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_| |__ __ _____ __| |_____ _____ __ __ __
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/_____|_____|__|__|_____|__|___\____|________| |
\_____________________________________________\| v 0.29.0
Durdraw is an ASCII, Unicode and ANSI art editor for UNIX-like systems (Linux, macOS, etc). It runs in modern Utf-8 terminals and supports frame-based animation, custom themes, 256 and 16 color modes, terminal mouse input, DOS ANSI art viewing, CP437 and Unicode mixing and conversion, HTML output, mIRC color output, and other interesting features.
Durdraw is heavily inspired by classic ANSI editing software for MS-DOS and Windows, such as TheDraw, Aciddraw and Pablodraw, but with a modern Unix twist.
- Python 3 (3.10+ recommended)
- Linux, macOS, or other Unix-like System
Optional Requirements
-
ansiloveFor PNG and animated GIF export, please install
ansilove(https://ansilove.org/) and make sure it is is in your path.
PNG and GIF export only works in 16-color mode for now, and only with CP437 compatible characters. -
neofetchFor durfetch support, please install
neofetchand place it in your path.
You can install durdraw via several methods:
After installing, you should be able to run durdraw. Press esc-h for help, or try durdraw --help for command-line options.
If you just want to run it without installing, see Running Without Installing. You can also install via the included Dockerfile.
-
Download and extract, or use git to download:
git clone https://github.com/cmang/durdraw.git cd durdraw -
Install or upgrade using pip:
python3 -m pip install --upgrade . -
Optionally, install some themes and a sample configuration file for your local user into
~/.durdraw/:./installconf.sh
This will place durdraw.ini into
~/.durdraw/and the themes into~/.durdraw/themes/.
Alternatively, you can install the pip package pip directly (Please note that this installation method does not include everything, i.e. the example dur files under examples/, or the entrypoint scripts in the section below)
# install `master` branch version:
python3 -m pip install 'git+https://github.com/cmang/durdraw'
# install specific version:
python3 -m pip install 'git+https://github.com/cmang/durdraw@0.28.0'
# install `dev` branch version:
python3 -m pip install 'git+https://github.com/cmang/durdraw@dev'You can run Durdraw with:
./start-durdrawTo look at some included example animations:
./start-durdraw -p examples/*.dur |
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You can play a .dur file or series of .dur (or .ANS or .ASC) files with:
durdraw -p filename.dur
durdraw -p file1.dur file2.dur file3.dur ...Or view a downloaded ANSI artpack with:
durdraw -p *.DIZ *.ASC *.ANSOther command-line options:
usage: durdraw [-h] [-p PLAY [PLAY ...]] [-d DELAYEXIT] [-x TIMES] [--256color | --16color] [-b] [-W WIDTH] [-H HEIGHT] [-m]
[--wrap WRAP] [--nomouse] [--cursor CURSOR] [--notheme] [--theme THEME] [--cp437] [--export-ansi] [-u UNDOSIZE]
[--fetch] [-V]
[filename]
positional arguments:
filename .dur or ascii file to load
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-p PLAY [PLAY ...], --play PLAY [PLAY ...]
Just play .dur, .ANS or .ASC file or files, then exit
-d DELAYEXIT, --delayexit DELAYEXIT
Wait X seconds after playback before exiting (requires -p)
-x TIMES, --times TIMES
Play X number of times (requires -p)
--256color Try 256 color mode
--16color Try 16 color mode
-b, --blackbg Use a black background color instead of terminal default
-W WIDTH, --width WIDTH
Set canvas width
-H HEIGHT, --height HEIGHT
Set canvas height
-m, --max Maximum canvas size for terminal (overrides -W and -H)
--wrap WRAP Number of columns to wrap lines at when loading ASCII and ANSI files (default 80)
--nomouse Disable mouse support
--cursor CURSOR Cursor mode (block, underscore, or pipe)
--notheme Disable theme support (use default theme)
--theme THEME Load a custom theme file
--cp437 Display extended characters on the screen using Code Page 437 (IBM-PC/MS-DOS) encoding instead of Utf-8.
