neofetch – Shows Linux System Information with Distribution Logo
Summary
In this article, we looked at two command-line utilities for transforming text to large ASCII text characters, useful for creating banners or messages. Share your thoughts about these commands via the feedback form below.
Source: tecmint.com
