Question: Why does ASCII art look screwed up when I dl?

I am new to ascii art and have a question which probably has an obvious
answer but I couldn't find it in the FAQ I had.

When I download, for instance, ascii art files from the ftp.mcs.com
archive and save them as MS Word documents and then try to look at them,
they come out totally screwed up.

Also, copying them from the newsgroup and pasting them into another
document--or even opening them in the clipboard produces the same result.

What am I doing wrong? TIA.

                        |
                        
 --Robert      \       .^.       /
                     (     )
                   (         )
                  (    /|\    )
             _    (    V|V    )   _
                   (    |    )     
                     (  |  )
                      \ | /
                       !!!     
               /       !!!      \
                       !!!
                        V/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ZAP!

Robert Kennedy  <ken...@cam.org> wrote:
>
>I am new to ascii art and have a question which probably has an obvious
>answer but I couldn't find it in the FAQ I had.
>
>When I download, for instance, ascii art files from the ftp.mcs.com
>archive and save them as MS Word documents and then try to look at them,
>they come out totally screwed up.
>
>Also, copying them from the newsgroup and pasting them into another
>document--or even opening them in the clipboard produces the same result.
>
>What am I doing wrong? TIA.

   The fact that a document has an MS Word, MacWrite, etc. creator on it 
doesn't mean anything in itself, if it is a plain text document.

   I suspect you are looking at posts in your newsreader on a term program 
that uses a mono-spaced font.  When you look at it in the clipboard or in 
an application on your machine, you are not using a mono-spaced font.

   Look for a font with names like Monaco, Courier, System, Terminal, 
TTY, VT100, etc.  This information is in the FAQ in the section on the 
best ways to view ASCII art.  If this is not the problem you are having, 
post again.


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     ==  ==      ==: ==  == ==   ==    ::==::::  == ==:: == :==  ==  ==  ==
======  ======  ==  ==::==  ==  ====== :======: ==  ==  ======  ==========
                  .::::::.             :::::: :                :.
                   :::::::             ::::: :            .:: :
                    ::::                ::             .::::::.
                     ::                                ::  :::  :
                     ;                                         ;

Robert Kennedy (ken...@cam.org) had this to say:
= When I download, for instance, ascii art files from the ftp.mcs.com
= archive and save them as MS Word documents and then try to look at them,
= they come out totally screwed up.
= Also, copying them from the newsgroup and pasting them into another
= document--or even opening them in the clipboard produces the same result.

Try changing the font to a monospaced font such as Courier, Courier New, 
Video Terminal Screen, Terminal, or FixedSys.  Since ASCII art is done 
in/for environments that assume monospaced fonts and 
MSWord/Write/Clipboard/etc. default to proportionally spaced fonts.

Good luck.
     ___________________________________________________________________
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    |   |\_|  |  |  |     |  |  |  |  |  |  | \ / | \ / |  |  |  |  |   |
    |/\/|  |  |  |  |  |  |/\|  ___|  |  |  |  |  |  |  |   __|    < /\/|
    |:::|  |  |  |  |  |  |::|  |::|  |     |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |  |:::|
    |:::|  |  |\___/|__|_ |::|_ |::|_ |\____|__|_ |__|_ |\___/|__|_ |:::|
    |::::\___/:::::::::::\|::::\|::::\|::::::::::\|::::\|::::::::::\|:::|
    |:::::::::::::::::::::::::jpl...@umich.edu::::::::::::::::::::::::|
     ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robert Kennedy <ken...@cam.org> writes:
>When I download, for instance, ascii art files from the ftp.mcs.com
>archive and save them as MS Word documents and then try to look at them,
>they come out totally screwed up.

Are you using a monospaced font to view them?

Robert Kennedy <ken...@cam.org> writes:

[snip]

>Also, copying them from the newsgroup and pasting them into another
>document--or even opening them in the clipboard produces the same result.

>What am I doing wrong? TIA.

Try using the Terminal font in your Windows apps. It's the only font
that does justice to the ASCII artwork.

Craig

In article <38mrcu$6j...@gagme.wwa.com> Ian Chai, cha...@ta7.cs.uiuc.edu
writes:
>
>Robert Kennedy <ken...@cam.org> writes:
>>When I download, for instance, ascii art files from the ftp.mcs.com
>>archive and save them as MS Word documents and then try to look at them,
>>they come out totally screwed up.
>
>Are you using a monospaced font to view them?
>

Thanks, Ian and others who responded. I was indeed using the wrong font.
<sheepish expression> the FAQ I read was vague on this point--I've since
read others.

--Robert, who was blind but now can see

In article <38egd6$jj...@sashimi.wwa.com>, Robert Kennedy <ken...@cam.org> 
writes:

|>                         |
|>                         
|>  --Robert      \       .^.       /
|>                      (     )
|>                    (         )
|>                   (    /|\    )
|>              _    (    V|V    )   _
|>                    (    |    )     
|>                      (  |  )
|>                       \ | /
|>                        !!!     
|>                /       !!!      \
|>                        !!!
|>                         V/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ZAP!
|> 

Someone had asked for serpents/snakes. I would say the above looks like a
blushing cobra surprised in the nude and turning its face away !

ramsub

In article <38u5dv$5e...@gagme.wwa.com> ram...@puma.miel.mot.com (M Ramasubramanian) writes:
>From: ram...@puma.miel.mot.com (M Ramasubramanian)
>Subject: Line-talk: looks like a blushing cobra
>Date: 29 Oct 1994 13:48:31 -0500


>In article <38egd6$jj...@sashimi.wwa.com>, Robert Kennedy <ken...@cam.org> 
>writes:

>|>                         |
>|>                         
>|>  --Robert      \       .^.       /
>|>                      (     )
>|>                    (         )
>|>                   (    /|\    )
>|>              _    (    V|V    )   _
>|>                    (    |    )     
>|>                      (  |  )
>|>                       \ | /
>|>                        !!!     
>|>                /       !!!      \
>|>                        !!!
>|>                         V/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\ZAP!
>|> 

>Someone had asked for serpents/snakes. I would say the above looks like a
>blushing cobra surprised in the nude and turning its face away !

I though it looked more like a light bulb.....certainly not a cobra

Dave Biggs