erdart.com

where the code becomes the artifact

1 · Shape
image
text goes in dark

Choose an image, drop one here, or paste. A bold black-and-white image works best. Images never leave your browser.

2 · Text
·
3 · Tune

How light a pixel can be and still count as part of the shape.

Characters are about twice as tall as wide. Adjust if the shape looks stretched.


        
      

    

  


  

    
How it works

    
    
      
  1. Your image is shrunk so that each pixel becomes one character cell.
    2. 
      
  2. Cells darker than the threshold become text; the rest stay blank.
    3. 
      
  3. Your words are poured into each run of text cells in order and fully justified to fill it exactly, so the outline of the image appears.
    4. 
      
  4. Paste HTML and the result is still working HTML: the source code itself becomes the picture. This page's original 2008 home page was made this way.
    5. 
    

    
verdart was created in 2008 by Christopher Hincks and Jonathan Shook. Rebuilt in 2026 to run entirely in your browser.