(Requires CP437 capable terminal and font) (beta)
--export-ansi Export loaded art to an .ansi file and exit
-u UNDOSIZE, --undosize UNDOSIZE
Set the number of undo history states - default is 100. More requires more RAM, less saves RAM.
--fetch Replace fetch strings with Neofetch output
-V, --version Show version number and exit
- Use the arrow keys (or mouse) and other keys to edit, much like a text editor.
- You can click highlighted areas of the screen.
- You can use the "Esc" (or "Meta") key to access keyboard shortcuts and commands:
____________. _________ __________ _________ _____ _______
.-\\___ / |______/ _ /.-\\___ // _ /_/ _ \_.____. \ /
| |/ / | / / /:| |/ / / /Y Y Y | / /
| / /| | / _ _/ || / /: _ _/ : _ | /\/ /
| /:| : : Y |: /:| Y | Y | /:H7
|____ |_________|___| |_____ |____| | |____|____/\_____|
.-- `-----' ----------- `------': - `-----' -- `------'----' -----------------.
| |
`-----------------------------------------------------------------------------'
.. Art Editing ..................... .. Animation .......................
: F1-F10 - insert character : : esc-k - next frame :
: esc-1 to esc-0 - same as F1-F10 : : esc-j - previous frame :
: esc-space - insert draw char : : esc-p - start/stop payback :
: esc-c/tab - color picker : : esc-n - clone frame :
: esc-left - next fg color : : esc-N - append empty frame :
: esc-right - prev fg color : : esc-d - delete frame :
: esc-up - change color up : : esc-D - set frame delay :
: esc-down - change color down : : esc-+/esc-- - faster/slower :
: esc-' - insert line : : esc-R - set playback/edit range :
: esc-; - delete line : : esc-g - go to frame # :
: esc-. - insert column : : esc-M - move frame :
: esc-, - delete column : : esc-{ - shift frames left :
: esc-] - next character group : : esc-} - shift frames right :
: esc-[ - previous character group : :..................................:
: esc-S - change character set :
: esc-L - replace color : .. UI/Misc .........................
: esc-y - eyedrop (pick up color) : : esc-m - main menu :
: esc-P - pick up character : : esc-a - animation menu :
: esc-l - color character : : esc-t - mouse tools :
: shift-arrows - select for copy : : esc-z - undo :
: esc-K - mark selection : : esc-r - redo :
: esc-v - paste : : esc-V - view mode :
:..................................: : esc-i - file/canvas info :
: esc-I - character inspector :
.. File Operations ................. : esc-F - search/find string :
: esc-C - new/clear canvas : : ctrl-l - redraw screen :
: esc-o - open : : esc-h - help :
: esc-s - save : : esc-q - quit :
:..................................: :..................................:
.. Canvas Size .....................
: esc-" - insert line :
: esc-: - delete line :
: esc-> - insert column :
: esc-< - delete column :
:..................................:
esc-j esc-k
Prev Next Canvas
esc-f esc-g esc-- Frame Frame Size
esc-m Go to esc-+ esc-D esc-R esc-t | esc-p| |
Main Frame Speed Frame Play/Edit Mouse First | Play/| Last |
Menu Number | Delay Range Tools Frame | Pause| Frame |
| | | | | | | | | | | |
[Menu] F: 1/7 <FPS>: 8 D: 0.00 R: 1/8 [Move] |< << |> >> >| [80x24]
tab
esc-c esc-S
Pick esc-[ esc-] Charset set F1-F10 esc-[ esc-]
Foreground Character or Unicode Insert Special Prev/Next Cursor
Color Group Block Characters Char Group Position
| | | | \ |
FG:██ (1/21) [Dur..] <F1░F2▒F3▓F4█F5▀F6▄F7▌F8▐F9■F10·> (12,10)
ANIMATION:
Use the Animation Menu [Anim] or keyboard commands to insert (esc-n),
delete (esc-d), move (esc-M) and edit frames. Use esc-k and esc-j to
flip to the next and previous frames. The "Play" button (|> or esc-p)
starts or stops playback.
