Stillness sharpens you
Moving parts stay rough. Hold still and every cell settles into finer glyphs, as if the drawing were taking its time with you.
Pratichavi (प्रतिछवि), a live ASCII art camera: Your reflection, written in letters.
Live ASCII art from your camera or any photo. Hold still and it sharpens.
Move through the letters, then be stillHow it works
Three steps. No account, no upload.
- 1
Open the mirror
Allow the camera, front or back, or pick a photo to turn into ASCII art. The picture is read and drawn on your device, frame by frame.
- 2
Hold still
What moves wavers and trails. Stay still for a few seconds and it settles into steady glyphs and strokes that follow your lines.
- 3
Keep it as a print
Pick a material, then save a large PNG, signed and dated in the corner like a print.
What makes it
Not a filter. A drawing that watches back.
Strokes follow your lines
Edges are drawn with | / - \ along their real direction, the way ASCII artists work by hand.
Written in your words
Switch to Words and your portrait is made of your own text: a name, a poem, a letter. Hindi works too.
Materials
Five ways to print it.
Ink on paper
Risograph
Phosphor
Gold leaf
Indigo
Private by design
Your face stays with you.
The camera picture never leaves your browser. There is no account, no upload and no server behind the mirror, and the mirror page has no analytics at all.
Questions
About ASCII art and Pratichavi.
What is ASCII art?
Pictures made from text characters. Each small patch of the image becomes a letter, number or symbol whose weight matches how light or dark it is: @ and # for shadows, dots and spaces for highlights. Pratichavi also draws edges with | / - \ along their direction, the way ASCII artists work by hand.
How do I turn a photo into ASCII art?
Open Pratichavi, choose Use a photo and pick an image. It becomes ASCII art straight away. Adjust Detail and Contrast, pick a material, then tap Save print to download a high-resolution PNG.
Can I make live ASCII art from my webcam or phone camera?
Yes. Choose Begin with the camera to see yourself as ASCII art in real time. Moving parts waver; hold still and they settle into finer detail. On phones you can switch between the front and back cameras.
Is it free, and are my photos uploaded?
It is free and needs no account. Everything runs in your browser: the camera picture and your photos never leave your device, and the mirror page has no analytics.
Can it make ASCII art in Hindi, or out of my own words?
Yes. Choose the देवनागरी character set to draw in Devanagari letters, or switch to Words to build your portrait from any text you type, in English or Hindi.
What does Pratichavi mean?
प्रतिछवि (pratichavi) is Hindi for reflection, a mirror image. It is a sibling of Chavi (छवि, image), which turns photos of film negatives into colour photos. Try Chavi