When the animation is playing, all changes made effect all frames
within the current playback/edit Range (R: or esc-R). Change playback
speed (<FPS> or Frames Per Second) with esc-+ (or esc-=) and esc--.
F: shows the current frame number, and you can go to a specific frame
with esc-g.
BRUSHES:
To make a brush, use shift-arrow or esc-K to make a selection, then
press b. To use the brush, click the Mouse Tools menu (esc-t) and select
Paint (P). You can now use the mouse to paint with your custom brush.
You can create a custom startup file where you can set a theme and other options.
If you did not already do so during installation, you can install a sample configuration (See step 3 underInstallation via Source Repository)
Here is an example durdraw.ini file, showing the available options:
; Durdraw 0.28.0 Configuration File
[Main]
; color-mode sets the color mode to start in. Available options: 16, 256
;color-mode: 16
; disable-mouse disables the mouse.
;disable-mouse: True
; max-canvas automatically sets the canvas size to the terminal window size at startup.
;max-canvas: True
; Cursor mode requests a cursor type from the terminal. Available options: block, underscore, pipe
;cursor-mode: underscore
; When scroll-colors is enabled, using the mouse wheel in the canvas changes the
; foreground color instead of moving the cursor.
;scroll-colors: True
[Theme]
theme-16: ~/.durdraw/themes/mutedchill-16.dtheme.ini
theme-256: ~/.durdraw/themes/mutedform-256.dtheme.ini
[Logging]
; filepath is the path to the log file. Default is ./durdraw.log
;filepath: ./durdraw.log
; level sets the logging level. Available options: DEBUG, INFO, WARNING, ERROR, CRITICAL. Default is WARNING
;level: WARNING
; local-tz indicates if the computer's local timezone should be used when logging instead of UTC
;local-tz: FalseThe option 'theme-16' sets the path to the theme file used in 16-color mode, and 'theme-256' sets the theme file used for 256-color mode.
You can also load a custom theme file using the --theme command-line argument and passing it the path to a theme file, or disable themes entirely with the --notheme command line option.
| 16-color theme | 256-color theme |
[Theme-16]
name: 'Purple Drank'
mainColor: 6
clickColor: 3
borderColor: 6
clickHighlightColor: 5
notificationColor: 4
promptColor: 4 |
[Theme-256]
name: 'Muted Form'
mainColor: 104
clickColor: 37
borderColor: 236
clickHighlightColor: 15
notificationColor: 87
promptColor: 189
menuItemColor: 189
menuTitleColor: 159
menuBorderColor: 24 |
(for 16-color mode - color codes numbers for 256-color mode can be found in Durdraw's 256-color selector.)
| code | color |
|---|---|
| 1 | black |
| 2 | blue |
| 3 | green |
| 4 | cyan |
| 5 | red |
| 6 | magenta |
| 7 | yellow |
| 8 | white |
| theme option | description |
|---|---|
| mainColor | the color of most text |
| clickColor | the color of buttons (clickable items) |
| clickHighlightColor | the color the button changes to for a moment when clicked |
| borderColor | the color of the border around a drawing |
| notificationColor | the color of notification messages |
| promptColor | the color of user prompt messages |
| menuItemColor | the color of menu items |
| menuTitleColor | the color of menu titles |
| menuBorderColor | the color of the border around menus |
You can create custom character set files and place them in the ~/.durdraw/charsets folder. Character set files must have the file nme extension .ini. Durdraw will automatically scan for these files and include them in the list of character sets (esc-S).
An example character set file is provided in example-charset.ini:
; Custom character set
; 🭨 🭩 🭪 🭫 🭬🭭🭮 🭯 🮚 🮛 🮜 🮝 🮞 🮟 ◤ ◥ ◢ ◣
[Character Set]
name: Cool Characters
encoding: utf-8
[block 1]
f1: 🭨
f2: 🭩
f3: 🭪
f4: 🭫
f5: 🭬
f6: 🭭
f7: 🭮
f8: 🭯
f9: 🮚
f10: 🮛
[block 2]
f1: 🮜
f2: 🮝
f3: 🮞
f4: 🮟
f5: ◤
f6: ◥
f7: ◢
f8: ◣
f9:
f10:durfetch is a program which acts like a fetcher. It uses Neofetch to obtain system statistics and requires that Neofetch be found in the path. You can put keys in your .dur files which durfetch will replace with values from Neofetch. You can also use built-in example animations.
Note that this feature is in beta, and is far from perfect, but it can be fun to play with. If anyone wants to improve durfetch, please feel free.
Keys will only be replaced if there is enough room in the art for the replacement value.
The following values can be used in your art and automatically interpreted by durfetch:
{OS}
{Host}
{Kernel}
{Uptime}
{Packages}
{Shell}
{Resolution}
{DE}
{WM}
{WM Theme}
{Terminal}
{Terminal Font}
{CPU}
{GPU}
{Memory}The durfetch executable takes the following command-line parameters:
usage: durfetch [-h] [-r | -l LOAD] [--linux | --bsd] [filename ...]
An animated fetcher. A front-end for Durdraw and Neofetch integration.
positional arguments:
filename .dur ASCII and ANSI art file or files to use
options:
-h, --help show this help message and exit
-r, --rand Pick a random animation to play
-l LOAD, --load LOAD Load an internal animation
--linux Show a Linux animation
--bsd Show a BSD animation
Available animations for -l:
bsd
cm-eye
linux-fire
linux-tux
unixboxHere are some durfetch examples:
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To enable an external feature, use an ENV var listed below in front of a durdraw command, e.g.
ENABLE_UNDO_TEMPFILES=1 durdraw animation.durThe following list of features are experimental and may not work as expected:
ENABLE_UNDO_TEMPFILES=1 # store undo history using python the `tmpfile` lib instead of memoryTo run the test, you need to have pytest installed. You can install it with:
python3 -m pip install pytestThen you can run the tests with:
pytest -vv test/A: Oh no! I am sorry and hope nothing important was lost. But you can help fix it. Please take a screenshot of the crash and post it as a bug report at https://github.com/cmang/durdraw/issues/. Please try to describe what you were trying to do when it happened, and if possible, include the name of your terminal, OS and Python version. I will do my best to try to fix it ASAP. Your terminal will probably start acting weird if Durdraw crashed. You can usually fix it by typing "reset" and pressing enter.
A: Yes, but traditional ANSI animation does not provide any control over timing, instead relying on terminal baud rate to govern the playback speed. This does not work well on modern systems without baud rate emulation. Durdraw gives the artist fine control over frame rate, and delays per frame. Traditional ANSI animation also updates the animation one character at a time, while Durdraw updates the animation a full frame at a time. This makes it less vulnerable to visual corruption from things like errant terminal characters, resized windows, line noise, etc. Finally, unlike TheDraw, which requires MS-DOS, Durdraw runs in modern Unicode terminals.
A: Short answer: It's not supported, but it seems to work fine in the Windows Subsystem for Linux (WSL), and in Docker using the provided Dockerfile. Long answer: Some versions run fine in Windows Command Prompt, Windows Terminal, etc, without WSL, but it's not tested or supported. If you want to help make Durdraw work better in Windows, please help by testing, submitting bug reports and submitting patches.
A: Probably not easily. Durdraw requires Python 3 and Ncurses. If your platform can support these, it will probably run. However, the file format for Durdraw movies is a plain text JSON format. It should be possible to support this format in different operating systems and in different applications. See durformat.md for more details on the .dur file format.
A: Yes! IBM-PC ANSI art popular in the "ANSI Art Scene" uses Code Page 437 character encoding, which usually needs to be translated to work with modern terminals. When Durdraw encounters these files, it will convert them to Unicode and carry on. When you save ANSI files, it will ask if you want to use CP437 or Utf-8 encoding.
A: Look in your terminal setting for "Use bright colors for bold," or a similarly named option. Durdraw's 16-color mode, like many vintage terminals (including MS-DOS), uses the Bold escape codes to tell the terminal that colors are "bright." This provides compatibility with many older systems. However, some terminals do not support or enable this option by default. Additionally, your terminal decides what colors to assign to the lower 16 colors. In many terminals, Durdraw can override the default 16 color palette. To do this, click on Menu -> Settings and select VGA, Commodore 64 or ZX Spectrum colors.
A: You can use ESC-1 through ESC-0 as a replacement for F1-F10. Some terminals will map this to Alt-1 through Alt-0. You can also use the following settings in some terminals to enable the F1-F10 keys:
-
GNOME Terminal: Click: Menu -> Edit -> Preferences -> General, and uncheck the box:
- Enable the menu accelerator key (F10 by default)
-
Xfce4-Terminal: Click: Menu -> Edit -> Preferences -> Advanced, and check the 2 boxes:
- Disable menu shortcut key (F10 by default)
- Disable help window shortcut key (F1 by default)
Special thanks to the following individuals and organizations for featuring Durdraw in their content:
- Linux Magazine - https://www.linux-magazine.com/Issues/2024/281
- Linux Voice Magazine - https://archive.org/details/LinuxVoice/Linux-Voice-Issue-015/page/n71/mode/2up
- Bryan Lunduke at The Lunduke Journal - https://lunduke.locals.com/post/5327347/durdraw-like-thedraw-but-linux
- Korben - https://korben.info/editeur-ansi-ascii-unicode-durdraw-creer-art-terminal.html
- Jill Bryant and Venn Stone at Linux Game Cast - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HvZXkqg2vec&t=568s
- LinuxLinks - https://www.linuxlinks.com/durdraw-ascii-unicode-ansi-art-editor/
- Harald Markus Wirth (hmw) has made a Web
.durPlayer in JavaScript: https://harald.ist.org/stubs/webdurplayer/
If you write, podcast, vlog, or create content about Durdraw, or if you simply enjoy using it, I'd love to hear from you! Please reach out to me via the GitHub project page or at samfoster@gmail.com.
Thank you for considering a contribution to help sustain and enhance this project.
Financial contributions help cover essential costs like development time, domain registration, and web hosting.
You can donate to this project using any of these platforms:
Other ways to support Durdraw include reporting bugs, providing feedback, and contributing code. Please refer to the CONTRIBUTING.md file for information and guidelines.
If you need assistance or have questions about Durdraw, feel free to reach out to us on GitHub. We're happy to help!
There are community discussions on Github, where people post art made with Durdraw. Check it out: https://github.com/cmang/durdraw/discussions
We also have a Discord server for Durdraw users. Join us: https://discord.gg/9TrCsUrtZD
If you are feeling really old school, you can try the #durdraw IRC channel on irc.libera.chat.
- Home page: http://durdraw.org
- Development: https://github.com/cmang/durdraw
Durdraw is what it is thanks to the following people:
- Sam Foster - Creator, primary developer
- Tom McKeesick - Performnace enhancements, documentation formatting
- Alex Myczko - Man page, Debian ambassador
- sigurdo - Cursor shapes, command-line ANSI export
- yumpyy - Dockerfile
- Zhenrong Wang - Documentation updates
- Frederick Cambus - Documentation update
- eyooooo - Filename conventions, useful feedback
- HK - Beta testing, useful feedback
- ANSI and ASCII artists:
cmang,H7,LDA,HK
Durdraw is Copyright (c) 2009-2025 Sam Foster samfoster@gmail.com. All rights reserved.
The BSD Daemon is Copyright 1988 by Marshall Kirk McKusick.
This software is distributed under the BSD 3-Clause License. See LICENSE file for details.
